In 1952, in the case of Burstyn v. Wilson, the Court struck down the state of New York's ban on the film The Miracle. The Italian film told the story of a young peasant girl who is impregnated by a hobo she mistakes for Saint Joseph; she goes mad and claims she is the Virgin Mary about to give birth to Jesus. The New York State Board of Regents ruled that the exhibitor who had shown the film had committed sacrilege. The appeal reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that "under the First and Fourteenth Amendments a state may not ban a film on the basis of a censor's conclusion that it is 'sacrilegious.' " This decision marked the first instance of a film had being extended the full protection of the First Amendment.

Two Cases of Indecency.

On 24 June 1957 the Court handed down...