Personal note:

On Friday, my email was entitled "Supreme Court allows anti-pornography law to die ..."

Quoting from the Grand Rapids Press - January 22, 2009

"Washington -- A long drive to shield children from sexually explicit material on the Web ended in failure Wednesday (1/21/09) when the Supreme Court let a 10-year-old anti-pornography law die quietly.

In striking down the law on free-speech grounds, judges said parents can protect their children by installing software filters on computers.

But fewer than half of parents do so, Bush administration lawyers had argued in an effort to revive the law.

Anti-pornography activists said the court's action, coming a day after President George W. Bush left office, signaled an end to the government's bid to restrict pornography on the Web. ..."
[Taken from Grand Rapids Press, January 22, 2009]

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This is one of those watershed moments that has long-term implications. When I read Morality in Media President Bob Peter's press release from yesterday, I wanted to make it available to you. He carefully and painstakingly discusses the ins and outs of this moment in time.

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Quoting:

In Refusing to Review a Lower Court Decision Invalidating the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), U.S. Supreme Court Did Nation a Disservice

NEW YORK (Jan. 28, 2009) – Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced that it would not review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia invalidating the Child Online Protection Act. COPA would have required websites that commercially distribute pornography to take reasonable steps to keep minors (defined as children under 17) away from the smut.

Morality in Media president Robert Peters had the following comments.

Thanks to the federal courts in Philadelphia and the U.S. Supreme Court, more than a decade has now passed since Congress first enacted laws to protect children from Internet pornography, and there are still no enforceable laws that require persons who commercially distribute pornography on the Internet to take reasonable steps to restrict children’s access to that material.

Today, if a child were to walk into an “adult bookstore,” he or she would be told to leave, because it is against the law to sell pornography to children in real space. But if that same child were to “click” to most commercial websites that distribute hardcore pornography, he or she could view pornography free of charge and without restriction, because when it comes to cyberspace, the federal courts think parental use of filters is an adequate solution to the problem. ... (for entire release see):
http://americandecency.org/main.php?f=updates_new/2009/January/01.28a.09

American Decency Association
Bill Johnson, President
P.O. Box 202
Fremont, MI 49412
ph: 231-924-4050
http://www.americandecency.org