Judge Halts Enforcement
of Virginia Internet Porn Law
A federal judge has barred Virginia from enforcing a state law passed in April 1999 that criminalizes Internet content deemed “harmful to minors.” ALA’s Freedom to Read Foundation had joined a lawsuit in October, brought by the Internet service provider PSINet and the advocacy group People for the American Way Foundation, that challenged the statute on constitutional grounds.
U.S. District Judge James H. Michael Jr. ruled that the law, which criminalizes the selling, lending, or renting of sexually explicit text or graphics over the Internet to juveniles, violates the First Amendment rights of online users. The 31-page opinion said that Internet businesses would have “no practical way of preventing minors” from viewing material online “except to eliminate the materials altogether,” the August 10 Washington Post reported.
“There are many voluntary options available to parents who worry about the Internet content available to their children,” said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way Foundation, in a news release. “The important word missing from the language of this law is: voluntary.”
Posted August 14, 2000.
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