On this day in 1970, John Lennon’s confiscated Bag One Lithographs were returned

 After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, Lennon drew a series of lithographs depicting his wedding ceremony, honeymoon and one of the bed-ins for peace. These drawings remained unused however, until 1970 when an exhibition was held in January at the London Arts Gallery in Mayfair as a means to display the artworks.

The exhibition would be short-lived though, as the Obscene Publications Squad of the British police raided the gallery two days after its opening and removed eight of the drawings on the grounds of indecent material, namely erotic imagery. Members of the art world and fans of Lennon argued that the raid was unnecessary censorship and shouldn’t be pursued further. Despite this support, the case was brought before the courts in April.

 A 160 years old law was used in the summons, which alleged the gallery had “exhibited eight indecent prints to the annoyance of passengers.” This outdated law was difficult to prove, and the defence simply put forward that the audience of the prints had not been annoyed in any way by them. By the time the judge made his verdict, much of the court was laughing and the case was promptly dismissed, and the drawings returned to the gallery.