A bookseller named Ben Fremont sells The Seven Minutes to Jeffrey Griffith, a college student with no history of violence.

Sanford, believing the book is an artistic masterpiece and that legal action represents a dangerous precedent, calls upon his old friend, attorney Michael Barrett, to defend Fremont.

In fact, much of his testimony is motivated by a desire to separate sexual openness and honesty, which he believes is a public good, from harmful exploitation.

Weisfeld's case (New York v. Bookcase, Inc.) was well publicized in its time and played a key role in a series of crucial rulings regarding 1st amendment protection of literary works.

[1] The book was made into the film The Seven Minutes, directed by Russ Meyer in 1971, with Philip Carey, John Carradine, Wayne Maunder, Tom Selleck, and Yvonne De Carlo.