Court Strikes Down Vermont’s
Harmful-to-Minors Statute
A federal judge has enjoined the state of Vermont from enforcing a law passed in 2000 to limit the transmission across the Internet of material deemed harmful to minors. U.S. District Judge Garvan Murtha ruled in American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Dean April 19 that the statute “broadly restricts indecent—though constitutionally protected—speech by adults in an attempt to restrict that speech from reaching minors.”
The law gave the state jurisdiction over material on a computer if it is found offensive to minors; however, it made exceptions for persons working in schools, museums, and public libraries, according to an April 23 Associated Press report.
The American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Foundation joined ABFFE, the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, and six other plaintiffs last year in a suit that challenged the constitutionality of the law, which is similar to others successfully challenged in Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, and Michigan.
David Putter, a Montpelier lawyer who represented the ACLU, said during the trial, “The state’s need to protect minors can be effectively addressed by two other statutes that don’t regulate the content of legal adult speech,” namely laws criminalizing the possession of child pornography and using the Internet to entice children into committing sexual acts.
Posted April 29, 2002.
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