United States v. One Book Called Ulysses

E105634

United States v. One Book Called Ulysses is a landmark 1933 U.S. federal court decision that lifted the ban on James Joyce’s novel "Ulysses" and significantly redefined American obscenity law in favor of literary freedom.

All labels observed (5)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf U.S. federal court case
landmark decision
obscenity case
alsoKnownAs U.S. v. One Book Called Ulysses
appealTo United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
appellateCitation 72 F.2d 705 (2d Cir. 1934)
appellateDecisionYear 1934
appellateOutcome district court judgment affirmed
areaOfLaw First Amendment law
freedom of expression
literary censorship
citation 5 F. Supp. 182 (S.D.N.Y. 1933)
country United States
court United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
decisionDate 1933-12-06
defendant One Book Called Ulysses
Random House, Inc.
linked to: Random House
effect expanded protection for literary freedom
lifted U.S. ban on James Joyce’s Ulysses
redefined American obscenity law
holding The book Ulysses may be admitted into the United States
Ulysses is not obscene
influenced Memoirs v. Massachusetts
Roth v. United States
later U.S. obscenity jurisprudence
judge John M. Woolsey
jurisdiction United States federal courts
linked to: U.S. federal courts
languageOfOpinion English
legalIssue importation of obscene materials
obscenity
locationOfCourt New York City
notableFor protecting modernist literature
rejecting purely moralistic standards for obscenity
plaintiff United States of America
publisherInvolved Random House
reasoning honest and sincere treatment of sex is not necessarily obscene
isolated passages cannot alone determine obscenity
relatedWork Ulysses by James Joyce
standardEstablished artistic and literary merit must be considered
effect on the average person is relevant to obscenity
work must be judged as a whole
statuteApplied 19 U.S.C. § 1305
Tariff Act of 1930
subjectOfCourtCase novel Ulysses
timePeriod 20th century
workAuthorAtIssue James Joyce
yearDecided 1933

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ulysses courtCaseInUnitedStates United States v. One Book Called Ulysses
subject linked to: James Joyce's Ulysses
United States v. One Book Called Ulysses holding Ulysses is not obscene
linked to: United States v. One Book Called Ulysses
United States v. One Book Called Ulysses alsoKnownAs U.S. v. One Book Called Ulysses
linked to: United States v. One Book Called Ulysses
Roth v. United States overruledPrecedent United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (to the extent inconsistent with new standard)
linked to: United States v. One Book Called Ulysses
Lady Chatterley's Lover was subject to obscenity trials hasNotableCase United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (contextual comparison)
linked to: United States v. One Book Called Ulysses