In 1912 in Toronto the Congregationalist lay minister, Robert B. St. Clair was arrested and convicted of circulating obscene literature, after he published and distributed an explicit description of a performance called The Darlings of Paris that played at a local burlesque house called the Star Theatre. St. Clair's experiences and its aftermath provide a lens through which to view the problem that the regulation of obscenity posed for moral reformers in Toronto during this period. Adopting a broad understanding of the concept of regulation and paying close attention to the discourses evident in a variety of primary sources, this thesis examines the St. Clair case against its religious, literary, social and legal backdrop. It discusses the origins of Canadian obscenity law and contrasts the regulation of the obscene in Canada during this period with the situation in England and the United States. This thesis shows that the ability of moral reformers in Toronto to regulate obscenity, and the Toronto stage in particular, was on the decline by 1913. Doubt was creeping into legal and extra-legal discourses that the words obscene, indecent and immoral had absolutely certain meanings, but there was still substantial certainty that art was morally uplifting. The sense that art could have immoral, indecent or pornographic aspects, and could therefore be difficult to distinguish from obscenity, had not yet entered Canada's, and particularly Ontario's, legal sensibility, but it was on its way.

In 1912 in Toronto the Congregationalist lay minister, Robert B. St. Clair was arrested and convicted of circulating obscene literature, after he published and distributed an explicit description of a performance called The Darlings of Paris that played at a local burlesque house called the Star Theatre. St. Clair's experiences and its aftermath provide a lens through which to view the problem that the regulation of obscenity posed for moral reformers in Toronto during this period. Adopting a broad understanding of the concept of regulation and paying close attention to the discourses evident in a variety of primary sources, this thesis examines the St. Clair case against its religious, literary, social and legal backdrop. It discusses the origins of Canadian obscenity law and contrasts the regulation of the obscene in Canada during this period with the situation in England and the United States. This thesis shows that the ability of moral reformers in Toronto to regulate obscenity, and the Toronto stage in particular, was on the decline by 1913. Doubt was creeping into legal and extra-legal discourses that the words obscene, indecent and immoral had absolutely certain meanings, but there was still substantial certainty that art was morally uplifting. The sense that art could have immoral, indecent or pornographic aspects, and could therefore be difficult to distinguish from obscenity, had not yet entered Canada's, and particularly Ontario's, legal sensibility, but it was on its way. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

Thesis (M.S.W.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-141). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 278-305). Also available online

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 10, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1992. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references.

Although federal circuit and district court judges are placed within a federal hierarchy, and receive legal and judicial training that emphasizes the importance of the judicial framework and its structure, such judges are also subjected to other pressures such as the types of litigants within the courtrooms as well as their local political environment. Furthermore, such judges are apt to form their own views about politics and legal policy and are often appointed by presidents who approve of their ideological leanings. Thus, federal courts are caught between competing goals such as their willingness to maximize their preferred legal policy, and their place within the judicial hierarchy. This dissertation applies hierarchy and impact theory to assess the importance of the judicial framework and its socialization, by analyzing both the judicial opinions and votes of federal circuit and district court judges in obscenity cases during a four-decade period (1957-1998). The research presented here finds the influence of higher court precedent to correspond in part with the conception of a judicial hierarchy. An analysis of citations of Supreme Court precedent (Roth v. United States (1957) and Miller v. California (1973)) in lower court majority opinions suggests low levels of compliance: lower courts at the circuit and district court level do not signal to the Supreme Court their acceptance of High Court doctrine; thus, except for 'factual' cases, most circuit and district court decisions do not comply formally with higher court precedent. An analysis of judicial votes, however, suggests that a Supreme Court doctrinal shift (to Miller v. California) influences lower court decisions only at the circuit court level. Further investigation suggests that Supreme Court precedent has a greater influence in circuit courts than in district courts: not only is the magnitude greater for circuit (versus district) court decisions, such results occur when controlling for such factors as the appointing president, regional variations, various constitutional claims and types of litigants. Thus, it appears that the influence of Supreme Court doctrine is much stronger in the circuit courts (only one step removed from the Supreme Court) than in district courts yet the hierarchy is influential nonetheless.

published_or_final_version / toc / Law / Master / Master of Laws in Human Rights