| Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued March 19, 1997 Decided June 26, 1997 | |
| Full case name | Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al. |
| Docket no. | 96-511 |
| Citations | 521 U.S. 844 (more) 117 S. Ct. 2329; 138 L. Ed. 2d 874; 1997 U.S. LEXIS 4037 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Prelim. injunction granted (3-judge court, E.D. Pa. 1996); expedited review by S.Ct. per CDA §561 |
| Holding | |
| The Internet is entitled to the full protection that is given to other forms of media like the printed press or television and the special factors that justify governmental regulations of media broadcasts do not apply in this case. Except for child pornography or obscenity, the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is unenforceable when applied to its anti-decency measures since such provisions are overbroad. Section 502 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is unconstitutional because it violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Stevens, joined by Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Concur/dissent | O'Connor, joined by Rehnquist |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. I; 47 U.S.C. § 223 | |
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, unanimously ruling that anti-indecency provisions of the 1996 Communications Decency Act violated the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech.[1] This was the first major Supreme Court ruling on the regulation of materials distributed via the Internet.[2]