The defense moved to dismiss the indictments on the grounds that federal obscenity statutes violated the constitutional guarantees of privacy and liberty that were protected by the due process clause. Referencing "Lawrence v. Texas" and "Stanley v. Georgia," the defense argued there is a fundamental right to sexual privacy which includes the right to possess and view sexually explicit material in one's own home. The defense argued that this right was not affected by the fact that the material does not have any literary or artistic merit, and that since the federal obscenity laws imposed a complete ban on materials which people have the right to possess, they were unconstitutional.