Reading Room Document

Whether the Attorney General is authorized to seek injunctions against the mailing of obscene matter under present law

The document is a response to a request to determine if the Attorney General is authorized to seek injunctions against the mailing of obscene matter under present law. The conclusion reached in the document is that new legislation could authorize the Attorney General to seek such injunctions, but that such authority probably does not exist under present law. The document presents questions about the Attorney General's implied authority to seek injunctions against repeated violations of federal rights and prohibitions, including laws barring obscenity from the mails, and whether the legal remedy of a criminal prosecution may be deemed inadequate. It also raises the question of whether the equity doctrine of "public nuisance" could be applied in this context.

December 30, 1969