Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union

535 U.S. 564 (2004)

On June 29, 2004, the United States Supreme Court held by a five to four margin that in the case of Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union 535 U.S. 564 (2004), a district court judge did not abuse his discretion in issuing a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act, COPA, 47 U.S.C. SEC 231, (OLR 2004). The Court's rationale was that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail at trial on their argument that there were plausible, less restrictive alternatives to the statute, particularly blocking or filtering software (OLR 2004). Two of the justices in the majority also joined in a concurring opinion, finding other constitutional defects in the law and of the four justices who dissented, three asserted that the law was the least restrictive alternative because it regulated a very small amount of lawful speech...
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