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(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an
international public interest law firm, said today a ruling by U.S. Supreme Court striking
down as unconstitutional provisions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) –
a law that bans “virtual” child porn – gives pornographers the green light
to engage in Internet porn and fails to close a legal loophole at the expense of our
children. The ACLJ represented 18 members of Congress in a friend-of-the-court brief
urging the Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the law.
“We’re extremely disappointed with this decision,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief
Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed the brief in support of the law. “The Supreme Court
clears the way for pornographers to use the First Amendment as a shield and gives them a
green light to engage in this kind of Internet activity. The court failed to close a legal
loophole that can only diminish efforts to protect children and punish pornographers. The
decision sadly will make the job of law enforcement that much more difficult in the
pursuit of porn operators who target children.”
In a 6-3 vote in the case of Ashcroft v. The Free Speech Coalition, the Supreme Court
today said language in the 1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act was unconstitutionally
vague and far-reaching. The court found two provisions of the law overly broad and
unconstitutional.
When Congress passed the CPPA, the law expanded a long-standing ban on child porn to
prohibit any image that “appears to be” or “conveys the impression” of
someone under the age of 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The law targeted
computer technologies that can be used to alter an innocent picture of a child into a
depiction of a child engaged in sex.
The ACLJ filed its friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 18 members of Congress who
support the law. They included Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and the following members of the
U.S. House of Representatives: Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), House Majority Leader Rep.
Richard K. Armey (R-TX), Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), Rep. Michael Collins (R-GA), Rep. Randy
Cunningham (R-CA), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA), Rep. Duncan L. Hunter
(R-CA), Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), Rep. Ernest Jim Istook, Jr. (R-OK), Rep. Walter B.
Jones, Jr. (R-NC), Rep. Steve Largent (R-OK), Rep. Charles Pickering (R-MS), Rep. Joseph
R. Pitts (R-PA), Rep. Bob Riley (R-AL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Rep. J.C. Watts
(R-OK).
The ACLJ also has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Ashcroft v. ACLU, a case involving
a 1998 law – the Child Online Protection Act – a law that makes it a crime to
knowingly place objectionable material where a child could find it on the Internet. A
decision by the Supreme Court could come at any time in that case.
The ACLJ is an international public interest law firm focusing on constitutional issues
that is based in Virginia. The web site address is www.aclj.org.
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