First Amendment & the Internet: Schnader Lawyers Who Filed Amicus Brief in the COPA Case Are Available for Commentary on Supreme Court Decision.

PHILADELPHIA -- Today, the United States Supreme Court delivered a long-awaited ruling on the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) this week. Lawyers with Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP who filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court and filed the amicus brief cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in its decision below are available for commentary on the anticipated high court decision.

COPA prohibits knowingly publishing material that is "harmful to minors" on the Web for a commercial purpose. In the federal appellate decision holding COPA unconstitutional, ACLU v. Ashcroft, PICS No. 03-0293 (filed March 6, 2003), the Third Circuit had concurred with the analysis presented by the friend-of-the-court brief filed by Schnader. Schnader filed its brief to emphasize how COPA is overbroad in criminalizing material that has First Amendment value for adults.

In his Opinion for the Court, Third Circuit Senior Judge Leonard I. Garth referred to Schnader's brief for examples of how COPA is invalid because it prevents adults from obtaining access to speech on the Internet that has First Amendment value to them, even though that same speech may be inappropriate for children.

Carl A. Solano, chair of Schnader's First Amendment, Defamation and Communications Practice Group, Theresa E. Loscalzo, chair of the Firm's E-Commerce & High Technology Practice Group, and Jennifer DuFault James, administrative chair of the Firm's Litigation Services Department, played prominent roles in the matter by representing a broad coalition of amici curiae, including the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Authors Guild, the California Museum of Photography/University of California at Riverside, Peter Ludlow, Safer Sex Institute, and The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.

Schnader had initially filed the brief in the Supreme Court of the United States when the Ashcroft case was pending there, filed a revised version in the Third Circuit when the Supreme Court sent the case back to that court for further consideration, and filed a subsequent amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court when the Third Circuit decision was again appealed.

Having worked on the appellate matter from its inception, Mr. Solano, Ms. Loscalzo and Ms. James are very close to the issues addressed by the Supreme Court and can provide knowledgeable commentary on what the holding means for both content-cautious Web users and adult Web sites that have largely enjoyed freedom from government interference. Please use the contact information below to speak with these attorneys.