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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