1st Amendment and Virtual Child Pornography

The question whether "virtual child pornography" should be protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution depends on whether it is a category of speech that falls under the free speech guarantee of this constitutional provision. The First Amendment in its relevant part provides that "Congress shall make no law & #8230; abridging the freedom of speech." The constitutional guarantee of free speech is not limitless. There are some categories of expression developed by the U.S. Supreme Court that do not enjoy constitutional protection by the First Amendment. One of the non-protected categories is "child pornography." In the case New York v. Ferber of 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that child pornography, regardless of whether the material was obscene, is one of the exceptions carved out of the scope of the First Amendment free speech protection because the interest of society...
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