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03/02/2020 UNITED STATES V. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSN., INC. ACCESSIBILITY ABOUT LII CONTACT US ADVERTISE HERE HELP TERMS OF USE PRIVACY https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-361.ZO.html 13/13

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United States v. American Library Association

Case Law

Country

United States

Country Location

Latitude: 39.778231903243785

Longitude: -100.8801256788983

Country Location (linked Case Law): United States

Decision Date: Jun 23, 2003

Case Status: Closed

Case Outcome (Procedural)

Reversed Lower Court

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Law or Action Upheld

Keywords

Access to Information
Censorship
Child Protection

Judicial Body: Supreme Court (court of final appeal)

Case Number: 593 U.S. 194

Case Summary: The U.S. Congress enacted the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) to address problems associated with the availability of Internet pornography in public libraries. The law forbids federal assistance to a public library for providing Internet access unless it has an Internet safety policy, including the operation of filtering software capable of preventing its users to access obscene materials and child pornography. A group of public libraries, library associations, patrons, and website publishers brought a First Amendment civil action against the U.S. government and several government agencies behind the allocation of the federal assistance. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found CIPA facially unconstitutional on the ground that the compliance with law would necessarily violate the First Amendment right to free speech. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the judgment. It held that the Internet access in public libraries is neither a “traditional” nor a “designated” public forum. Furthermore, libraries have broad discretion in selecting material for their patrons in order to meet their function of facilitating learning and cultural enrichment. The Court also disagreed with the finding that CIPA creates a risk of blocking constitutionally protected speech on the ground that the statute allows libraries to disable their filtering software for bona fide research purposes.

Case Significance: The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.

Source URL: Columbia Global Freedom of Expression

Primary Documents

US v American Library Association.pdf
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CYRILLA: Global Digital Rights Law

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United States v. American Library Association

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