ACLU
of Utah Challenges Unconstitutional Restrictions on
Internet Speech
Citing free speech and interstate commerce violations, the American
Civil Liberties Union of Utah along with Utah
businesses, national trade associations, and individuals, filed
a federal lawsuit today challenging the constitutionality of a state
law meant to restrict children’s access to material on the
Internet.
“This law has nothing to do with the laudable goal of protecting
children,” said Wesley Felix, a shareholder at the Salt Lake
City law firm of Bendinger, Crockett, Peterson, Greenwood &
Casey and the ACLU of Utah cooperating attorney in the case. “Not
only does it fail to accomplish its stated objective, but it casts
such a wide net that a lot of valuable and perfectly legal speech
will be unnecessarily burdened or restricted.”
Under the law, which was passed during the 2005 session of the Utah
State Legislature, Utah Internet content providers must evaluate
and rate their speech, at the risk of criminal punishment. The law
also requires the Utah Attorney General to create a public registry
of Internet sites worldwide containing “material harmful to
minors”—speech that is unlawful to intentionally distribute
to minors but that is constitutionally protected for adults.
Plaintiffs include local Internet service providers, booksellers,
an artist, and members of the national Media Coalition.
Read more about the
case >>
Get a copy of
the lawsuit >>
More
background information from the ACLU of Utah 2005 Legislative Report
>>
Come
Visit Us This Weekend at KRCL Day in the Park and Pride Day
This weekend, the ACLU of Utah is pleased to participate in two
Salt Lake City events. On Saturday, June 11, visit our booth at
KRCL Radio’s Day in the Park celebration in Jordan Park (1060
South 900 West). On Sunday, June 12, we’re moving over to
the Utah Pride Day Festival in Salt Lake City’s Library Square
(210 East 400 South). Support one or both of these great events
and be sure to stop by and say hello to your friendly ACLU of Utah
representatives.
Find out more about KRCL’s Day
in the Park >>
Find out more about the 2005
Pride Day Festival >>
Get
Involved!
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THE ACLU
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VISIT WWW.ACLUUTAH.ORG |
Call
Congress Today to Stop Expansion of the PATRIOT Act
This week, thousands of people across America are participating
in the ACLU’s campaign Light Up the Phones Week
by calling members of Congress to speak out against the expansion
of the PATRIOT Act.
Some of the PATRIOT Act’s flawed provisions are set to expire
at the end of the year. But President Bush wants to make them permanent,
and the House and Senate have been holding hearings in preparation
for votes that are expected this month and next. We have
less than two months to stop the Bush Administration’s PATRIOT
Act expansion plans.
Specific sections of the PATRIOT Act that are set to expire at the
end of the year and that should not be made permanent are:
Section 213, which expands the government’s
ability to conduct secret searches. Agents can break into your home
using a “sneak and peek” court warrant, rifle through
your things, download computer files, take DNA samples, and even
seize property, all without telling you for an indefinite period
of time.
Section 215, which allows the FBI to obtain orders
from a secret court in Washington to seize your records in the hands
of third parties, such as doctors, libraries, hotels, or any other
institution that keeps records on our health, wealth, and other
transactions of daily life. These orders can be obtained without
probable cause or specific facts connecting the records to a foreign
agent. Additionally, the recipient of one of these orders is barred
from telling anyone about it.
Help restore the checks and balances on executive branch
authority that have been severely eroded over the past few years,
and ensure that Congress and the courts are able to keep the federal
government from abusing its power.
Your members of Congress are accountable to you, their constituent,
and they’ve got to hear from every American who knows that
the PATRIOT Act erodes our fundamental privacy and due process rights.
Call your representatives in Congress today and defend your
rights:
- Senator Bob Bennett at
(202) 224-5444
- Senator Orrin Hatch at
(202) 224-5251
- Representative Rob Bishop at
(202) 225-0453
- Representative Chris Cannon at
(202) 225-7751
- Representative Jim Matheson at
(202) 225-3011 or toll free
(877) 677-9743
Visit http://reformthepatriotact.org
to tell us how your calls went, get more information about the PATRIOT
Act, and become more involved >>
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