## Facts

- Luke Records, Inc. and members of 2 Live Crew produced and distributed the album *As Nasty As They Wanna Be*.
- The Broward County Sheriff took steps intended to deter local record stores from selling the album, asserting it was obscene under Florida law.
- The plaintiffs sued in federal court seeking (1) an injunction barring interference with sales and (2) a declaration that the album was not obscene under Fla. Stat. § 847.011 and the First Amendment.
- After a bench trial, the district court enjoined the Sheriff’s conduct as an unconstitutional prior restraint but separately entered a declaratory judgment that the album was obscene under *Miller v. California* and Florida law.
- The Sheriff did not appeal the injunction; the plaintiffs appealed only the declaratory judgment of obscenity.

## Issues

1. Whether the album *As Nasty As They Wanna Be* was obscene under the *Miller* test and therefore unprotected by the First Amendment.
2. Whether the Sheriff carried the burden of proving each element of obscenity, particularly that the work, taken as a whole, lacked serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s declaratory judgment that the album was obscene.
- The court held the Sheriff failed to meet his burden under *Miller*, especially on the “serious value” prong.
- The court indicated *Miller* must be applied to the work “as a whole,” including lyrics and music (assuming the music is not a sham), even if the obscenity claim targets lyrical content.
- The injunction against the Sheriff’s interference with sales remained in effect because it was not appealed.

## Legal Principles

- A work is obscene only if all three *Miller* prongs are satisfied: (1) prurient appeal under contemporary community standards, (2) patently offensive depiction of sexual conduct as defined by state law, and (3) lack of serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value when taken as a whole.
- The government bears the burden to prove each *Miller* element, including the absence of serious value.
- A court should not substitute a judge’s personal reaction for an evidentiary record sufficient to support findings on community standards and serious value.
- Where the government’s evidentiary showing is insufficient even under a preponderance standard, an appellate court may reverse without deciding whether a higher standard of proof applies in a civil obscenity proceeding.

## Conclusion

The Eleventh Circuit set aside the obscenity declaration because the Sheriff did not present adequate evidence—particularly on the lack of serious artistic value—to satisfy *Miller*, leaving the album protected by the First Amendment and the unappealed injunction against enforcement pressure intact.


Luke Records, Inc. v. Navarro, 960 F.2d 134 (11th Cir. 1992)