''People v. Freeman'' was a criminal prosecution of Harold Freeman, a producer and director of
pornographic film
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include eroticall ...
s, by the
U.S. state of
California. Freeman was charged in 1987 with
pandering - procurement of persons "for the purpose of prostitution" - under section 266i of the
Cal. Penal Code for hiring adult actors, which the prosecution characterized as
pimp
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...
ing. The prosecution was part of an attempt by California to shut down the pornographic film industry. The prosecution's characterization was ultimately rejected on appeal by the
California Supreme Court. Prior to this decision, pornographic films had often been shot in secret locations.
Freeman was initially convicted, and lost on appeal to the
California Court of Appeal. The trial judge, however, thought jail would be an unreasonably harsh penalty for Freeman's conduct, and sentenced him to probation, despite the fact that this was explicitly contrary to the statute. The State appealed this sentence but lost.
Freeman appealed to the
California Supreme Court, which subsequently overturned his conviction, finding that the California pandering statute was not intended to cover the hiring of actors who would be engaging in sexually explicit but non-
obscene performances. Freeman could only have been lawfully convicted of pandering if he had paid the actors for the purpose of sexually gratifying himself or the actors. The court relied upon the language of the statute for this interpretation, as well as the need to avoid a conflict with the
First Amendment right to
free speech. The court viewed Freeman's conviction as "a somewhat transparent attempt at an 'end run' around the First Amendment and the state obscenity laws."
The State of California unsuccessfully tried to have this judgment overturned by the
United States Supreme Court. Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...
denied a stay of the California Supreme Court's judgment, while being critical of its First Amendment reasoning noting ''"it must certainly be true that otherwise illegal conduct is not made legal by being filmed"'' she found it unlikely the petition for certiorari would be granted because the California Supreme Court's ruling was founded on an adequate and independent basis of state law. The full Court subsequently denied the petition for ''certiorari''.
As a result, the making of
hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography, or hardcore porn, is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, fingering, anilingus, ejaculation, and fetish play. The term is in contrast wi ...
was effectively legalized in California.
In 2008, in the case of ''New Hampshire v. Theriault'', the
New Hampshire Supreme Court adopted the distinction between pornography production and prostitution in their interpretation of The New Hampshire Constitutions' free speech clause.
["Offer to tape sex nullifies conviction" by Annmarie Timmins, '' Concord Monitor'', December 5, 2008.]
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 488
This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 488 of the ''United States Reports
The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, ...
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases
*
Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court
References
Cases
''People v. Freeman'' 46 Cal.3d 419 (1988)
''California v. Freeman'' 488 U.S. 1311 (1989)
''New Hampshire v. Theriault''(2008)
External links
An article on the Freeman case{{US1stAmendment, speech, state=expanded
California state case law
United States Free Speech Clause case law
United States pornography law
1988 in United States case law
1988 in California