I guess it's for the best to keep it simple, but I kinda hate how to get anything done, we have to label it free speech. It's like we can't manage to make laws to reasonably keep people from imposing religious restrictions on the population so we have to classify everything as speech.
I'd rather we use the ninth amendment more often:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
This should be sufficient to defend a right to privacy, which online ID/age verification laws necessarily violate.
The current SC bench pretends that amendment doesn't exist. The only amendments they care about are the 2nd amendment and the 1st, when it suits them.
That's because free speech, by design, is one of the more important defenses against government overreach.
Part of the first amendment that's often overlooked/not talked about is freedom of religion, and separation of church in state. The first line is separation of church and state.
Yeah I agree, it's tricky though right? There's a defined difference between religion and religious agenda. I can't force someone to take a blood transfusion, unconstitutional, that's fine. But when politicians use religious agenda as a campaign promise, no one can be allowed a blood transfusion. Now it's no longer religion or separation. They're just pandering to the wants of the religious base. Supreme Court waking up one day and going You know what screw precedent, that should have got them out right away. But our government is not designed to be protected from that kind of thing.
I suppose the way to look at it is, everyone's allowed whatever religion they want, as long as they don't expect everyone else to agree with it or conform to their worldview. Their right to believe, and you're right not to believe, are equal, and you're right not to be converted and they're right not to be challenged are also equal.
Basically everyone should just leave each other alone.
If they are making laws due to a religious agenda, I would argue that goes against the first amendment.
It's an appropriate designation in this case, and an appropriate rebuke to the law.
Good writeup on this from Techdirt: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/08/31/court-says-texas-adult-content-age-verification-law-clearly-violates-the-1st-amendment/
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A federal judge has blocked a Texas law that would require age verification and health warnings for pornographic websites, calling it unconstitutional and poorly defined.
In a preliminary injunction decision released today, Judge David Ezra ruled in favor of the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade association.
Ezra, a Ronald Reagan-appointed district judge, said HB 1181 had numerous problems that could limit internet users and adult content creators’ First Amendment rights.
It also draws on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Reno v. ACLU, which struck down most of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law regulating online pornography.
HB 1181 applies restrictions to sites that are deemed to be composed of one-third pornographic content — a bar similar to that of other states like Louisiana, which has an age-gating rule that went into effect around the start of 2023.
And finally, the ruling objects to Texas’ requirement that sites post factually debatable disclaimers about the alleged dangers of pornography, calling it unconstitutional compelled speech.
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