supremes to discriminate reality from images, censorship
Blank Frank
bf at mindspring.com
Mon Jan 22 10:47:17 PST 2001
Jan 22, 2001 - 10:29 AM
Justices Will Review Ban on
Virtual Kiddie Porn
By Laurie Asseo
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court agreed
Monday to decide whether Congress can attack
child pornography by banning computer-altered
pictures that only appear to show minors involved in
sexual activity.
The court said it will hear the government's argument
that by banning sexual images that do not actually
portray children, a 1996 law "helps to stamp out the
market for child pornography involving real children."
A coalition of adult-oriented businesses that
challenged the ban says it violates free-speech
rights, and a San Francisco-based federal appeals
court agreed.
The Child Pornography Prevention Act expanded a
long-standing ban on child pornography to prohibit
any image that "appears to be" or "conveys the
impression" of someone under 18 engaged in
sexually explicit conduct.
The law targeted computer technology that can be
used to alter an innocent picture of a child into a
depiction of a child engaged in sex.
The Free Speech Coalition, a California-based trade
association of adult-oriented businesses, challenged
the law in federal court. The group said it opposes
child pornography, but that films and photos
produced by its members could wrongly be deemed
to show minors engaged in sexual conduct.
The group did not challenge a section of the law that
banned the use of identifiable children in
computer-altered sexual images.
A federal judge upheld the law, but the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals decided in December 1999
the provisions challenged by the coalition violated the
Constitution's free-speech protection. The court said
the government did not show a connection between
computer-generated child pornography and the
exploitation of actual children.
Several other appeals courts have upheld the
provisions, and in the appeal acted on Monday,
Justice Department lawyers asked the nation's
highest court to resolve the conflict.
The government has a compelling interest in
preventing the sexual abuse and exploitation of
children, government lawyers said, adding that
pedophiles often use pictures to seduce other
children into sexual activity.
Because it is hard to distinguish computer-generated
pictures from those actually portraying children
involved in sex, "The government may find it
impossible in many cases to prove that a
pornographic image is of a real child," Justice
Department lawyers said.
The Free Speech Coalition's lawyers said that even
without the disputed provisions, the 1996 law
"remains a comprehensive and effective tool for
fighting the real evils of child pornography."
The case is Reno v. Free Speech Coalition, 00-795.
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