THE LIMITS OF FREEDOM: PROTECT CHILDREN ; VIRTUAL PORNOGRAPHY CAN CAUSE REAL HARM FIVE STAR LIFT Edition

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the opinion of the court in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition last week, seems to think the CPPA is really an attack on -- Shakespeare. True, Kennedy admits, Shakespeare "may not have written sexually explicit scenes" of children. But, he notes, modern di...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSt. Louis post-dispatch
Main Author Thomas G. West And Katherine McGinnis
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published St. Louis, Mo Pulitzer, Inc 24.04.2002
Subjects
Freedom of speech
Pornography & obscenity
Supreme Court decisions
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the opinion of the court in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition last week, seems to think the CPPA is really an attack on -- Shakespeare. True, Kennedy admits, Shakespeare "may not have written sexually explicit scenes" of children. But, he notes, modern directors sometimes "adopt a less conventional approach." The Founders therefore thought that citizens should be held accountable for any speech that could be proven in court to be injurious (such as personal libel). But the Founders also banned speech that injures society more generally by injuring its moral foundations. Many today dismiss the theory of the founding as antiquated Puritanism. But what are the consequences of today's view of free speech? When Congress passed the CPPA, it found 13 ways in which virtual child pornography indirectly leads to actual children being victimized.
ISSN:1930-9600