Reno v. ACLU

Reno v. ACLU

Year:Decided on June,26,1997

Results:0 votes Reno, 9 votes against,in favor of ACLU

Constitutional Issue:The freedom of speech, press, and assembly under the 1st amendment.

Civil Rights/Liberties:Civil Liberties

Significance:It held that the Communication Deceny Act of 1996 did in fact violate our 1st amendment freedoms.Mainly, cause of the vagueness in their definitions of the types of internet communications which they criminalized

Quote from Majority Opinion:Justice Stevens wrote, "We are persuaded that the CDA lacks the precision that the First Amendment requires when a statute regulates the content of speech. In order to deny minors access to potentially harmful speech, the CDA effectively suppresses a large amount of speech that adults have a constitutional right to receive and to address to one another. That burden on adult speech is unacceptable if less restrictive alternatives would be at least as effective in achieving the legitimate purpose that the statute was enacted to serve."

Dissent:They argued that they did not need to block potential harmful speech from kids, but rather create a "Adult Zone" on the internet were kids couldn't access it. Also they would have invalidated a narrower portion of the two CDA provisions under review

6 Word Summary:Communication Act unconstitutional cause of vagueness.