John M. Woolsey
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"[W]hilst in many places the effect of Ulysses on the reader undoubtedly is somewhat emetic, nowhere does it tend to be an aphrodisiac." --Judge John M. Woolsey |
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John M. Woolsey (January 3, 1877–May 4, 1945) was a federal judge in New York City, best-known for his decision in United States v. One Book Called Ulysses that James Joyce's novel Ulysses was not obscene and could lawfully be imported into the United States.
Woolsey's best-known decision was his 1933 ruling in United States v. One Book Called Ulysses that James Joyce's novel Ulysses was not obscene and could lawfully be imported into the United States. This decision, which came about in a test case engineered by Bennett Cerf of Random House, was affirmed by a 2-1 vote of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in an opinion by Judge Augustus N. Hand. Because Cerf reprinted Woolsey's opinion in all copies of Ulysses published by his firm, the opinion has been said to be the most widely distributed judicial opinion in history.