way, the result would be that anybody buying or selling movies without knowing their content might be held criminally liable. This was the basis for the Ninth Circuit Court finding the law in violation of the First Amendment. Supreme Court The decision was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. With a majority of 7–2, they ruled to reverse the decision of the Ninth Circuit and uphold the criminal conviction. They explained that if a law can be interpreted in a way that is constitutional, then that interpretation must be used rather than declaring the law unconstitutional. In effect, they made the word "knowingly" extend to the other clauses. Justice Antonin Scalia filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Clarence Thomas joined. In Scalia's dissent, he acknowledged this rule but only in cases where the new interpretation does not need an ungrammatical reading of the statute. Gottesman was incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas and released on June 20, 1997. See also List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 513 List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment References External links United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court United States statutory interpretation case law United States obscenity case law United States pornography law 1994 in United States case law Traci Lords