Supreme Court Hears Arguments
in COPA Challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments November 28 regarding the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act, which bans commercial Web sites from allowing visitors under 18 to access material deemed harmful to minors. Passed in 1998, the law has never been enforced due to injunctions and lower-court decisions won by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 17 plaintiffs. ALA’s Freedom to Read Foundation filed an amicus brief in September 1999 for the plaintiffs in Ashcroft v. ACLU, which include the Sexual Health Network, a Web-based information resource for people with disabilities.
The arguments focused on whether local community standards or a national standard applied. Solicitor Ted Olson contended that Congress “felt there was not much variation in what the average adult would think was harmful to minors,” according to the November 28 New York Times. An exchange between Justice Stephen Breyer and ACLU attorney Ann Beeson seemed to disprove Olson’s argument.
When Breyer asked Beeson if any material existed that was educational or artistic for adults but prurient for minors, Beeson replied that some people might deem information on sexuality to be age-inappropriate. Breyer retorted, “I can’t think of anything,” the November 29 Chicago Tribune reported. Beeson reiterated her position, asserting, “National standards would be an exercise in futility.”
A ruling is expected by July 2002.
Posted December 3, 2001.
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