Ohio's past embrace of film censorship

Flashback: The "Division of Film Censorship" dated back to the 1910s and operated under the state's education department.

• Two officials reviewed all films before they could be shown to the public and approved only those of "a moral, educational or amusing and harmless character."

• A cartoon parodying New Deal politics was censored in 1936 for disrespecting the president, as was a 1949 film dramatizing the dangers of smoking marijuana.

The big picture: By 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court took up a case challenging the law, Ohio was one of just six states still censoring movies.

The intrigue: Officials may have been motivated by more than just obscenity, as the state charged movie studios a fee for each film reel reviewed.

• Ohio raked in $40 million over the years, which funded public education and other state programs.

Eventually, a string of court rulings rendered the law unenforceable.

• Lawmakers tried to reinstate censorship rules over the years, but failed as public support waned.
• Movie studios got their revenge — In 1972, Ohio repaid them hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees collected decades prior.