People v. Bloss, 1

Decision Date29 April 1975
Docket NumberNo. 1,1
Citation394 Mich. 79,228 N.W.2d 384
PartiesPEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Floyd BLOSS et al., Defendants-Appellants. 394 Mich. 79, 228 N.W.2d 384
CourtMichigan Supreme Court

S. J. Venema, Grandville, Special Atty., for appellees.

James K. Miller, Kent County Pros. Atty., by Donald A. Johnston, III, Chief Appellate Atty., Grand Rapids, for the plaintiff-appellee; Sherwin J. Venema, Grandville, of counsel.

Robert Eugene Smith, Baltimore, Md., Gilbert H. Deitch, Atlanta, Ga., for defendants-appellants; John W. Piggott, Bay City, of counsel.

Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Robert A. Derengoski, Sol. Gen., Jann C. Ryan, Asst. Atty. Gen., Lansing, amicus curiae.

Bruce T. Leitman, Co-operating Atty., Bloomfield Hills, and J. Kingsley Cotton, Second Year Law Student, American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, amicus curiae.

Before the Entire Bench (except J. W. FITZGERALD, J.).

PER CURIAM.

On June 25, 1973, the United States Supreme Court vacated our earlier judgment in People v. Bloss, 388 Mich. 409, 201 N.W.2d 806 (1972). The Court remanded Bloss to us for further consideration in light of several new opinions that it issued on the subject of obscenity. 1

We are persuaded that defendant's conviction cannot stand for the reason that at the time he did the act complained of this Court had not construed the obscenity statute 2 (as permitted in Miller) to proscribe such conduct.

We are unanimously of the opinion that the Michigan statutes regulating the dissemination of 'obscene' material as applied to juveniles and unconsenting adults are valid and enforceable.

We are divided as to whether such statutes can properly be construed by us without further legislative expression as proscribing the dissemination of 'obscene' material to consenting adults. See Const.1963, art. 1, § 5.

The conviction is reversed and the defendant is discharged.

T. G. KAVANAGH, C.J., and LEVIN, COLEMAN, WILLIAMS and SWAINSON, JJ., concur.

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7 cases
  • People v. Llewellyn
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Michigan
    • October 6, 1977
    .......         Given the comprehensive coverage of the field under the state statutory scheme, M.C.L.A. § 750.343a et seq.; M.S.A. § 28.575(1) et seq., and the need for a uniform, statewide definition of criminal obscenity offenses for purposes of protecting free speech and [401 MICH 320] ...Bloss, 394 Mich. 79, 81, 228 N.W.2d 384, 385 (1975), while speaking of the statute here in question, that: . "We are divided as to whether such statutes ......
  • People v. Johnson
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Michigan
    • October 29, 1979
    ...the 3 in which the crime, even when aggravated, is still punished as or like a misdemeanor.55 Similarly, see People v. Bloss (On Remand), 394 Mich. 79, 81, 228 N.W.2d 384 (1975).56 The concurring opinion states that the only issue upon which leave was granted is "whether felonious assault i......
  • People v. Neumayer
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Michigan
    • June 1, 1978
    .......         The sole issue before this Court is whether the Michigan criminal obscenity statute, M.C.L. § 750.343a; M.S.A. § 28.575(1), which proscribes the knowing dissemination of obscene materials, is constitutionally valid and enforceable on its face as it pertains to consenting ....         The Michigan Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal, citing as authority People v. Bloss, 394 [405 Mich. 352] Mich. 79, 228 N.W.2d 384 . Page 232 . (1975), and Kent County Prosecutor v. Robert Emmett Goodrich Corp., 53 Mich.App. 267, ......
  • Woll v. Kelley
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Michigan
    • December 22, 1980
    ......Cahalan, Prosecuting Attorney for . the County of Wayne, Defendants-Appellees. . PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellant, . v. . Samuel POSNER, Defendant-Appellee, . and . ... 1 Woll, [409 Mich. 511] Posner and Keane, who are lawyers were indicted under the . Page 582 . ...Neumayer, 405 Mich. 341, 368, 275 N.W.2d 230 (1979); People v. Bloss (On Remand), 394 Mich. 79, 81, 228 N.W.2d 384 (1975). . 20 U.S.Const., Am. XIV; Const., 1963, art. ......
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