Court Upholds Child Porn Law

Justices overturn ruling that measure was too broad
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 19, 2008 12:11 PM CDT
Court Upholds Child Porn Law
The steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building are shown in this 2000 file photo in Washington.    (AP Photo/Pat Benic, FILE)

The Supreme Court today upheld a tough federal child pornography law in a 7-2 decision, the Los Angeles Times reports. The law makes it illegal to offer or seek child porn online, even if there is no actual pornography, or if the images are computer-generated rather than of actual children. The decision overturns an appeals-court ruling that the law infringed on free speech.

“We hold that offers to provide or requests to obtain child pornography are categorically excluded from the 1st Amendment,” said Justice Antonin Scalia, dismissing “fancy hypotheticals” about the law being used to go after Hollywood movies. (More US Supreme Court stories.)

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