Regardless of the strength of the governments interest in protecting children, the level of discourse reaching a mailbox simply cannot be limited to that which would be suitable for a sandbox.
More Quotes from U.S. Supreme Court:
At the heart of the First Amendment lies the principle that each person should decide for him or herself the ideas and beliefs deserving of expression, consideration, and adherence. Our political system and cultural life rest upon this ideal. Government action that stifles speech on account of its message, or that requires the utterance of a particular message favored by the Government, contravenes this essential right. Laws of this sort pose the inherent risk that the Government seeks not to advance a legitimate regulatory goal, but to suppress unpopular ideas or information or manipulate the public debate through coercion rather than persuasion.U.S. Supreme Court
The vagueness of the Communications Decency Act raises special First Amendment concerns because of its obvious chilling effect on free speech.... The CDA is also a criminal statute.... The severity of criminal sanctions may well cause speakers to remain silent rather than communicate even arguably unlawful words, ideas, and images.
U.S. Supreme Court
The Government first contends that, even though the Communications Decency Act effectively censors discourse on many of the Internets modalities such as chat groups, newsgroups, and mail exploders it is nonetheless constitutional because it provides a 'reasonable opportunity' for speakers to engage in the restricted speech on the World Wide Web.... The Governments position is equivalent to arguing that a statute could ban leaflets on certain subjects as long as individuals are free to publish books.... One is not to have the exercise of his liberty of expression in appropriate places abridged on the plea that it may be exercised in some other place.
U.S. Supreme Court
The Communications Decency Act lacks the precision that the First Amendment requires when a statute regulates the content of speech. In order to deny minors access to potentially harmful speech, the CDA effectively suppresses a large amount of speech that adults have a constitutional right to receive and to address to one another.... In evaluating the free speech rights of adults, we have made it perfectly clear that sexual expression which is indecent but not obscene is protected by the First Amendment. Where obscenity is not involved, we have consistently held that the fact that protected speech may be offensive to some does not justify its suppression.
U.S. Supreme Court
We agree with the District Courts conclusion that the Communications Decency Act places an unacceptably heavy burden on protected speech... In Sable v. FCC we remarked that the speech restriction at issue there amounted to 'burning the house to roast the pig.' The CDA, casting a far darker shadow over free speech, threatens to torch a large segment of the Internet community.
U.S. Supreme Court
Readers Who Like This Quotation Also Like:
Based on Topics: Children QuotesBased on Keywords: mailbox, sandbox
Unless you're ashamed of yourself now and then, you're not honest.
William Faulkner
From caring comes courage.
Lao Tzu
O God, O God, how weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!
William Shakespeare