Supreme Court Rules on Depictions of Animal Cruelty

In its opinion issued today in United States v. Stevens, 559 U. S. ____ (2010),  the United States Supreme Court ruled that 18 U.S.C. §48 is substantially overbroad, and therefore invalid under the First Amendment.  Congress enacted 18 U. S. C. §48 to criminalize the commercial creation, sale, or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty. The statute does not address underlying acts harmful to animals, but only portrayals of such conduct.

Hat Tip: William Gaskill

Comments

[Patrick S. O'Donnell]

A nice discussion by Michael Dorf here: http://www.dorfonlaw.org/2010/04/of-flags-and-kittens.html

[Sydney Lawyer]

This is a positive assert of judicial power in a time when there had appeared to be a lot of judicial coalessence to congress and in fact the agenda of the President. You may expect that with the recent reitrement anouncement of Justice Stephens, the liberal influnce over the Bench might be decreasing, but this is essentially a judicial expression of libertarianism.