John Saxton Sumner (September 22, 1876 - June 20, 1971) headed the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state censorship body empowered to recommend obscenity cases to the appropriate prosecutors. He served as Associate Secretary of the NYSSV for three years, succeeding founder Anthony Comstock as Executive Secretary in 1915, upon the latter's death. Sumner retired in 1950; the organization, by then named the Society to Maintain Public Decency, was disbanded shortly thereafter.

Biography

Sumner was born in Washington, D.C. on September 22, 1876, the son of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

George W. Sumner,

U.S.N. The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

He was educated in Washington and Brooklyn. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1904. Sumner's actions as NYSSV chief were frequently controversial. He did not win all his cases, and was occasionally hit by countersuits from acquitted publishers. Unapologetic, Sumner was quick to defend the NYSSV and its actions. He arranged for both civil and criminal

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

actions to be brought against critics who ridiculed him or the society in print. At times, Sumner veered from his central mission of policing obscenity to attack general values of which he disapproved. At a National Republican Club luncheon broadcast on national radio, playwright Elmer Rice attacked fellow speaker Sumner, saying, " umner'sjob is dependent on his finding vice. If he doesn't find any, his job ceases. Therefore his testimony is no more dependable than that of a prohibition enforcement officer. The obscenity issue is only a smokescreen, hiding an effort to prevent the publication of ideas which are unpleasant to various church groups and to ultra-conservatives." He died on June 20, 1971.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading