Dillard V. the State of Georgia Dillinger, John

Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution. Dillinger, John 463 Dillard v. the State which the words were uttered. Concurring with the decision, Justice C. J. Brown approved of the of Georgia principles of decorum underlying the statute but expressed reservations about prosecuting an indi- Dillard v. the State of Georgia was an 1870 case vidual for language that is obscene or vulgar if that tried before the Supreme Court of Georgia. It con- individual takes no definite, physical steps toward templated obscene language as defined by section carrying out the intent conveyed in such language. 4306 of the Revised Code of Georgia. The deci- The concurrence recalls the long-standing principle sion of the court, and hence the interpretation of in Anglo-American law that thoughts alone are not obscenity pursuant to the statute, pivoted on the punishable. The question is whether the spoken intent of an offender in speaking certain words. word by itself constitutes an act and therefore sat- The court held that a man uses obscene or vulgar isfies the element of actus reus, or whether some language if, without provocation, and intending physical act besides verbal articulation is necessary to propose sexual intercourse, he asks a female in to prosecute an individual for a crime. his presence to “go to bed with him.” The court’s The Dillard case stands for the idea that the decision underscores a speaker’s purpose or objec- meaning of language—and, in particular, language tive when issuing certain words to bring about cer- deemed obscene—depends upon community con- tain results. It also implicates cultural notions of sensus and prevailing moral standards. The major- male chivalry and female virtue pertaining to lan- ity and concurring opinions in Dillard refer to guage and obscenity. The justice of the peace of ideals about womanhood and gentlemanliness as Oglethorpe County charged James T. Dillard with criteria by which to review obscenity. Phrases such using obscene and vulgar language in the presence as “decent ideas,” “public morals,” “protecting of Mary S. Sanders, William H. Sanders’s wife. females from insult,” “female whose modesty has Apparently without provocation on the part of been unlawfully shocked,” “virtuous woman,” Mrs. Sanders, Dillard asked Mrs. Sanders to go to “moral decency,” and “good breeding” signify bed with him. Mrs. Sanders summoned her hus- cultural touchstones. The tendency of an utterance band, in whose presence Dillard called Mrs. Sand- to become generally accepted or generally rejected ers a “God-damned liar.” At trial, Dillard waived determines its legal status as vulgar, obscene, or indictment by a grand jury. His attorney argued permissible. The judges in Dillard deemed that that Dillard’s words did not constitute obscene or Dillard’s words were not generally socially accept- vulgar language under section 4306. The justice able; therefore, his words were obscene. of the peace disagreed, finding Dillard guilty and imposing a fine of $100 plus costs, or three months Allen Mendenhall in jail if Dillard did not pay the fines and costs. Auburn University Dillard’s case reached the Supreme Court of Georgia on a claim of error in a motion in arrest See Also: Obscenity; Obscenity Laws; Sexual of judgment. The Supreme Court upheld all lower Harassment. court findings on the grounds that the legislature, in enacting section 4306, probably contemplated Further Readings both words and their corresponding mental state Dillard v. the State of Georgia, 41 Ga. 278 (1870). as requisites for the crime. The court suggested Friedman, Lawrence Meir. Crime and Punishment in that words are contingent and relational because American History. New York: Basic Books, 1993. their meaning is dependent upon context and cir- cumstance. Therefore, few if any words are uncon- ditionally and universally banned; the prosecution of particular words makes sense only in light of the vulgarity or obscenity of the ideas that they convey. Dillinger, John In the case at hand, Dillard’s words were prosecut- able because they signified a state of mind deemed American outlaw John Dillinger (1903–34) was a indecent according to the standards of society in controversial bank robber and desperado during Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution. 464 Dillinger, John the 1930s Depression. His uncanny ability to a fake gun. In the following month, while vaca- escape the clutches of the law—while apparently tioning in a northern Wisconsin tourist lodge, demonstrating coolness under fire, ingenuity, defi- Dillinger and his gang escaped unharmed despite ance, and an unfailing sense of humor—won him being surprised by more than a dozen agents of many admirers, especially among those who had the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Two become economic victims of untrustworthy banks. months later, when Attorney General Homer On the other hand, most law enforcement officials Cummings announced a $10,000 reward for regarded Dillinger as a bloodthirsty criminal with Dillinger’s capture, many newspapers labeled no redeeming qualities. Dillinger’s sudden death him “Public Enemy Number One.” The national and alleged betrayal by a mysterious woman have hunt for Dillinger ended on July 22, 1934, when only enhanced his legendary mystique. he was shot and killed by FBI agents as he was Dillinger was born June 22, 1903, in Indianap- leaving a Chicago movie theater in the company olis, Indiana, into a respectable, but not wealthy, of a woman who supposedly had betrayed him family. His father worked as a grocer and his to federal authorities. mother died when he was 3. Dillinger dropped out Nevertheless, Dillinger’s demise at age 31— of school after the eighth grade and held a series like the untimely death of several other youthful of unskilled jobs before enlisting in the navy at folk heroes—has seemed to confirm his reputa- the age of 20. However, military discipline did not tion as a cunning and charming Robin Hood–like suit Dillinger well; after several instances of deser- rogue who stole from rich banks but not from tion and disobeying orders, he was dishonorably poor people. Stories continued to circulate of discharged and returned home to Indiana. There, how Dillinger had written a letter to Henry Ford, he married a local farm girl, Beryl Hovious, in thanking the automaker for producing such 1924 but also befriended Edward Singleton, an fast getaway vehicles, or how he had brazenly older man with a criminal record. Dillinger and returned to his family’s farm in Indiana to enjoy Singleton were arrested for forcibly robbing a a Sunday dinner of fried chicken even while being grocery store. Pleading guilty to the crime, Dill- hunted by the FBI. inger received a harsh 10–20-year sentence and In subsequent years, several forms of popular served nearly nine years in Indiana state prison culture have further enhanced Dillinger’s repu- before he was paroled in 1933. tation. Ballads and popular songs have praised If Dillinger was not a hardened criminal before the outlaw’s courage and cleverness. Lawrence entering prison, he emerged as one afterward by Tierney, Nick Adams, Warren Oates, Robert most accounts. His wife had divorced him in 1929, Conrad, Martin Sheen, and Johnny Depp have and an ex-convict was unlikely to find steady all portrayed Dillinger sympathetically in Holly- employment in the midst of the Great Depression. wood feature films. A street gang in Washington, Like other 1930s outlaws already at large—such D.C., called itself the Young Dillingers. A math- as Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker, Charles “Pretty rock band from New Jersey became known as the Boy” Floyd, and the Barker gang—Dillinger and Dillinger Escape Plan. Delmar Arnaud, a singer his criminal accomplices embarked on a series of West Coast Gangsta Rap, adopted Daz Dill- of bank robberies throughout the Midwest, fre- inger as his stage name. quently moving from one heist to another in sto- Finally, several long-standing legends claim len cars, and often seizing weapons and ammuni- that Dillinger had the last laugh on his pursuers tion from police stations. by planning for another man, closely resembling Although Dillinger’s crime rampage in the fugitive, to be killed in his place in Chicago 1933–34 lasted only 14 months, it captured by the FBI. According to this theory, the real Dill- the imagination of an economically depressed inger escaped to Hollywood, California, and did populace. Many of Dillinger’s criminal exploits not disclose his fake death until he wrote a letter seemed almost too bold and daring to be true. to an Indianapolis newspaper 25 years later. For instance, after he was captured in Arizona and transferred to prison in Indiana, he some- James I. Deutsch how escaped five weeks later, perhaps by using Smithsonian Institution Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution. Dime Novels, Pulps, Thrillers 465 See Also: Bonnie and Clyde; Cummings, Homer; story papers, thick-book reprints, five-and ten- Federal Bureau of Investigation; Floyd, Charles cent weekly libraries, dime novels, and early Arthur; Great Depression; Hoover, J. Edgar; Nelson, pulp magazines. Although the last true dime nov- “Baby Face.” els were published during the 1920s and pulp magazines ceased publication during the 1950s, Further Readings descendants of the forms exist today, including Girardin, G. Russell, and William J. Helmer. comic books, mass-market paperback novels, Dillinger: The Untold Story. Bloomington: Indiana and television programs and films based upon University Press, 2005. popular genres first developed decades ago. Gorn, Elliott J. Dillinger’s Wild Ride: The Year That In 1860, the publishing house Beadle & Made America’s Public Enemy Number One. New Adams inaugurated Beadle’s Dime Novel Series York: Oxford University Press, 2009. with Ann S.

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