About this Case
The U.S. District Court held the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) void for vagueness. The statute criminalized transmission over the Internet of sexually explicit materials and communications that were available to and harmful to minors. The court issued a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the statute. The government appealed the District Court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.
Summary of NLF's Brief
Our brief demonstrated that Congress used specific words that could not be considered vague. We also examined the standard of review for this case and expanded upon a footnote in the Attorney General’s brief, which noted the contradictions between the ACLU’s position in this case and the arguments it made before the Supreme Court in American Library Association.