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MINNEAPOLIS – Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council, called today’s
U.S. Supreme Court decision against a law meant to protect children from online pornography, “another victory for pornographers over the interests of kids and families.” The High Court ruled that the federal Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which was designed to punish commercial pornographers who post pornographic images on the Internet within easy access to children, likely represents an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The legislation, signed into law in 1998 by President Bill Clinton, required commercial porn websites to ID adults through use of a credit card, adult access code, or other means in order to prevent access by minor children to “material harmful to minors.” In a 5-4 split, the High Court justices sent the case back to a lower court to see if there are any less restrictive alternatives, such as filtering software, to preventing minor’s access to porn. “This is not an issue of free speech,” said Prichard. “It is an issue of protecting our children. Kids don’t have a constitutional right to pornography. Pornography is an enormous problem on the Internet, and these peddlers of smut will use every tool at their disposal to hook the next generation on this destructive material. ” Prichard added that Justice Kennedy majority’s opinion suggesting that filtering might well be a “least restrictive alternative” is merely a smokescreen. “Filters aren’t going to protect kids from the ubiquitous nature of pornography. What child can’t easily find a computer without a filter to gain access to pornography? The effect of this opinion is to leave kids and parents at the mercy of pornographers. Kids can’t access pornography in the local convenience store but within seconds they can access it on the Internet. Justice Breyer was right in his dissenting opinion when he said that the law helped achieve a ‘compelling congressional goal, protecting children from exposure to commercial pornography.’” Prichard added that sending the case back to a court that already struck it down is not a very positive sign. “It’s disconcerting that five judges, when it comes to pornography, tilt in favor of pornographers. Parents and communities have their hands tied behind their backs when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, children, from some of the most outrageous material imaginable.” |
The Minnesota Family Council is Minnesota's largest nonprofit, non-partisan pro-family organization.
Minnesota Family Council / Minnesota Family Institute
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