"Virtual" pornography ban overturned. (National News Briefs).

The Supreme Court overturned a law aimed at "virtual" child pornography, according to The Washington Post. The federal ban was struck down because the law was so broadly worded that it would suppress images that harm children, as well as legitimate expression.

The case derived from a 1996 law aimed at cracking down on computer-generated child pornography by sentencing those who distribute or possess images that "appear to be" of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, or who sell images by "convey[ing] the impression" child sex.

According to Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion, "Few legitimate movie producers or book publishers, or speakers in any capacity, would risk distributing images in or near the uncertain reach of this law. The Constitution gives significant protection from over-broad laws that chill [free] speech." Legitimate artistic expression that might have been deterred by the law include such award-winning movies as Traffic and American Beauty, as they contain sex scenes involving minors.

This ruling suggests that the court is willing to move ahead with an expansive First Amendment doctrine even in a technologically novel context. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Antonin Scalia voted to uphold the law. "The aim of ensuring the enforceability of our nation's child pornography laws is a compelling one," Rehnquist wrote. "The Child Pornography Prevention Act is targeted to this aim by extending the definition of child pornography to reach computer-generated images that are virtually indistinguishable from real children."