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For Immediate Release - February 26, 2002
Contact information below
In a lawsuit brought by a broad array of media and civil liberties
plaintiffs, a United States District Court in Tucson, Arizona
held unconstitutional and permanently enjoined the enforcement
of an Arizona statute criminalizing the intentional or knowing
transmission over the Internet to a minor of material considered
"harmful to minors" as defined by Arizona law. ACLU v. Napolitano,
No. CIV 00-0505TUC AM. The Court, holding the statute unconstitutional
under both the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and its
First Amendment, found the statute overbroad, unconstitutionally
vague and violative of the Commerce Clause because Arizona has
no legitimate interest in protecting persons outside of Arizona
from speech that Arizona deems to be harmful to minors.
The plaintiffs, who filed the suit in the summer of 2000, included
Media Coalition members
American Booksellers Foundation
For Free Expression, Association
of American Publishers, Inc., Freedom
to Read Foundation, Inc., Magazine
Publishers of America, National Association of Recording Merchandisers,
Periodical and Book Association
of America, Publishers
Marketing Association, Recording
Industry Association of America, Inc., and Video
Software Dealers Association, Also plaintiffs were the ACLU
and a number of websites. While the Arizona legislature last year
amended the law after the lawsuit had commenced in an apparent
attempt to avoid the law being invalidated, the federal court's
February 19, 2002 order held that the further amendment was unconstitutional
as well.
Michael A. Bamberger of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in New
York, one of the counsel for plaintiffs, stated, "We are gratified
but not surprised by the result. Similar laws have been uniformly
held unconstitutional, including those in New York, New Mexico,
Virginia and Michigan."
For further information, contact Michael A. Bamberger at 212-768-6756
or David Horowitz 212-587-4025. If you would like to speak with
one of the plaintiffs, you may call Christopher Finan, President,
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, 212-587-4025.
The American Civil Liberties Union recently argued a Supreme Court
challenge to a federal version of an Internet "harmful to minors"
law in Ashcroft v. ACLU. A ruling in that case is expected this
summer. For more information, click here
or contact Emily Whitfield at 212-549-2566 or ewhitfield@aclu.org.
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