''Freedman v. Maryland'', 380 U.S. 51 (1965), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case that ended government-operated rating boards with a decision that a rating board could only approve a film and had no power to
ban a film. The ruling also concluded that a rating board must either approve a film within a reasonable time, or go to court to stop a film from being shown in theatres. Other court cases determined that television stations are federally licensed, so local rating boards have no
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
J ...
over films shown on television. When the movie industry set up its own rating system—the
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
—most state and local boards ceased operating.
Background
Ronald Freedman challenged the law of Maryland that films must be submitted to the
Maryland State Board of Censors
The Maryland State Board of Censors was a three-member state agency that existed from 1916 to 1981 in the U.S. state of Maryland. No film could be officially released in the state without the approval of the board, which granted licenses to films ...
before being shown in theaters, claiming it unconstitutional; violating freedom of expression granted by the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
.
Opinion of the Court
In a unanimous opinion by Justice
Brennan, the Court held that a rating board could only approve a film and had no power to
ban a film.
See also
*
Film censorship in the United States
Film censorship in the United States was a frequent feature of the industry almost from the beginning of the U.S. motion picture industry until the end of strong self-regulation in 1966. Court rulings in the 1950s and 1960s severely constrained g ...
*
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
* ''
Joseph Burstyn, Inc v. Wilson''
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{US1stAmendment, speech, state=expanded
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court
United States Free Speech Clause case law
United States obscenity case law
1965 in United States case law
Film censorship in the United States
Legal history of Maryland