ACLJ Filing Brief on Behalf of Members of Congress Urging Supreme Court to Uphold Constitutionality of Children's Internet Protection Act.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 10, 2003

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said it is filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today on behalf of members of Congress urging the court to safeguard children from online pornography at public libraries by upholding the constitutionality of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

"There is nothing unconstitutional about the Children's Internet Protection Act," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "Without question, public libraries have a compelling interest to protect the physical and psychological well being of children - and that includes the type of material viewed by children in libraries. The First Amendment is not under attack here. The law is a reasonable and constitutional way to protect children from online pornography in public libraries."

The ACLJ is filing its friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court today (brief posted at www.aclj.org). The ACLJ represents itself and 10 members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL), Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), Rep. Michael Collins (R-GA), Rep. Jo Ann S. Davis (R-VA), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Rep. Ernest Istook, Jr. (R-OK), Rep. Charles Pickering, Jr. (R-MS), Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS), Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-IL), and Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK).

The brief asks the court to overturn the judgment issued earlier and argues that CIPA merely encourages libraries to do what the First Amendment permits, which is to exclude child pornography, obscenity, and materials harmful to minors from a nonpublic forum because they hinder the purposes the libraries serve. The brief states that CIPA is not aimed at the suppression of ideas, but instead at the evil of pornography in a public place.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the American Library Association challenged the act which was signed into law by President Clinton in 2000. CIPA mandates that any public library that refuses to install Internet filtering software on its computers would become ineligible for federal funds for technology upgrades.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case in March and will be asked to overturn a ruling by a three-judge panel in Philadelphia that determined the law was unconstitutional.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and its web site address is www.aclj.org.