Taking Free Speech Seriously: The United States Supreme Court and Virtual Child Pornography

11 Pages Posted: 11 Nov 2002

See all articles by Arnold H. Loewy

Arnold H. Loewy

Texas Tech University School of Law

Date Written: November 2002

Abstract

This essay praises the Supreme Court's decision, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, for taking the First Amendment seriously. Emphasizing the importance of protecting bad speech, such as flag burning, or Nazi speech, the article explores whether virtual child pornography is significantly different from these other forms of bad speech to warrant different treatment. After distinguishing real child pornography as analogous to a child labor law and unlike free speech, the essay concludes that virtual child pornography is speech that ought to be constitutionally protected.

Keywords: Free speech, First Amendment, Internet regulation, Pornography

Suggested Citation

Loewy, Arnold H., Taking Free Speech Seriously: The United States Supreme Court and Virtual Child Pornography (November 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=347961 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.347961

Arnold H. Loewy (Contact Author)

Texas Tech University School of Law ( email )

1802 Hartford
Lubbock, TX 79409
United States

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