Obscenity is a concept frequently addressed under the First Amendment, and Roth v. United States is one of the first cases heard by the Supreme Court on the topic.

Samuel Roth ran a New York book business. He was convicted under a federal obscenity statute after selling American Aphrodite (“A Quarterly for the Fancy-Free”), which included erotica and nude images. In a 1957 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that obscenity is not protected under the First Amendment because it is “utterly without redeeming social importance.”

In an opinion by Justice William Brennan Jr., the court established a test for obscenity, asking if “to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest.”