WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, said today
’s decision by the Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Protect Act of 2003
– a measure designed to combat child pornography
– is a
“very sound and reasoned
” decision that gives the government the tools it needs to hold child pornographers accountable. The ACLJ
’s amicus brief represented 18 members of Congress
– including five co-sponsors of the Protect Act. The 7-2 decision comes in the case of
U.S. v. Williams (No. 06-694). “This is a very sound and reasoned decision that is long overdue,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which represented members of Congress in this case. “It’s encouraging to see the high court finally give the government the tools it needs to punish those who pander or promote child pornography. It’s a well thought out decision that respects the First Amendment while reaching the proper conclusion that Congress acted appropriately and constitutionally in moving to battle child pornography online. We’re very pleased that the high court moved to protect the most vulnerable of our society – our children.”
In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia concluded that the statute “raises no constitutional problems whatever” and correctly rejected arguments that the Protect Act violates the First Amendment. Justice Scalia wrote: “In sum, we hold that offers to provide or requests to obtain child pornography are categorically excluded from the First Amendment.”
The majority opinion concluded: “Child pornography harms and debases the most defenseless of our citizens. Both the State and Federal Governments have sought to supress it for many years, only to find it proliferating through the new medium of the Internet. This Court held unconstitutional Congress's previous attempt to meet this new threat, and Congress responded with a carefully crafted attempt to eliminate the First Amendment problems we identified. As far as the provision at issue in this case is concerned, that effort was successful.”
The ACLJ represented itself and 18 members of Congress – including five co-sponsors of the Protect Act: Senator Tom Coburn and Representatives J. Gresham Barrett, Marsha Blackburn, Tom Cole, John Culberson, John Doolittle, Tom Feeney, Luis G. Fortuno, Trent Franks, Virgil H. Goode, Bob Inglis, Sam Johnson, Steve King, Joseph R. Pitts, Lamar Smith, Timothy Walberg, Dave Weldon, and Lynn A. Westmoreland. The five co-sponsors of the Protect Act represented in the brief are: Representatives Blackburn, Feeney, Franks, King, and Smith.
In its amicus brief, the ACLJ urged the high court to overturn a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that declared a provision of the Protect Act 2003 unconstitutional. The ACLJ contended that Congress acted properly when it included this provision in the measure: “Any person who knowingly advertises, promotes, presents, distributes or solicits … a visual depiction” of a child engaged in sex commits a crime, whether or not the material exists.
Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.
ACLJ
MEDIA CONTACTS:
For Print:
Gene Kapp, 757-575-9520
or
For Broadcast:
Christy Lynn Wilson or Todd Shearer, 770-813-0000
Visit ACLJ Newsroom: www.DeMossNewsPond.com/aclj
