The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a 2003 federal law aimed at child pornography, concluding in a 7-to-2 opinion that a federal appeals court was wrong to find the law unconstitutionally vague. NYT reports, including specifics on the US v. Williams case.
The ruling scathingly rejected contentions that the 2003 legislation was so broadly written that it could make it a crime to share or even describe depictions of children in explicit sexual situations, even if the depictions are inaccurate, the children do not really exist and the intention is innocent.
Monday’s decision reinstated the conviction of Michael Williams of Florida, who was caught in a federal undercover operation in April 2004 and found guilty later of “pandering” child pornography, a charge defined in part as promoting or distributing real or “purported” material in a way that reflects the belief — or is intended to persuade another — that the material is indeed child pornography.
Lawyers on behalf of Williams challenged the “pandering” charge, which carries a five-year sentence, asserting that it was so “overly broad” as to violate the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found that argument persuasive, reasoning that offering a copy of “Snow White” on false claims that it depicts minors engaging in sex could be construed as criminal behavior.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a 2003 federal law aimed at child pornography, concluding in a 7-to-2 opinion that a federal appeals court was wrong to find the law unconstitutionally vague. NYT reports, including specifics on the US v. Williams case.
The ruling scathingly rejected contentions that the 2003 legislation was so broadly written that it could make it a crime to share or even describe depictions of children in explicit sexual situations, even if the depictions are inaccurate, the children do not really exist and the intention is innocent.
Monday’s decision reinstated the conviction of Michael Williams of Florida, who was caught in a federal undercover operation in April 2004 and found guilty later of “pandering” child pornography, a charge defined in part as promoting or distributing real or “purported” material in a way that reflects the belief — or is intended to persuade another — that the material is indeed child pornography.
Lawyers on behalf of Williams challenged the “pandering” charge, which carries a five-year sentence, asserting that it was so “overly broad” as to violate the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found that argument persuasive, reasoning that offering a copy of “Snow White” on false claims that it depicts minors engaging in sex could be construed as criminal behavior.
But Justice Scalia dismissed the 11th Circuit’s finding, its reliance on what he considered far-fetched hypothetical situations and the notion that the statute under review would cause all sorts of fact-finding problems.
Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg were the dissenters.
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