Press Release from National Newspaper Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 1997
CONTACT: David Mendes (703) 907-7931

Community Newspapers Applaud Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Internet Free Speech

ARLINGTON, VA, June 26, 1997 -- National Newspaper Association (NNA) President Roy J. Eaton called today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the Communications Decency At as unconstitutional under the First Amendment "momentous and forward-looking."

"The National Newspaper Association applauds the Supreme Court's decision upholding First Amendment protections on the Internet," said Eaton, publisher of the Wise County Messenger, Decatur, TX. "A decision restricting freedom of expression on the Internet would have seriously undercut a fundamental right of our democracy and denied citizens the full benefits of the Information Age.

"Many community newspapers are exploring the Internet to better serve their readers. Under the Communications Decency Act, publishers could have been placed in a position where information published in a newspaper's print edition would have been protected under the First Amendment, while publishing the same information on the Internet would have led to large fines and jail terms. Today's decision will encourage community newspapers to continue to invest in the development of new an innovative products and services. This was clearly the right decision, and a major victory for all Americans."

On June 12, 1996, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are unconstitutional restrictions of free speech. Those provisions, known as the Communications Decency Act (CDA), would have made it illegal to transmit "indecent" or "patently offensive" material via computer networks that are accessible to minors, with fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of up to two years.

The U.S. Department of Justice appealed the District Court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court in July 1996. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al. (No. 96-511), on March 19, 1997. NNA is a member of the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), one of the plaintiffs in the case. The CIEC is a broad coalition of individual Internet users, library groups, publishers, on-line service providers and other groups fighting for the future of the First Amendment in the Information age.

Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court, writing, "We are persuaded that the CDA lacks the precision that the First Amendment requires when a statute regulates the content of speech. In order to deny minors access to potentially harmful speech, the CDA effectively suppresses a large amount of speech that adults have a constitutional right to receive and to address to one another."

Established in 1885, the National Newspaper Association is the national voice of America's community newspapers.

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