No. 23-5087

Michael R. v. Connecticut

Lower Court: Connecticut
Docketed: 2023-07-12
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: child-pornography civil-rights constitutional-interpretation dost-factors due-process first-amendment free-speech miller-standard obscenity obscenity-test
Key Terms:
FirstAmendment DueProcess Patent Jurisdiction
Latest Conference: 2023-09-26
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Should the Dost factors be modified to prevent unconstitutional restrictions on First Amendment freedom of expression?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW 1. Should the six factor analysis set forth in United States v. Dost, 636 F. Supp. 828 (S.D. Cal. 1986), aff'd sub nom United States v. Weigand, 812 F.2d 1239 (1987) be modified in order to prevent an unconstitutional restriction on the First Amendment freedom of expression which the petitioner argues occurred in this case and in numerous other cases nationwide and which reflects a split among the federal and state courts? 2. Because Connecticut’s “employing a minor in an obscene performance” statute is cast in the language of Miller v. California’s obscenity test and the lower court held it relied on Miller and Dost without articulating why an average person would find the images, taken as a whole, appealed to the prurient interest and why they depicted “in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct,” when there is no sexual touching or conduct occurring in the images, should this Court grant certiorari to set a benchmark regarding the “obscene to minors” doctrine to guide courts about what these Miller criteria mean?

Docket Entries

2023-10-02
Petition DENIED.
2023-07-27
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/26/2023.
2023-07-21
Waiver of right of respondent State of Connecticut to respond filed.
2023-07-10
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due August 11, 2023)

Attorneys

Michael R.
Conrad Ost SeifertSeifert & Hogan, Petitioner
Conrad Ost SeifertSeifert & Hogan, Petitioner
State of Connecticut
Laurie Nadine FeldmanAppellate Office of the Chief State's Attorney, Respondent
Laurie Nadine FeldmanAppellate Office of the Chief State's Attorney, Respondent