, Columnist
The First Amendment Gone Wild
An absurd ruling restricts measures to fight child pornography. This is a case for the Supreme Court.
Next stop.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty ImagesIn a decision that begs to be characterized as “First Amendment gone wild,” an appeals court has all but struck down a 1988 law that requires pornographers to maintain records showing that actors aren’t underage. For good measure, the court said it violated the Fourth Amendment to require the documents to be available anytime for government inspection. These twin holdings are both plausible applications of recent Supreme Court doctrine. But the results are so absurd that they call out for review by the highest court itself.