WASHINGTON — A congressional attempt to protect children from Internet pornography died a quiet death Jan. 21 after years of dispute in federal courts.
The Supreme Court announced without comment it had declined to review a lower-court ruling that permanently blocked enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). The 1998 law aimed at prohibiting commercial Web sites from making sexually explicit material available to children under the age of 17, but it was never enforced.
The head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity described it as “a sad day for our country and particularly for our children.”
In July, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia affirmed a federal judge’s opinion blocking enforcement of COPA permanently. The judge, Lowell Reed, ruled in 2007 the law violated the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech.
The Third Circuit judges said the law is vague, overly broad and censors speech that is constitutionally protected for adults. The appellate panel agreed with Reed’s opinion “that filters and the Government’s promotion of filters are more effective than COPA.” (TAB)
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