POSC402 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Declaratory Judgment, Antonin Scalia, Stephen Breyer
7 Oct 2018
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Document Summary
A new york child pornography law prohibited persons from knowingly promoting sexual performances by children under the age of sixteen by distributing material which depicts such performances. In the court"s first examination of a statute specifically targeted against child pornography, it found that the state"s interest in preventing sexual exploitation of minors was a compelling "government objective of surpassing importance. " The law was carefully drawn to protect children from the mental, physical, and sexual abuse associated with pornography while not violating the first amendment. Section 48 in a pennsylvania federal district court for "knowingly selling depictions of animal cruelty with the intention of placing those depictions in interstate commerce for commercial gain. " His conviction stems from an investigation into the selling of videos related to illegal dog fighting. Stevens appealed his conviction arguing that 18 u. s. c. Section 48, on its face, was unconstitutional because it violated the free speech clause of the first amendment.
