Maryland State Board of Censors

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The Maryland State Board of Censors was a three-member state agency created in 1916 required to view all films to be shown in the state, and decide whether or not the films were "moral and proper." [1] Without approval of the agency, a film could not be legally shown in Maryland. [1] The agency was also charged with enforcing their decisions. The board was dissolved in 1981. Maryland was the last state in America to disband its censorship agency.

The first agency decision to be appealed was the board's decision to ban the pacifist film War Brides (1916). The film had been approved in March 1917 for showing in state theaters, but shortly after the United States entered World War I, the film was banned in 1917 as it might affect military recruitment and for its pacifism. In 1918 a Baltimore City circuit court upheld the censorship board's decision. [2] The court ruling was based on an Attorney General opinion that films calculated to obstruct or discourage recruitment were detrimental to the public morals. [2]

One agency decision against a film led to the Supreme Court case Freedman v. Maryland , 380 U.S. 51 (1965), which placed significant restrictions on state censorship statutes.[ citation needed ]

In 1970 the authority of the State Board of Censors was assigned to the newly created Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. [1] Due in part to rising costs of maintenance, the board was dissolved in 1981. At the time of its disbanding, it was the last state-specific film censorship agency in the United States. [3]

The censor board was the subject of a documentary film called Sickies Making Films, released in 2018. [4]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Maryland State Board of Censors." Maryland State Archives.
  2. 1 2 "War Brides Banned By Maryland Court". Exhibitors Herald. New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company. 6 (25): 16. June 15, 1918.
  3. ↑ Franklin, Ben A. (June 29, 1981). "Last State Board of Censors Fades Away After 65 Years". The New York Times . Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Sickies Making Films". The Video Project. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
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