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06/29/2004: "COPA Sent Back to Pennsylvania - Ashcroft Must Be Pissed"
A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday barred prosecutors from filing criminal cases under a federal law designed to restrict Internet pornography, concluding that enforcement could violate Americans' free-speech rights.
The 5-4 ruling upheld an appeals court injunction preventing the Justice Department from enforcing the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA, until a full trial takes place. COPA restricts sexually explicit material deemed "harmful to minors" that appears on commercial Web sites, and it includes civil and criminal penalties.(from ZDNet)
Ashcroft must absolutely hate the Judicial branch of the United States Government. First it shot down parts of the so-called "Patriot Act" and now they're not allowing Ashcroft to hinder Free Speech.
Anyone with a modicum of compassion, intelligence, or common sense is fully against child pornography and other already-illegal and definitely immoral acts. But thank you, Supreme Court, for understanding that giving Ashcroft the power to declare things "obscene" would likely result in the unlawful detainment of individuals akin to how those who have been labeled as "terrorists" have been treated.
It's disgusting to me that attempts to revoke/stifle civil liberties are disguised with names like "The Patriot Act" and the "Child Online Protection Act." It's sickeningly Orwellian.
Why are we allowing a man who was defeated in an election by a deceased candidate hold this position of power in our country?
