Justice Department Asks Supreme Court
to Overturn COPA Injunction
The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court injunction blocking enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act, which requires commercial Web sites to obtain proof of age before delivering material considered harmful to minors. Attorney General John Ashcroft filed a petition for certiorari in February, asking the court to determine whether a three-judge panel from the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted properly in calling the law’s community standards clause overly broad.
The plaintiffs in the case are the American Civil Liberties Union and 17 online content providers. David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has served as co-counsel and plaintiff with the ACLU, told Newsbytes online news service that although the Supreme Court denies most such requests, it is likely to respond favorably to a petition from the Justice Department regarding a law’s constitutionality.
A reply from the ACLU and EPIC to the Justice Department’s brief is due in mid-March, but Sobel said they have asked for a one-month extension.
Posted March 12, 2001.
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