| MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued February 26–27, 1962 Decided June 25, 1962 | |
| Full case name | MANual Enterprises, Inc., et al. v. J. Edward Day, United States Postmaster General |
| Citations | 370 U.S. 478 (more) 82 S. Ct. 1432; 8 L. Ed. 2d 639; 1962 U.S. LEXIS 2163 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 289 F.2d 455 (D.C. Cir. 1961); cert. granted, 368 U.S. 809 (1961). |
| Holding | |
| Photographs of nude, or near-nude, male models are not "obscene" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1461. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | Harlan, joined by Stewart |
| Concurrence | Black |
| Concurrence | Brennan, joined by Warren, Douglas |
| Dissent | Clark |
| Frankfurter took no part in the decision. White took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| First Amendment, 18 U.S.C. § 1461 | |
MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 (1962), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that magazines consisting largely of photographs of nude or near-nude male models are not considered "obscene" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1461, which prohibits the mailing of obscene material.[1] It was the first case in which the Court engaged in plenary review of a Post Office Department order holding obscene matter "nonmailable".[2]
The case is notable for its ruling that photographs of nude men are not obscene, an implication which opened the U.S. mail to nude male pornographic magazines, especially those catering to gay men.[3]
- ^ MANual Enterprises, Inc. v. Day, 370 U.S. 478 (U.S. Supreme Court 1962).
- ^ MANual Enterprises, 370 U.S. at 495-496.
- ^ Waugh, Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from Their Beginnings to Stonewall, 1996.
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