The King's English v. Shurtleff
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah (No. 2:05CV00495 DB)

Summary: This case is a challenge to Utah law that would bar access to certain websites.

Documents:

1. Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah
2. Media Coalition Press Release about the challenge.
3. U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson's order granting preliminary injunction
4. U.S. Distirct Court Judge Dee Benson's ruling on defendants' motion to dismiss, November 29,2007
5. Utah CLU and Media Coalition press release on Judge Benson's ruling, November 29, 2007
6. Plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration
7. State's response to motion for reconsideration
8. State motion to lift injunction

History:

On June 9, 2005, citing free speech and interstate commerce violations, a broadly-based group of Utah bookstores, artistic and informative websites, Internet service providers and national trade associations filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Utah law meant to restrict children’s access to material on the Internet.  The law would do so by creating a list of websites the Attorney General's office deems to be including harmful material, and, due to the nature of the blocking, ISPs would sometimes be required to restrict access to websites that are not included in the list. 

On August 25, 2006, U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law.

On November 29, 2007, Judge Benson ruled on the State of Utah's motion to dismiss the case for lack of standing.  The judge found that most of the plaintiffs have standing to move ahead with the claims related to the Harmful to Minors Act.  Media Coalition joined the Utah CLU to issue a press release about the order and opinion. 
 

This page was last updated December 17, 2007.