Federal Court Rules COPA Unconstitutional
By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 7/23/2008
The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) has been struck down again. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld a lower court ban on the controversial law, which would criminalize constitutionally protected speech on the Internet.
In a unanimous opinion, the court affirmed theDisctrict Court's March 22, 2007 order that the law was unconstitutional. COPA, which has never been enforced, criminalizes Web sites—including educational health sites—that allow children to access materials that are deemed “harmful to minors” by “contemporary community standards” and imposes penalties of $50,000 per day and up to six months in prison.
The day after COPA became law on October 21, 1998, the American Civil Liberties Union representing a broad coalition of writers, artists, and health educators with a diverse Web presence—filed action in the District Court seeking an injunction barring COPA’s enforcement.
A federal district court and a federal appeals court found that the online censorship law violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. The Supreme Court in June 2004 upheld that decision, effectively banning enforcement of the law and sending the case back to the district court. A district judge in March 2007 once again struck down COPA, and the government again appealed. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the ban.
"Throughout the history of legal challenges to COPA, we have argued that the most effective way to protect children online, and the means least restrictive of free expression, is to give families the resources to control what their children see and do online," said John Morris, general counsel of the Center for Democracy Technology, which promotes democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. "This empowers parents, respects the First Amendment and acknowledges the diverse sensibilities of American families."
