Reno v. ACLU
· Case: Reno v. ACLU
· Year: 1997
· Result: 9-0, favor ACLU
· Related constitutional issue/amendment: Amendment 1: Speech, Press, and Assembly and Obscenity
· Civil rights or Civil liberties: Civil Liberties
· Precedent: The Court said that the 1996 Communications Decency Act violated the First Amendment because it was too broad in their definitions of the types of criminalized internet communications. The Act’s regulations resulted in a huge restriction of free speech. The Act didn’t define "indecent" communications and it didn’t show that the material as socially unnecessary.
· Quote from majority opinion: “At issue is the constitutionality of two statutory provisions enacted to protect minors from "indecent" and "patently offensive" communications on the Internet. Notwithstanding the legitimacy and importance of the congressional goal of protecting children from harmful materials, we agree with the three-judge District Court that the statute abridges "the freedom of speech" protected by the First Amendment.”
· Illustration/image: See Below
· 6-word summary: restriction free speech, Act to broad
· Year: 1997
· Result: 9-0, favor ACLU
· Related constitutional issue/amendment: Amendment 1: Speech, Press, and Assembly and Obscenity
· Civil rights or Civil liberties: Civil Liberties
· Precedent: The Court said that the 1996 Communications Decency Act violated the First Amendment because it was too broad in their definitions of the types of criminalized internet communications. The Act’s regulations resulted in a huge restriction of free speech. The Act didn’t define "indecent" communications and it didn’t show that the material as socially unnecessary.
· Quote from majority opinion: “At issue is the constitutionality of two statutory provisions enacted to protect minors from "indecent" and "patently offensive" communications on the Internet. Notwithstanding the legitimacy and importance of the congressional goal of protecting children from harmful materials, we agree with the three-judge District Court that the statute abridges "the freedom of speech" protected by the First Amendment.”
· Illustration/image: See Below
· 6-word summary: restriction free speech, Act to broad