The Jacobellis v. Ohio case in 1963 revolved around the issue of obscenity and freedom of expression under the First Amendment. Nico Jacobellis, a manager at Heights Art Theatre in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was convicted for showing a French film deemed obscene by local authorities. The Supreme Court overturned his conviction on appeal with a 6-3 decision stating that the film was not obscene and hence protected by the First Amendment. This case is famously known for Justice Potter Stewart's concurring opinion where he stated that while he could not clearly define pornography or "hard-core" obscenity, "I know it when I see it." Despite this subjective view failing to provide clear guidelines about what constitutes obscenity, it highlighted how difficult defining such material can be within legal parameters.

In the dissenting opinion for Jacobellis v. Ohio, Justice Hugo Black and Justice John Harlan argued that the First Amendment does not protect obscenity, which they believed was clearly defined by community standards. They disagreed with the majority's view that only "hard-core" pornography could be regulated by states. Instead, they asserted that any material deemed obscene under a state’s standard should be subject to regulation without federal interference unless it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that said material is not obscene. Furthermore, both justices criticized their colleagues' attempts to define obscenity or differentiate between various types of explicit content as unnecessary and subjective exercises in personal taste rather than objective legal judgment.