In the 1963 case Grove Press, Inc. v. Gerstein, State Attorney et al., the U.S Supreme Court addressed a dispute over whether or not Florida's obscenity laws were unconstitutional as they violated First Amendment rights to free speech and press. The controversy began when Richard Gerstein, the state attorney of Dade County in Florida, sought an injunction against Grove Press to prevent them from distributing copies of Henry Miller’s novel “Tropic of Cancer,” which he deemed obscene. In response, Grove Press filed suit claiming that Florida's obscenity statute was overly broad and vague thus violating their constitutional rights under both the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The District Court initially ruled in favor of Gerstein but on appeal by Grove Press; it was reversed by Circuit Court stating that only "hard-core pornography" could be suppressed under obscenity laws while literary works with some redeeming social value should be protected even if they contain explicit sexual content. However, this decision was later appealed to U.S Supreme court where it upheld Circuit court ruling thereby protecting freedom of expression for publishers like Grove press who distribute controversial literature.

In the dissenting opinion for Grove Press, Inc. v. Gerstein, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold Florida's obscenity law and its application in this case violated First Amendment rights of free speech and press. The dissent contended that the state had not met its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Henry Miller’s novel “Tropic of Cancer” was obscene under constitutional standards set by previous Supreme Court rulings such as Roth v United States (1957). It further criticized the majority for allowing local community standards rather than national ones to determine what constitutes obscenity, which could lead to inconsistent applications across different jurisdictions. Additionally, it pointed out flaws in how lower courts handled expert testimony on literary value during trial proceedings.