On February 19, the U.S. District Court in Tucson, Arizona, issued a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of a 2000 Arizona law that criminalized the online dissemination to Arizonans younger than 18 of material considered harmful to minors. A coalition that included the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Foundation as well as publishers, entertainment associations, Web-site owners, and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in mid-2000 challenging the law’s constitutionality. U.S. District Judge Alfredo Marquez issued a temporary injunction barring enforcement in August 2000.
“We are grateful but not surprised by the result,” commented plaintiff attorney Michael A. Bamberger in a statement released by the Media Coalition. “Similar laws have been uniformly held unconstitutional, including those in New York, New Mexico, Virginia, and Michigan.” The statement also noted that Judge Marquez also declared unconstitutional an amendment tacked onto the original statute.
Plaintiffs challenged the law on the basis that it impinges free speech and violates the Commerce Clause, which prohibits a state from enacting laws that proscribe the activities of people outside state lines.
Posted March 4, 2002.