Supreme Court to weigh adult industry's challenge to Texas law
![Supreme Court to weigh adult industry's challenge to Texas law](https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/scotus_062024gn01_w.jpg?w=900)
The Supreme Court has indicated it will take up a case next term involving the adult entertainment industry’s challenge to a Texas law requiring pornography sites to implement age-verification measures.
The Free Speech Coalition, a trade association representing the industry, is asking the court to reinstate an order blocking the Lone Star State’s enforcement of the law, which it argues violates the First Amendment.
“While purportedly seeking to limit minors’ access to online sexual content, the Act imposes significant burdens on adults’ access to constitutionally protected expression,” the petition reads.
“Of central relevance here, it requires every user, including adults, to submit personally identifying information to access sensitive, intimate content over a medium—the Internet—that poses unique security and privacy concerns,” it continues.
The law requires pornography sites to use age-verification measures to determine that visitors to the sites are at least 18 years old and to post warnings about the alleged harms of pornography.
A district judge blocked Texas from enforcing the law shortly before it was set to go into effect last September. However, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals partially reversed the lower court’s ruling in March.
The federal appeals court overturned the order barring enforcement of the age-verification requirements but maintained that the pornography sites could not be forced to post warnings about their content.
Following the decision, Pornhub disabled its site in Texas, arguing that requiring people to provide identification every time they visit the site is “not an effective solution for protecting users online.”
The Free Speech Coalition filed its petition with the Supreme Court in April, also seeking a stay pending the court’s decision. However, the high court rejected its request to block the law in the meantime.
Age-verification laws, like the one in Texas, have proliferated at the state-level in recent years both for websites that host adult content and for social media platforms, prompting numerous legal challenges from groups like the Free Speech Coalition and NetChoice.
Date: |
Filter
-
The Guardian - World
The supreme court’s presidential immunity ruling mocks the rule of law | Corey Brettschneider
Citizens must make this presidential election about rescuing our democracy from authoritarianism. The US supreme court found this week that former presidents have presumptive immunity from prosecution for “official acts”. This ruling doesn’t just ... -
NBC News - Top stories
19-year-old nude dancer sues Florida over law restricting age at adult entertainment businesses
A 19-year-old nude dancer alleges that a new Florida law raising the age limit on who is employed by adult entertainment businesses infringes on her constitutional rights.Florida -
CBS News - Top stories
Takeaways from the Supreme Court's historic term
The Supreme Court handles the tough cases, so every term is notable, but this one in particular reshaped vast parts of the American system of government and touched some of the most sensitive cultural issues of our time. New York Times reporter ... -
The Wall Street Journal - World
The Supreme Court's 'Hubris' to Do Its Own Job
Judges—along with regulators and politicians—will have to start working harder now that Chevron deference is gone. -
The New York Times - World
Why the Supreme Court Immunity Ruling Worries U.S. Allies
Legal experts say the U.S. Supreme Court ruling pushes past most of the norms in effect among American allies, adding more concern about the reliability of U.S. power. -
The Wall Street Journal - World
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Takes Back Control
In the term just ended, Roberts moved the law to match his priorities—and didn’t worry about getting liberal justices on board. -
CBS News - Top stories
Jan. 6 victims frustrated over Supreme Court ruling on Trump immunity
Many of the victims and the families of those who were attacked in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the Capitol are sharing their frustration and anger with the Supreme Court.Donald Trump -
The Hill - Politics
Brother of fallen Capitol officer Sicknick slams Supreme Court immunity decision
The family of a police officer who died after responding to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots warned that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision this week should "frighten" Americans. The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision Monday ... -
NBC News - Top stories
Last known survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre challenge Oklahoma high court decision
Attorneys for the last two survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reconsider the case they dismissed last month. -
NBC News - Politics
Conservative legal scholars say the Supreme Court's Trump immunity decision isn't conservative
The Supreme Court's decision to grant former President Donald Trump absolute immunity for some of his conduct in seeking to overturn the 2020 election has attracted a chorus of criticism from those who saw it as another sign of conservative ...Donald Trump
More from The Hill
-
The Hill - Politics
California Democrat says Biden campaign 'arrogant' after debate
Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) says the Biden campaign has been “arrogant” since a shaky debate performance by the president last week. “As much as I love Joe Biden, In those swing states, he's having a hard time,” Peters said Wednesday in an ...Joe Biden -
The Hill - Politics
Third House Democrat says Biden should bow out of presidential race
Rep. Seth Moulton (Mass.) on Thursday became the third House Democrat to publicly call on President Biden to step out of the presidential race after a weak debate performance last week that left his allies shaken. “President Biden has done ...Joe Biden -
The Hill - Politics
Biden says he was seen by doctor after debate and is fine
President Biden told Democratic governors that he saw a doctor after his shaky debate performance last week and was given a clean bill of health. The comments, first reported by Politico, apparently contradict White House press secretary Karine ...Joe Biden -
The Hill - Politics
I’m Gen Z. Here’s how I’m escaping my phone this summer.
Gen Z is experiencing a barrage of notifications and ads on social media, but museums offer a slower, more thoughtful approach to sharing information, providing a respite from the fast-paced online world. -
The Hill - Politics
Students at fake university created by ICE can sue US, court rules
Students who enrolled in a fake university set up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of a sting operation can sue the U.S., an appeals court ruled last week. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit Court of ...