People v. Pesky

New York Court of Appeals

People v. Pesky

173 N.E. 227, 254 N.Y. 373, 1930 N.Y. LEXIS 1054

CourtNew York Court of Appeals

DecidedOctober 24, 1930

StatusPublished

Cited by21 cases

This text of 173 N.E. 227 (People v. Pesky) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

People v. Pesky, 173 N.E. 227, 254 N.Y. 373, 1930 N.Y. LEXIS 1054 (N.Y. 1930).

Pincite

Opinion

Per Curiam.

This court is a court of review, restricted in cases of this order to a pronouncement of the law, and without power to act as a trier of the facts.

If those charged with the duty to pass judgment upon the facts might say not unreasonably that the book sold by the defendant was obscene, lewd or indecent beyond a reasonable doubt (Penal Law, § 1141), we are not at liberty to substitute our judgment for theirs, or to super *374 sede their function as the spokesmen of the thought and sentiment of the community in applying to the book complained of the standard of propriety established by the statute.

A different question would be here if we could say as a matter of law that the writing is so innocuous as to forbid the submission of its quality to the triers of the facts. We cannot say that here.

The judgment should be affirmed.

Cardozo, Ch. J., Pound, Crane, O’Brien and Hubbs, JJ., concur; Lehman and Kellogg, JJ., dissent.

Judgment affirmed.

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