Earlier this month I told you about a lawsuit filed against the state of Utah. The suit was filed by the Free Speech Coalition on behalf of entities that create pornography. The Free Speech Coalition holds that Utah’s S.B. 287 (Online Pornography Viewing Age Requirements) would violate the free speech rights of said content creators and restrict the ability of Utahns to view porn. You can read the full text of the bill here.
Simply put, the bill, which passed the legislature and is slated to be signed into law, would require that porn sites verify a user’s age before granting access to the content. Similar laws affect businesses geared toward adults. One must show ID to enter a bar, for example. Despite my greying, thinning hair and my wrinkles, I still get carded at the liquor store and the cigar shop. Most ethical business owners have no problem with complying.
Along with the objections over free speech and the right to porn, the Free Speech Coalition fears that its clients would lose business while its case is litigated. The Coalition also argued that kids can find porn through other sources. So it asked for an injunction.
That last point is more than a little specious. Roughly translated it comes out to, “Kids are going to find porn anyway. Why pick on us?” Well, kids can get access to all sorts of things they should not have. That does not mean they shouldn’t be prevented from doing so. If you catch your kid drinking you don’t sit them down and serve them a Manhattan. If you find drugs in their room, you don’t go find the nearest dealer.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has reacted by asking the court to dismiss the case. He claims that the case is misguided and targets the wrong defendants. KSL reports that on June 14, Reyes filed the 13-page motion. It states, “There is no case or controversy between plaintiffs and these defendants.” The motion argues that Reyes and Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson are not charged with enforcing the law. Rather the law creates a private right of action that Utah residents are empowered to enforce. A hearing on the motion has been slated for July 17.
Reyes catches quite a bit of fire from the Left, especially here in Utah. I don’t know the man personally, but I’ve had several 90-second conversations with him over the years as a journalist and state delegate. When he was first stumping for office, he told me that, unlike his predecessor, he would not make suing the Bowl Championship series a priority of his office. That was good enough for me. And Reyes has a history of standing up against human trafficking. And while his motion is not a dramatic indictment of the porn industry, it is a tactic based on the machinations of the law. In case you need a refresher, Al Capone did not get busted for his myriad of crimes. He went to prison for tax evasion.
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Adults are free to view and do whatever they want, so long as everyone involved is of age, mentally sound, and a willing participant. The porn industry is notorious for violating all three of these principles. And there are many testimonies as to how porn has impacted and even destroyed lives. The Free Speech Coalition knows this and yet is still fighting. But at the heart of the matter, the Coalition is not interested in free speech. It is interested in more money. No matter who pays the price.
