In the case of Robert-Arthur Management Corp. v. Tennessee ex rel. Canale, District Attorney General (1967), the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tennessee, upholding a state law that allowed for censorship of movies before they were shown to the public. The plaintiff, Robert-Arthur Management Corporation had challenged this law on grounds that it violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression by imposing prior restraint on motion pictures without providing adequate procedural safeguards against arbitrary or unreasonable censorship decisions. However, the court held that while films are indeed protected under free speech and press provisions in First Amendment, states have legitimate interest in regulating commerce within its borders which includes controlling content exhibited at movie theaters for reasons such as protecting societal standards or public morality.

In the dissenting opinion for Robert-Arthur Management Corp. v. Tennessee ex rel. Canale, District Attorney General, 1967 case, Justice Marshall argued that the majority's decision to uphold a state law banning interracial dancing in public establishments was not only unconstitutional but also perpetuated racial discrimination and segregation. He contended that such laws were designed to maintain white supremacy by preventing social interaction between races and thus violated both the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations respectively. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority’s view that this issue should be left to states' discretion as it undermined federal authority over civil rights matters.