The clock is ticking for the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s the second week of June and the justices always try to wrap up their term before the calendar hits July. As of this writing, there are still 28 cases pending. Which means that a ton of big decisions will be dropping in the next few weeks. So, what’s headed our way? Here are three noteworthy cases that I’m on the lookout for.

1. Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton

This case involves a Texas law requiring websites that contain “pornographic material” to verify that the site’s users are at least 18 years old. The law’s stated goal is to prevent minors from viewing porn. But as the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade group, points out, there is no way to screen out minors online without also vetting the ages of adults, and Texas’ intrusive age-verification process unavoidably—and unconstitutionally—burdens the free speech rights of those adults.

The state’s age-verification requirement “imposes a clear burden,” the Free Speech Coalition told the Supreme Court, “forcing adult users to incur severe privacy and security risks—which the statute leaves largely unaddressed—before they can access constitutionally protected speech.”

The specific legal question here is about what level of judicial review the Texas law should face. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, the age-verification law should be judged under “rational-basis review,” which is the most deferential—meaning, it is the most pro-government—form of judicial review. It is no exaggeration to say that when the government encounters rational-basis review, the government stands an excellent chance of winning the case.

However, cases involving fundamental rights such as freedom of speech are normally judged under a very different standard. That standard, known as “strict scrutiny,” is the most searching form of judicial review. Under strict scrutiny, the government must, first, prove that its law serves a compelling government intent, and, second, prove that the law is the least restrictive means available of advancing that interest. If the government fails to satisfy either of those two prongs, the law is struck down.

In other words, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton asks whether the 5th Circuit got it wrong by defe

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Article from Reason.com

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