This morning, the Supreme Court ruled that a law that outlaws promoting or advertising -- "pandering" -- child pornography is constitutional and does not interfere with First Amendment freedoms. In the case, United States v. Williams, decided 7-2, the justices declared that there is no free speech right that protects "offers to provide or requests to obtain child pornography," even if (in fact) there is no pornography to be provided. Free speech expert and blogger Eugene Volokh explains that the case is actually more interesting than a simple child pornography case, as the court has, in his reading, recognized that the First Amendment does not protect solicitations (or offers) to commit a crime. He writes: "[t]rying to buy illegal drugs, for instance, by soliciting someone to
sell them to you is generally a criminal attempt even if the solicited
seller was only going to deliver fake drugs rather than real ones."
Wendy Kaminer wrote about this case on The Free For All back in November.