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Dean: Child Pornography Statute Not Overbroad

By Tim Cone

In U.S. v. Dean, No. 09-16133 (March 16, 2011), the Court rejected challenges to the constitutionality of a statute that makes it unlawful to produce child pornography, 18 U.S.C. § 1466A(a)(2).Dean relied on the First Amendment ?overbreadth? doctrine. The Court noted that a statute will be struck down as overbroad only if the overbreadth is ?substantial? relative to its plainly legitimate sweep. Here, while the statute criminalizes some speech that is not child pornography, for example, an ?explicit film version of the novel Lolita,? the overbreadth is not ?substantial? in relation to the statute?s legitimate reach. The Court noted that the statute requires a showing that the activity lacks ?serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value...continue to full post

Full post as published by Defense Newsletter Blog on March 17, 2011 (boomark / email).