Today’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton is a direct blow to the free speech rights of adults. The Court ruled that “no person—adult or child—has a First Amendment right to access speech that is obscene to minors without first submitting proof of age.” This ruling allows states to enact onerous age-verification rules that will block adults from accessing lawful speech, curtail their ability to be anonymous, and jeopardize their data security and privacy. These are real and immense burdens on adults, and the Court was wrong to ignore them in upholding Texas’ law.
Am I the only one who beleives that it would have been a more effective arguement to try and use the 4th amendment instead of the 1st? Violating free speech is just a weak claim, but “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches…” seems quite relevent here. But I am also not a lawyer.
I thought they just stuck down the one in Tennessee? What the fuck. Sick of these corrupt courts.