In the case of Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan et al., 1962, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bantam Books and held that Rhode Island's Commission to Encourage Morality in Youth had violated First Amendment rights by informally censoring certain publications deemed "objectionable". The commission was not officially authorized to ban books but sent notices to distributors listing objectionable books which resulted in an informal system of censorship as distributors stopped carrying listed titles out of fear for legal repercussions. The court found this practice unconstitutional because it suppressed free speech without any judicial oversight or due process protections for publishers and authors. This landmark decision reinforced freedom of expression principles under the First Amendment, emphasizing that government bodies cannot suppress literature based on its content without a formal legal procedure.

In the dissenting opinion for Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan et al., Justice Harlan argued that the Rhode Island Commission to Encourage Morality in Youth did not violate First Amendment rights of free speech and press as it only issued advisory notices about potentially objectionable material and had no legal power to ban books or prosecute publishers. He believed that this case was a matter of state regulation rather than federal constitutional law, asserting that states should have the right to protect minors from obscene materials without interference from federal courts unless there is clear evidence of abuse or overreach. Furthermore, he contended that since no formal legal action was taken against Bantam Books by the commission or any other government body, their claim of censorship lacked merit.