Alexander v. United States
United States Supreme Court
509 U.S. 544 (1993)
Alexander (defendant), who ran a large adult-entertainment business, was convicted of obscenity and RICO violations and ordered to forfeit his wholesale and retail businesses, all related assets, and nearly $9 million as punishment for his racketeering activity; the government opted to destroy the forfeited expressive materials rather than sell them, and Alexander argued the forfeiture, by effectively shutting down his expressive business, functioned as an unconstitutional prior restraint akin to the injunction struck down in Near v. Minnesota.
Whether a court-ordered forfeiture of the assets of a business convicted of obscenity violations constitutes a prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment.