Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Reno v. ACLU

Case Name: Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union

Year: 1997

Result: 9-0, favor ACLU

Related Constitutional Issue/Amendment: Amendment I, Freedom of Speech

Civil Rights or Civil Liberties: Civil Liberties

Significance/Precedent: It was not constitutional to restrict the Internet using broad and vague terms. This violated the Freedom of Speech outlined in Amendment I and was therefore not allowed. Censoring the Internet would do more harm than good.

Quote from Majority Opinion: "The record demonstrates that the growth of the Internet has been and continues to be phenomenal. As a matter of constitutional tradition, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we presume that governmental regulation of the content of speech is more likely to interfere with the free exchange of ideas than to encourage it. The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship."

Summary of the Dissent: There was no dissent.

Six-word Summary: The government cannot regulate the Internet


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