342 F.3d 96 (2d Cir. 2003), aff’g in part, modifying in part 202 F. Supp. 2d 300 (D. Vt. 2002)

On August 27, 2003, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed [2] the District Court’s ruling that Vermont’s “harmful to minors” law violates the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The Circuit Court, however, narrowed the injunction to Internet speech.

Media Coalition members filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Vermont arguing that a Vermont law criminalizing online communications that is accessible in Vermont that contains nudity or sexual content violates the First Amendment.

In April 2002, Chief judge John Garvan Murtha [1] held the law unconstitutional under both the First Amendment and the Commerce Clause.

Plaintiffs: American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Association of American Publishers, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Association of Recording Merchandisers, Northshire Information, Inc., PSINet, Inc., Recording Industry Association of America, Inc., Sexual Health Network, Inc..

Last updated: Feb 21, 2020