On Monday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 3-0 that Tennessee's law can take effect while a legal challenge continues. A district court judge had largely blocked the law from kicking in on Jan. 1 while a lawsuit continued, citing free speech protections for adults and saying the law would be ineffective at shielding minors from harmful content.
The Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment trade group, filed the lawsuit over Tennessee’s law and those in a half-dozen other states, including Texas. The coalition lists some 19 states that have passed similar laws.
In the latest Tennessee ruling, the 6th Circuit panel wrote that the district judge didn't show that any potentially unconstitutional aspects of the law would outweigh its constitutional uses. It described the law's goals as “to protect children from the devastating effects of easy access to on-demand pornography.”
Other appeals courts have reversed lower court decisions that had blocked similar laws in Texas and Indiana, the panel wrote. The Supreme Court declined to halt Texas' law in April while a legal challenge by the Free Speech Coalition continues, and oral arguments are coming up Wednesday.
Tennessee's law would require porn websites to verify visitors are at least 18 years old, threatening felony penalties and possible civil liability for violators running the sites. They could match a photo to someone’s ID, or use certain “public or private transactional data” to prove someone’s age. Website leaders could not retain personally identifying information and would have to keep anonymized data.
