So far, COPA's fate precisely mirrors that of its predecessor, the reviled Communications Decency Act. The Supreme Court nixed that as unconstitutional two years ago. Anti-porn advocates on Capitol Hill steered both laws through Congress by attaching them to mammoth spending or telecommunications bills with plenty of legislative momentum. A Philadelphia judge handed down a temporary restraining order in both cases, and the ACLU won a preliminary injunction both times. But while Congress' first attempt to create a smut-free Internet flew directly to the Supreme Court for a final ruling, an appeal from the government will wend its way slowly through the appeals courts first.
Adults have a constitutional right to access sexually explicit material.
The ACLU didn't make a case that anyone would be hurt. There really was no good legal basis to strike down the law. Taylor, who filed a brief opposing the ACLU's lawsuit , predicts the government will opt for a trial, perhaps even a jury trial. During a six-day hearing earlier last month, Reed heard testimony from ACLU and Justice Department experts and arguments from the lawyers. Following the case, a lawyer joked that Reed stressed his decision lets prosecutors pursue child-porn and obscenity cases so that he wouldn't be seen as a pornophile at cocktail parties.