664
ASHCROFT v. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
Opinion of the Court
The Government appealed the District Court's decision to
the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the preliminary injunction,
but on a different ground. American Civil Liberties Union
v. Reno, 217 F. 3d 162, 166 (2000). The court concluded that
the "community standards" language in COPA by itself
rendered the statute unconstitutionally overbroad. Ibid.
We granted certiorari and reversed, holding that the
community-standards language did not, standing alone, make
the statute unconstitutionally overbroad. Ashcroft I, 535
U. S., at 585. We emphasized, however, that our decision
was limited to that narrow issue. Ibid. We remanded the
case to the Court of Appeals to reconsider whether the District Court had been correct to grant the preliminary injunction. On remand, the Court of Appeals again affirmed the
District Court. 322 F. 3d 240 (2003). The Court of Appeals
concluded that the statute was not narrowly tailored to serve
a compelling Government interest, was overbroad, and was
not the least restrictive means available for the Government
to serve the interest of preventing minors from using the
Internet to gain access to materials that are harmful to
them. Id., at 266-271. The Government once again sought
review from this Court, and we again granted certiorari.
540 U. S. 944 (2003).
II
A
"This Court, like other appellate courts, has always applied the abuse of discretion standard on review of a preliminary injunction." Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation
Survivors, 473 U. S. 305, 336 (1985) (O'CONNOR, J., concurring) (internal quotation marks omitted). "The grant of appellate jurisdiction under [28 U. S. C.] § 1252 does not give
the Court license to depart from established standards of
appellate review." Ibid. If the underlying constitutional
question is close, therefore, we should uphold the injunction