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Electronic Frontier Foundation Media ReleaseGovernment Censorship Trial Begins MondayACLU and EFF Challenge Children's Internet Protection ActFor Immediate Release: Friday, March 22, 2002Philadelphia - In a nine-day trial set to begin on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union will argue that a federal law that forces libraries to censor constitutionally protected speech online is unconstitutional and should be permanently struck down. At issue is the Children's Internet Protection Act, a federal law passed in December 2000 that ties crucial library funding to the mandated use of blocking programs on Internet terminals used by both adults and minors in public libraries. The ACLU will present testimony from librarians, library patrons, website authors and experts on web blocking programs. On Monday, Ginnie Cooper, Director of Multnomah County Public Library in Oregon will testify. On Tuesday, the court will hear from 16-year-old Emma Rood, a patron of the Oregon library, among others. Note: Witnesses will be available for interview only after they have completed their testimony. The ACLU has created a comprehensive web page for the case that includes a list of the daily trial witnesses and their bios, legal papers, expert reports, and examples of wrongly blocked websites, online at http://www.aclu.org/features/f032001a.html Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Senior Attorney Lee Tien is co-counsel in the case. The case is Multnomah County Library vs. United States of America, No. 01-CV-1322. Multnomah County and others are represented by the ACLU. The American Library Association has filed a similar challenge on behalf of its members; the two cases have been consolidated by the court and will be heard together by a three-judge panel. Who: ACLU attorneys Ann Beeson, Chris Hansen, Stefan Presser and Kevin Bankston, on behalf of libraries, library patrons and website authors. What: Challenge to Children's Internet Protection Act When: Monday, March 25 - Thursday, April 4, 2002; trial begins at 9:15 a.m. ET on Monday. Where: U.S. Courthouse, 601 Market Street (at 6th Street) Philadelphia, PA, in Judge Bartle's courtroom, Room 16-A Links:
ACLU site on CIPA trial:
Text of CIPA, passed as part of massive omnibus
appropriations bill H.R. 4577:
EFF analysis of CIPA:
Additional information on CIPA: About EFF:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in
1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to
support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information
society. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the
most linked-to websites in the world: About ACLU:
The American Civil Liberties Union is the nation's foremost
advocate of individual rights -- litigating, legislating,
and educating the public on a broad array of issues
affecting individual freedom in the United States. The
organization has hundreds of chapters with a nationwide
website at: Contacts:
Emily Whitfield, Media Relations Director, ACLU
Stefan Presser, Legal Director, ACLU of Pennsylvania
Lee Tien, EFF Senior First Amendment Attorney
Will Doherty, EFF Online Activist / Media Relations - end -
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