[343 Protestant clergymen, representing Footnote 39 On Sunday, January 7, 1951, a statement of His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Spellman, condemning the picture and calling on "all right thinking citizens" to unite to tighten censorship laws, was read at all masses in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Not one case, barring the present, has been uncovered which considers the meaning of the term in any context. Joseph Burstyn v. Wilson 72 S. CT. 777, 343 U.S. 495, 96 L. ED. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that expression by means of motion pictures is included within the free speech and free press guaranty of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Apostasy, heresy, and blasphemy coexisted as religious crimes alongside sacrilege; they were peculiarly in the realm of religious dogma and doctrine, as "sacrilege" was not. ] N. Y. . The current printing of Funk & Wagnalls' New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, first copyrighted in 1913, carries exactly the same definition of "sacrilege" except that the first definition has been expanded to read: "The If a board of censors can tell the American people what it is in their best interests to see or to read or to hear (cf. These invidious reflections upon religious susceptibilities were not covered under sacrilege as they might be under the Court of Appeals' opinion. SIGNIFICANCE: BURSTYN V. WILSON. 297 (1907). No. Footnote 49 ] Time, Feb. 19, 1951, pp. Footnote 34 35, 36-37. The industry's self-censorship has already had a distorting influence on the portrayal of historical figures. This principle is especially to be observed when what is so vague seeks to fetter the mind and put within unascertainable bounds the varieties of religious experience. [343 1 278 App. A smaller number of counterpickets appeared on several days. Footnote 17 303 N. Y. ] That such offensive exploitation of modern means of publicity is not a fanciful hypothesis, see N. Y. Microsoft Edge. . 303 N. Y. & P. 442 (1836). Id., at p. 14, cols. If there is one thing that the history of religious conflicts shows, it is that the term "sacrilegious" - if by that is implied offense to the deep convictions of members of different sects, which is what the Court of Appeals seems to mean so far as it means anything precisely - does not gain "precision from the sense and experience of men.". But the limitation has been recognized only The statute was assailed in part as an unconstitutional abridgment of the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. the picture has an unpleasant preoccupation with filth and squalor . Footnote 9 ; Winters v. New York, [ [ Footnote 24 exceedingly trying experience. various denominations, after seeing the picture, found in it nothing "sacrilegious or immoral to the views held by Christian men and women," and with a few exceptions agreed that the film was "unquestionably one of unusual artistic merit." 28 ] Near v. Minnesota ex rel. The statute involved here does not seek to punish, as a past offense, speech or writing falling within the permissible scope of subsequent punishment. charts but those provided by the most vocal and powerful orthodoxies. Footnote 5 For completeness' sake, later incidents should be noted. Charles J. Tobin, Edmond B. Butler and Porter R. Chandler filed a brief for the New York State Catholic Welfare Committee, as amicus curiae, urging affirmance. IndustrialCommission,236U.S.230(1915), Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969), United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 U.S. 131 (1948). (1938); Schneider v. State, but the broader meaning is more indefinite, not less. Anyone doubting the dangerous uncertainty of the New York definition, which makes "sacrilege" overlap these other "offenses against religion," need only read Blackstone's account of the broad and varying content given each of these offenses. "Motion Pictures and the First Amendment," 60 Yale L. J. U.S. 495, 499] . Provisions of the New York Education Law which forbid the commercial showing of any motion picture film without a license and authorize denial of a license on a censor's conclusion that a film is "sacrilegious," held void as a prior restraint on freedom of speech and of the press under the First Amendment, made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. ", [ ] Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed., 1911), "Sacrilege.". U.S. 88, 97 in exceptional cases." It is not a sufficient answer to say that "sacrilegious" is definite, because all subjects that in any way might be interpreted as offending the religious beliefs of any one of the 300 sects of the United States U.S. 495, 533]. ] Cf. 17 [343 ] See Cantwell v. Connecticut, Footnote 18 36 1. 333 ", Newsweek, Dec. 18, 1950, pp. 24 & 25 Vict., c. 96, 50; c. 97, 1, 11, 39, superseded by Larceny Act, 1916, 6 & 7 Geo. [343 242, 264, 101 N. E. 2d 665, 675. However, it shows what an artist of Rossellini's character can do in the still scarcely explored medium of the film short story.". New York courts upheld the regents’ action. 114, 151 (1913), 42 Stat. The Miracle proved quite controversial, and hundreds of letters, telegrams, and post cards, both protesting and supporting the film persuaded the New York State Board of Regents to review the film. Charles A. Brind, Jr. and Wendell P. Brown, Solicitor General of New York, argued the cause for appellees. U.S. 495, 517] The role is difficult . 242, 101 N. E. 2d 665. VIII, c. 1, III; 1 Edw. Naturally enough, religions have sought to protect their priests and anointed symbols from physical injury. 4 motion-picture film" is a criminal offense, 35 Stat. The eleventh edition, which first published a longer article, was introduced as follows: "the violation or profanation of sacred things, a crime of varying scope in different religions. 60-61. Etymologically "sacrilege" is limited to church-robbing: sacer, sacred, and legere, to steal or pick out. ", [ A motion picture portraying Christ as divine - for example, a movie showing medieval Church art - would offend the religious opinions of the members of several Protestant denominations who do not believe in the Trinity, as well as those of a non-Christian faith. The District Court rejected this contention, stating that the first eight Amendments were not a restriction on state action. U.S. 495, 512] U.S. 697 . Footnote 11 Supreme Court of the United States. The issue here is the constitutionality, under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, of a New York statute which permits the banning of motion picture films on the ground that they are "sacrilegious." Niemotko v. Maryland, Thus, the administrative first step becomes the last step. Seven years after Burstyn, the Supreme Court’s decision in Kingsley International Pictures Corp. v. Regents invalidated a ban on nonobscene portrayals of ‘‘sexual immorality [as] desirable, acceptable, or proper . It is this impossibility of knowing how far the form of words by which the New York Court of Appeals explained "sacrilegious" carries the proscription of religious subjects that makes the term unconstitutionally vague. 283 ] Blackstone, bk. Daily News, Dec. 13, 1950, p. 82, cols. ] Howard Barnes, N. Y. Herald Tribune, Dec. 13, 1950, p. 30, cols. Id., at 255-256, 258-260, 260-262, 101 N. E. 2d 670-674. 3-5: "`The Miracle' is really all Magnani. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 , in the case of newspapers and by Burstyn v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495 , in the case of motion pictures, is present here in flagrant form. In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, Burstyn v. Wilson Wilson (1952) The Italian film The Miracle was licensed by New York censors in 1950 but later revoked 14 months later because of charges that the film was "sacrilegious". : a R. C. Ch. views 1,526,119 updated Dec 3 2020 BURSTYN, INC. v. WILSON 343 U.S. 495 (1952) The Supreme Court in this case unanimously overruled a 1915 decision that movies are a business "pure and simple," not entitled to constitutional protection as a medium for the communication of ideas. MR. JUSTICE CLARK delivered the opinion of the Court. And in "the Theodosian Code the various crimes which are accounted sacrilege include - apostasy, heresy, schism, Judaism, paganism, attempts against the immunity of churches and clergy or privileges of church courts, the desecration of sacraments, etc., and even Sunday. ; A. one of the most exciting solo performances the screen has known. the existence there of an established church gives more definite contours to the crime in England than the term "sacrilegious" can possibly have in this country. U.S. 495, 516] In Mutual Film Corp. v. Industrial Comm'n, Sacrilege against sacred places: to violate the immunity of churches and other sacred places "as far as this is still in force"; to commit a crime such as homicide, suicide, bloody attack there; to break by sexual act a vow of chastity there; to bury an infidel, heretic, or excommunicate in churches or cemeteries canonically established; or to put the sacred place to a profane use, as a secular courtroom, public market, banquet hall, stable, etc. Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (No. of Lit., Jan. 27, 1951, pp. To be irreverent to sacred persons or things." [ Bailey's defined it as "the stealing of Sacred Things, Church Robbing; an Alienation to Laymen, and to profane and common Purposes, of what was given to religious Persons, and to pious Uses." As we view the case, we need consider only appellant's contention that the New York statute is an unconstitutional abridgment of free speech and a free press. This picture ridicules that belief"), and finally "a vicious insult to Italian womanhood." 1305. U.S. 569 U.S. 147, 160 Rex v. Nixon, 7 Car. [ To vulgarize; give over to the crowd. 12. 1-8, in an article bearing the headline: "Film Critic Gives Some Aspects of `The Miracle' Story: Raises Questions Concerning Tactics of Organized Catholic Resistance Groups in New York." Each method tends to present its own peculiar problems. U.S. 495, 526]. ] See United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., Footnote 4 This teaching of Aquinas is, I believe, still substantially the basis of the official Catholic doctrine of sacrilege. ] Excerpts from letters and statements by a great many clergymen are reproduced in the Record before this Court, pages 95-140. To criticize or assail religious doctrine may wound to the quick those who are attached to the doctrine and profoundly cherish it. are banned in New York. 297 Footnote 22 ] N. Y. Footnote 56 Two priests of the Anglican Church prepared a long prefatory essay to bring Spelman's data up to the date of publication of the 1853 edition. In the light of the First Amendment's history and of the Near decision, the State has a heavy burden to demonstrate that the limitation challenged here presents such an exceptional case. ] Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2d ed., 1782: "Sacrilege" - "the crime of profaning sacred things, or those devoted to the service of God. See Burstyn v. Wilson, 343 U. S. 495, and Winters v. New York, 333 U. S. 507. Along with these crimes against religion went treason to the emperor, offences against the laws, especially counterfeiting, defraudation in taxes, seizure of confiscated property, evil conduct of imperial officers, etc." The sin of violating the conditions for a worthy reception of a sacrament. England's experience with that treacherous word should give us pause, apart from our requirements for the separation of Church and State. U.S. 290 [343 . These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or `fighting' words - those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace." In this estimate some Catholic laymen concurred. sorcerers, witches, and enchanters." 590, 762 (1930). ", [ 303 N. Y. Since the repeal less than a century ago of the English law punishing "sacrilege" against the property of the Established Church, religious property has received little special protection. 2. 283 It is not without significance that talking pictures were first produced in 1926, eleven years after the Mutual decision. Footnote 7 8th ed., 1859: "Sacrilege" - same as 3d ed., 1797. The New Standard Dictionary adds a third meaning: "3. of such a character that its exhibition would tend to corrupt morals or incite to crime.’’ Joseph Burstyn, Inc., owned the exclusive rights to distribute … Morris L. Ernst, Osmond K. Fraenkel, Arthur Garfield Hays, Herbert Monte Levy, Emanuel Redfield, Shad Polier, Will Maslow, Leo Pfeffer, Herman Seid and Eberhard P. Deutsch filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties Union et al., as amici curiae, urging reversal. See Bouscaren and Ellis, Canon Law (1946), 857. If there be capacity for evil it may be relevant in determining the permissible scope of community control, but it does not authorize substantially unbridled censorship such as we have here. ; Connally v. General Construction Co., [ ] N. Y. Well-equipped law libraries are not niggardly in their reflection of "the sense and experience of men," but we must search elsewhere for any which gives to "sacrilege" its meaning. 497-506. PER CURIAM. [ (1937); Lovell v. Griffin, U.S. 495, 532] Landmark cases such as Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC and FCC v. Pacifica Foundation have cited Burstyn for the proposition that ‘‘differences in the characteristics of new media justify differences in the First Amendment standards applied to them.’’, See also Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969), Civil Liberties and Civil Rights in the United States. Cf. 205 On appeal the New York Court of Appeals, two judges dissenting, affirmed the order of the Appellate Division. The Motion Picture Division of the Education Department does not support with explanatory ] Encyclopaedia Britannica (1951), "Sacrilege. "sacrilege" received specific and detailed illustration. (1951); Kovacs v. Cooper, . U.S. 230 ", [ taken jurisdiction to punish departures from accepted dogma or religious practice or the expression of particular religious opinions, but never have these "offenses" been denominated "sacrilege." U.S. 495, 521] , Mr. Justice Roberts, speaking for the whole Court, said: "In the realm of religious faith, and in that of political belief, sharp differences arise. In both fields the tenets of one man may seem the rankest error to his neighbor." [343 There doubtless were comments on "The Miracle" in other diocesan papers which circulate in various parts of the country, but which are not on file in the Library of Congress or the library of the Catholic University of America. IV) 1462; and importation of any obscene "print" or "picture" is barred. [ The 1952 decision of Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson concerned a New York statute that allowed the state department of education to forbid the exhibition of any ‘‘film or a part thereof ?’’ that was ‘‘obscene, indecent, immoral, inhuman, sacrilegious, or . Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson represents an important landmark in the development of First Amendment jurisprudence on expressive freedom in mass media. ", [ 343 U.S. 960 . U.S. 697, 713 7-8: "a picture of mounting intensity that wrings the last pang of emotion as it hits its dramatic JOSEPH BURSTYN, Inc.v.WILSON et al. For example, Barclay said "blasphemy" is "an offering some indignity to God, any person of the Trinity, any messengers from God, his holy writ, or the doctrines of revelation." 4-5; Jan. 27, 1951, p. 11, col. 3; Feb. 6, 1951, p. 29, col. 8; Feb. 10, 1951, p. 15, col. 8; Feb. 15, 1951, p. 33, col. 2. . U.S. 359, 368 ] Cf. which cultural objects play so great a part, than in more highly spiritualized religions where they tend to disappear. 303 567-569. Footnote 14 ", [ To treat with irreverence or abuse; make common or unholy; desecrate; pollute. 333 The drastic nature of such a ban is highlighted by the fact that the film in question makes no direct attack on, or criticism of, any religious dogma or principle, and it is not claimed to be obscene, scurrilous, intemperate or abusive." . Footnote * U.S. 77, 82 And that is the fair inference to be drawn, as a matter of experience, from what has been happening under the New York censorship. Times, Dec. 17, 1950, 2, p. 3, cols. A student of English lexicography would despair of finding the meaning attributed to "sacrilege" by the New York court. 283 . In seeking to apply the broad and all-inclusive definition of "sacrilegious" given by the New York courts, the censor is set adrift upon a boundless sea amid a myriad of conflicting currents of religious views, with no U.S. 495, 530] Footnote 10 The effect of such demands upon art and upon those whose function is to enhance the culture of a society need not be labored. 303 This 1952 decision stated that film was now entitled to freedom of speech protections and, as such, New York’s prior restraint on showing The Miracle was unconstitutional. (1943); Lovell v. Griffin, Footnote 50 Footnote 43 In November 1950, after examining the film, the motion picture division of the education department, issued a license authorizing exhibition of The Miracle, with English subtitles, as part of a trilogy called Ways of Love. Id., at 245, 246. Footnote 53 31 163 (1939); In the Matter of "Polygamy," 60 N. Y. St. Dept. , it was deemed necessary to find that the terms "educational, moral, amusing or harmless" do not leave "decision to arbitrary judgment." 334 How to create a webinar that resonates with remote audiences; Dec. 30, 2020. Other parts of the world still have blasphemy laws [343 U.S. 507 (1940). 46 Stat. That is a very different question from the one now before us. U.S. 495, 520] ] Life, Jan. 15, 1951, p. 63; Sat. ", Webster's International Dictionary (G. & C. Merriam & Co., 1890): "Sacrilege" - "The sin or crime of violating or profaning sacred things; the alienating to laymen, or to common purposes, what has been appropriated or consecrated to religious persons or uses." [343 [343 If the film does have that effect, and it is `offered as a form of entertainment,' it apparently falls within the statutory ban regardless of the sincerity and good faith of the producer of the film, no matter how temperate the treatment of the theme, and no matter how unlikely a public disturbance or breach of the peace. . The Commissioner did so. ] After his method of raising objections and then refuting them, St. Thomas Aquinas defends including within the proscription of "sacrilege," anyone "who disagree[s] about the sovereign's decision, and doubt[s] whether the person chosen by the sovereign be worthy of honor" and "any man [who] shall allow the Jews to hold public offices." [ ] Thomas Blount, Glossographia (3d ed., London, 1670). [ On the basis of such a portmanteau word as "sacrilegious," the judiciary has no standards with which to judge the validity of administrative action which necessarily involves, at least in large measure, subjective determinations. Google Chrome, Argued April 24, 1952. [ New York's highest court says there is "nothing mysterious" about the statutory provision applied in this case: "It is simply this: that no religion, as that word is understood by the ordinary, reasonable person, shall be treated with contempt, mockery, scorn and ridicule . Order, cabled Cardinal Spellman protesting against boycott of "The Miracle": The New York Court of Appeals, with one judge concurring in a separate opinion and two others dissenting, . Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select. . 47 Footnote 29 The examples in the text are from Schroeder. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized Burstyn as ‘‘the first to present squarely . It would startle Madison and Jefferson and George Mason, could they adjust themselves to our day, to be told that the freedom of speech which they espoused in the Bill of Rights authorizes a showing of "The Miracle" from windows facing St. Patrick's Cathedral in the forenoon of Easter Sunday, whether a state may censor motion pictures under a clearly drawn statute designed and applied to prevent the showing of obscene films. . U.S. 385 In February 1951, the regents determined that The Miracle was ‘‘sacrilegious,’’ and on that ground ordered the rescission of Burstyn’s license to exhibit the film. [Burstyn v. Wilson, 343 U.S 495 (1952)] Associate Justice Stanley Reed . 2178, 477-478, thus defines sacrilege: "Sacrilege consists in the unworthy use or treatment of sacred things and sacred persons. U.S. 495, 506] As a matter of fact, the definition from Funk & Wagnalls' used by the Court of Appeals is taken straight from 18th Century dictionaries, particularly Doctor Johnson's. [ 1-2: "[`The Miracle' is] charged with the same overwrought hysteria that ran through his `Stromboli.' See also, "Miracles Do Happen," The New Leader, Feb. 5, 1951, p. 30, col. 2. ] Inglis, Freedom of the Movies, 120 et seq. See also, The Catholic Encyclopedia, "Sacrilege.". The judges agreed that movies deserved First Amendment consideration, but they weren’t ready to rule out censorship completely. [ Their opinion is represented by the comment by Otto L. Spaeth, Director of the American Federation of Arts and prominent in Catholic lay activities: At the time "The Miracle" was filmed, all the persons having significant positions in the production - producer, director, and cast - were Catholics. 340 v. NC Rate Bur. At different times during that century, with the shifts in the attitude of government towards particular religious views, persons who doubted the doctrine of the Trinity (e. g., Unitarians, Universalists, etc.) Thomas Slater, A Manual of Moral Theology (1908), 226-230; The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), "Sacrilege"; and Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Sacrilege. The email address cannot be subscribed. Footnote 21 What might have been definite when a controlling church imposed a detailed scheme of observances becomes impossibly confused and uncertain when hundreds of sects, with widely disparate and often directly conflicting ideas of sacredness, enjoy, without discrimination and in equal measure, constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom. . From all that has been said one is compelled to conclude that the term "sacrilegious" has come down the stream of time encrusted with a specialized, strictly confined meaning, pertaining to things in space not things in the mind. Associate Justice Stanley Reed (1884-1980) who sat on the Supreme Court for the Miracle case and foresaw that the Court was setting itself up to decide case by case, and film by film, what standards were permissible in censoring decisions. (1948); Largent v. Texas, ." ] Clancy, "The Catholic as Philistine," The Commonweal, Mar. 28-29: "pictorially the picture is a gem, with its sensitive evocation of a small Italian town and the surrounding countryside near Salerno . U.S. 454, 462 283 [ 55 vastly compassionate comprehension of the suffering and the triumph of birth.". Footnote 48 236 .'" 278 App. 2015-2020 © Civil Liberties in the United States. Times, April 14, 1952, p. 1, col. 4. media of communication of ideas. [ It is hardly necessary to comment that the limits of this definition remain too uncertain to justify constraining the creative efforts of the imagination by fear of pains and penalties imposed by a necessarily subjective censorship. 696, 704-708 (1951), and sources cited therein. The New York Court of Appeals' statement that the dictionary "furnishes a clear definition," justifying the vague scope it gave to "sacrilegious," surely was made without regard to the lexicographic history of the term. ] N. Y. The article on "sacrilege" in the current edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is substantially the same as that in the 1911 edition. Apostasy, heresy, offenses against the Established Church, blasphemy, profanation of the Lord's Day, etc., were distinct criminal offenses, characterized by Blackstone as "offences against God and religion." After concluding that the Board of Regents acted within its authority and that its determination was not "one that no reasonable mind could reach," id., at 250-255, 256-257, 101 N. E. 2d 665, 667-671, the majority held, first, that "sacrilegious" was an adequately definite standard, quoting a definition from Funk & Wagnalls' Dictionary and referring to opinions in this Court that in passing used the term "profane," which the New York court said was a synonym of "sacrilegious"; second, that the State's assurance "that no religion .
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