Reno v. ACLU
- Reno v. ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
- the CDA violated both the first and fifth amendment.
- the Act criminalized the intentional transmission of "obscene or indecent" messages
- 1997
the first and fifth amendments are being violated.
the ACLU argued that children should not be subject to indecent material of any kind on the internet so there should be no indecent material on the internet.
Attorney General Reno appealed the case due to the unconstitutional content of the case (freedom of speech and expression)
- the court decided that the Act violated the first amendment because it restricted freedom of speech.
- the Act could be saved if the words "or indecent" were taken out of its text
- the court refused to address the fifth amendment issue.
- now there is more restriction on the internet but it still needs work.
- children can still get access to an "adult" web site
- there are restrictions on certain types of web sites
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reno_v._American_Civil_Liberties_Union
www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1996/1996_96_511/
Constitutional Issue
www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-511.ZS.html
Info.
Constitutional POV
by Amanda Johnson
Impact on the Country
Unconstitutional POV
Supreme Court Decision