[1][2][3] At the time of this case, § 1461 of Title 18 prohibited the mailing of any "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance..."[3] § 1461 provided for fines and/or up to five years imprisonment for first offenders, and up to ten years for later offenses.

[4] Two years earlier, in Stanley v. Georgia (1969), the Court had found a constitutional right to possess pornographic materials.

[5] In 1970, Norman Reidel advertised, sold, and mailed copies of his $1 booklet, The True Facts about Imported Pornography, to adult-identified customers.

[3] The Court heard and decided this case along with United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs.

[1] Justice Hugo Black, joined by Justice William O. Douglas, dissented in both this case and in Thirty-seven Photographs case, arguing that § 1461 was unconstitutional, that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution "denies Congress the power to act as censor".