Government Technology

Lawmakers Look to Pass Child Porn Law


May 1, 2002 By

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- Lawmakers, angry at the Supreme Court for striking down parts of an anti-child-pornography law, are proposing legislation they hope will pass constitutional muster while banning computer simulations and other fool-the-eye depictions of teen-agers or children having sex.

The legislation was being outlined at a news conference Wednesday by House members and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"I hope this legislation meets the standard set by the Supreme Court," said Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla. "Pedophiles do not have a First Amendment right to gawk over exploited children, real or virtual."

The new bill would specifically address the situations that lawmakers want to ban, said a source familiar with the legislation, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The 1996 Child Pornography Prevention Act was intended primarily to stop pornography produced through computer wizardry not available when the court placed child pornography outside First Amendment protection in 1982.

But the court on April 16 threw out parts as overly broad and unconstitutional. Free-speech advocates and pornographers had challenged the law's ban on material that "appears to be" a child in a sexually explicit situation or that is advertised to convey the impression that someone under 18 is involved.

The new bill, introduced Monday, is more detailed than the law struck down by the courts. It would update the law to include the use of computers and the Internet.

The old bill was "designed to address issues that were around at the time," the source said. "The Internet wasn't developed at the time, so we didn't have this virtual child pornography."

A House Judiciary subcommittee planned a hearing Wednesday to discuss ways lawmakers can get around the Supreme Court's decision.

Copyright 2002. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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