Big Free Speech Takeaway from Today’s Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Porn Age Verification Decision
Today’s majority upholds an age verification requirement for online porn, which is of course the more speech-restrictive option in this case. And it upholds the law by concluding that the “strict scrutiny” test—which the Court generally uses to evaluate content-based restrictions on speech that falls outside the First Amendment exceptions—doesn’t apply to such age verification rules. (More on that later, but basically the Court concludes that the long-recognized First Amendment exception for distributing to minors material that’s obscene as to them also justifies some burdens on adults, when the burdens are limited to age verification requirements.)
But in the process, the majority reaffirms just how demanding the “strict scrutiny” test is in the wide range of situations where it does apply. Indeed, the majority’s definition of strict scrutiny appears to be slightly narrower but slightly (or maybe even significantly) stronger than the dissent’s. As a First Amendment lawyer, I’ll likely be
Article from Reason.com
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