Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S.

844 (1997)
Facts:
Congress passed provisions in the Communications Decency Act of 1996 to protect minors from
harmful material on the Internet. Two provisions criminalized the display of "indecent" or
"patently offensive" online communications. The American Civil Liberties Union and many
other groups challenged the constitutionality of these provisions in federal court. They argued
that these provisions infringed on First Amendment free-speech rights. A lower federal court
ruled the two provisions violated the First Amendment. The government appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
Issue:
Whether federal laws prohibiting the display of "patently offensive" and "indecent" online
speech violate the First Amendment.
Holding:
By a 7-2 margin, the Court held that the two provisions did violate the First Amendment.
Reasoning:
The government has a very important interest in protecting minors from harmful
material. But the government cannot silence adult free-speech rights simply to
protect minors and these provisions swept in sexual speech that was not obscene.
"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."