IP: ACLU Advisory on TRO Ruling

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

[ As a non lawyer I still dont know what  "patently offensive" means. djf


 ***Media Advisory***


        ACLU v Reno: Update


        Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order on Indecency Provisions;
        ACLU Claims Partial Victory, But Warns Netizens to Beware


        Judge Agrees with ACLU that vague "indecency" provisions are
unconstitutional
        Denies TRO on "patently offensive" material
        Denies TRO on Comstock law abortion provisions, asserting "no
irreparable harm"
        Three-judge panel convened for a full hearing on the case
------------------------------------------------------------------------------




1.      In the first ruling on the constitutionality of the Communications
Decency Act, federal Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter today granted a temporary
restraining order enjoining the government from prosecuting so-called
indecency on the
Internet.


2.      The judge denied, with minimal comment, the motions for restraining
orders on prosecution for "patently offensive material" and on the
"Comstock Law" provisions of the act.   ACLU Attorney Chris Hansen, who is
leading the litigation, said that while the judge's ruling recognized the
need for robust speech on the Internet, the line was drawn in the wrong
place regarding the other censorship provisions of the law.  He added that
the government would now be free to prosecute on those grounds and that the
Internet community should beware.


3.      In denying the TRO on the Comstock provision of the law, Judge
Buckwalter stated that plaintiffs would not suffer any immediate harm.  The
judge found a basis for this assertion in  a letter to Vice President Gore
in which Attorney General Janet Reno conceded that the provision is
unconstitutional.
 Laura Abel, an attorney for the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project and a
litigator on the case, noted that the letter is not a legally binding
document and the Justice Department remains free to prosecute at any future
time.


4.      A three-judge panel was convened to hear the case, although a date
was not yet set.  The judges on the panel are: Chief Judge Dolores K.
Sloviter, Judge Stuart Dalzell, and Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter.  Attorney
Chris Hansen said that he was hopeful that the court  would ultimately rule
that the "patently offensive" and Comstock law restrictions were equally
damaging to First Amendment rights.


        Complete information on the lawsuit, including Judge Buckwalter's
ruling, is available via ACLU's new "Freedom Network" World Wide Web page,
 <<http://www.aclu.org>>,  and via the ACLU's Constitution Hall forum on
America Online.


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