Today in Supreme Court History: October 8

Nebraska v. Wyoming et al., 325 U.S. 665 (decided October 8, 1945): Original jurisdiction case where the Court confirms the Special Master’s finding in favor of Nebraska as to Colorado and Wyoming diverting too much of the North Platte River before it gets into Nebraska. From the finding, which is detailed as to how much can be diverted when and from where, and how it is to be measured, one can see that the Special Master was bombarded with a mountain of geological and environmental evidence.

Roth v. United States, 77 S.Ct. 17 (decided October 8, 1956): Harlan allows bail ($5,000) for defendant convicted of selling dirty pictures; no claim that he might flee, or continue to pollute the minds of the public, and good chance that conviction will be overturned (though the Court, in one of Brennan’s first opinions, affirmed the conviction, 354 U.S. 476, which the Court overruled in Miller v. California, 1973) (the book at issue, “American Aphrodite”, is available online; like a lot of “obscene” publications from that era, it reads like it was written by bright 14-year-olds who have never seen a naked woman)