True North Legal was at the U.S. Supreme Court this week alongside other allies for oral arguments in Free Speech Coalition, Inc v. Paxton. True North Legal and Minnesota Family Council are part of a national coalition to protect children from “Big Porn” online. Renee Carlson of our True North Legal initiative & Brittany Jones of Kansas Family Foundation filed an amicus brief in this case supporting the Texas law being challenged, H.B. 1181. To ensure that children are not exposed to horrible and graphic content
Quite early in oral arguments, many of the justices raised the concerns that we discussed in our amicus brief to the Court. One crucial point being just how much technology has changed since 1997 and 2004, when the Court took up similar cases about protecting kids from harmful online material. Many of the justices agreed that children must be protected from being exposed to vile and graphic online pornographic material found on sites like Porn Hub, one of the groups challenging the Texas law at issue in this case, claiming it infringes on adults’ First Amendment rights. In one exchange between the justices and counsel for the porn industry, Justice Kagan, an Obama appointee, referred to porn as “printed smut.” Overall, the Court portrayed a collective and even bold sense of disgust for the predatory nature of the online porn industry and its impact on children.
During oral arguments many of the justices also articulated and understood (contrary to arguments made by Porn Hub), that as technology continues to advance, filters aren’t enough to protect children. Justice Alito quite pointedly asked counsel for Porn Hub: “Do you know a lot of parents who are really tech savvy—more than their fifteen-year-olds?” Justice Barrett, a mother of seven children, also continued to press on this issue, expressing concern that filters aren’t as effective. This is significant as the porn industry has argued that filters are a better alternative to laws requiring age verification and has made these arguments in legislative bodies and lower courts across the country. Thankfully, many of the Supreme Court justices weren’t buying that argument.
It comes down to this: Laws like H.B. 1181, provide common sense safeguards and protections for children from being preyed on by the pornography industry. These types of laws have been enacted in many other states across the country with bipartisan support. Please join us in praying that the Texas law is upheld, and for continued collaboration by the diverse coalition who has come together to fight this not only in the states, but across the globe! You can read more about True North Legal’s vital work on this case and the full brief here.