09-07-2026, 09:14 PM
The government can't come into your house and tell you what you can and cannot watch, read or look at in the privacy of your home. it doesn't matter if its obscene or non-obscene. This is from Stanley v Georgia (1969) but dates even farther back to 1600's
1. The Pre-Constitutional Roots of the Home Sanctuary
The principle behind Stanley stretches back centuries before 1969. The Framers drafted the Fourth Amendment specifically to codify ancient English Common Law protections against the British Crown's tyrannical search practices.
Writs of Assistance: Prior to the American Revolution, British customs officials used broad, general search warrants called "Writs of Assistance." These allowed soldiers to break into private homes, warehouses, and papers at any time without specific evidence, looking for smuggled goods or seditious political pamphlets.
Semayne’s Case (1604): This famous English ruling established the foundational legal maxim: "The house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress."
William Pitt’s 1763 Address: As British Statesman William Pitt famously told Parliament: "The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail... the wind may blow through it... but the King of England cannot enter; all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!"
Stanley v. Georgia didn't invent the home sanctuary; it simply applied this 400-year-old Anglo-American rule to modern media on a citizen's private property.
I am glad the Appeals court ruled in their favor, and it would be bad AND DANGEROUS if the Supreme Court overturns Stanley v Georgia. this would allow the government to do what England did with its writs of assistance and be allowed to search people's homes at any time.
1. The Pre-Constitutional Roots of the Home Sanctuary
The principle behind Stanley stretches back centuries before 1969. The Framers drafted the Fourth Amendment specifically to codify ancient English Common Law protections against the British Crown's tyrannical search practices.
Writs of Assistance: Prior to the American Revolution, British customs officials used broad, general search warrants called "Writs of Assistance." These allowed soldiers to break into private homes, warehouses, and papers at any time without specific evidence, looking for smuggled goods or seditious political pamphlets.
Semayne’s Case (1604): This famous English ruling established the foundational legal maxim: "The house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress."
William Pitt’s 1763 Address: As British Statesman William Pitt famously told Parliament: "The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail... the wind may blow through it... but the King of England cannot enter; all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!"
Stanley v. Georgia didn't invent the home sanctuary; it simply applied this 400-year-old Anglo-American rule to modern media on a citizen's private property.
I am glad the Appeals court ruled in their favor, and it would be bad AND DANGEROUS if the Supreme Court overturns Stanley v Georgia. this would allow the government to do what England did with its writs of assistance and be allowed to search people's homes at any time.