Opinion ID: 158785
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Burden on interstate commerce compared to local benefit

Text: 70 We further agree, for the reasons outlined in Pataki, that section 30-37-3.2(A) is an invalid indirect regulation of interstate commerce because, under the balancing test of Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137, 142 (1970), the burdens on interstate commerce imposed by section 30-37-3.2(A) exceed any local benefits conferred by the statute. See V-1 Oil Co. v. Utah State Dep't of Pub. Safety, 131 F.3d 1415, 1423-24 (10th Cir. 1997). Defendants' primary response to this argument is to reiterate the importance of the state's interest in protecting minors from sexually oriented materials which are harmful to minors. We agree that the protection of minors from such materials is an undeniably compelling governmental interest, but the question in the context of the validity of section 30-37-3.2(A) is whether the means chosen to further that interest (§ 30-37-3.2(A)) excessively burden interstate commerce compared to the local benefits the statute actually confers. The local benefits of section 30-37-3.2(A), particularly as narrowly construed by defendants, are not huge. As the Pataki court noted with respect to the New York statute challenged in that case, section 30-37-3.2(A) can have no effect on communications originating outside the United States. Pataki, 969 F. Supp. at 178. 71 Further, New Mexico's prosecution of parties from out of state who have allegedly violated [section 30-37-3.2(A)], but whose only contact with [New Mexico] occurs via the Internet, is beset with practical difficulties, even if [New Mexico] is able to exercise criminal jurisdiction over such parties. Id. Finally, defendants' own interpretation of the statute--that it applies only to one-on-one communications between a sender in New Mexico and a recipient in New Mexico whom the sender knows to be a minor--renders it so narrow in scope that the actual benefit conferred is extremely small. As another district court has observed with respect to the CDA, which defendants argue is broader in scope than section 30-37-3.2(A): 72 [The statute] will almost certainly fail to accomplish the Government's interest in shielding children from pornography on the Internet. Nearly half of Internet communications originate outside the United States, and some percentage of that figure represents pornography. Pornography from, say, Amsterdam will be no less appealing to a child on the Internet than pornography from [Albuquerque], and residents of Amsterdam have little incentive to comply with [the statute]. 73 ACLU v. Reno, 929 F. Supp. 824, 882 (E.D. Pa. 1996), aff'd, 521 U.S. 844 (1997). Balanced against those limited local benefits is an extreme burden on interstate commerce. Pataki, 969 F. Supp. at 179. Thus, section 30-37-3.2(A) constitutes an invalid indirect regulation of interstate commerce. 74