US Supreme Court Agrees to hear Texas AV Constitutional Challenge

[Brad Mitchell]

Hello GFY,

I'm thrilled to report breaking news this morning that the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the constitutional challenge to Texas' unconstitutional age verification bill. MojoHost is proud of funding the Woodhull Freedom Foundation's participation and also to be a sponsor of the FSC in this fight. We are looking forward to the next battle in this war.

Who's putting their money where there mouth is and fighting for your rights? MojoHost, of course.

To all my patriots out there, I wish you a Happy Independence Day!

Brad

[TheLegacy]

Thank you Brad - though not feeling to good about the choices of the Supreme Court these days

[Brad Mitchell]

Originally Posted by TheLegacy

Thank you Brad - though not feeling to good about the choices of the Supreme Court these days

I'll keep fighting the good fight, and paying for it, while most of the trolls on GFY simply refuse to talk to Natalie and I about providing a competitive quote for better service. After 25 years (and winning every GFY community award by popular vote for real, not because I paid for ads here) all I need to do is pop into GFY and read a hosting thread to see people recommending hosts that don't even allow adult content.. I just saw one where 3 hosts who prohibit adult content in their TOS were recommended.

If you have hosting money to spend, spend it smartly and with companies that support the industry, instead of those just sucking the dollars out for themselves. There's no deal we won't beat, I invite anyone to challenge me on that. When we are given the opportunity, we rarely lose on price - and we always win on performance and support.

Brad

[Tasty1]

Stakeholders React to SCOTUS Taking Up Texas AV Case

LOS ANGELES—The U.S. Supreme Court announced earlier today that it would take up a potentially landmark age verification case involving adult industry stakeholders and Texas.

In the case of Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton, adult industry companies and a nonprofit trade organization representing the industry, the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), challenges the constitutionality of Texas House Bill (HB) 1181, which requires adult platforms to verify the age of all users who log on to porn websites from IP addresses in the Texas digital space.

The FSC and a plaintiff class of the largest adult platforms on the internet petitioned the high court for a writ of certiorari to render HB 1181 unconstitutional. The conservative-leaning Supreme Court granted the bid, and oral arguments are expected during the court's next term.

"Sexual expression is the canary in the coal mine of free speech, and we look forward to defending the rights of all Americans to access the internet privately and free from surveillance," said Alison Boden, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, in a press release.

AVN has extensively reported on this case's lifecycle, from its initial filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to its subsequent appeal to the notoriously conservative U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, forcing a split decision that age verification is constitutional.

Despite this ruling, the plaintiffs appealed to the high court and now have succeeded. Several organizations filed amicus briefs urging the high court to take up the case.

AVN reached out to some of the individuals and organizations that filed amicus briefs supporting the argument for the Supreme Court to grant the plaintiffs' application for a writ of certiorari. For many we spoke to, the decision to take up the case validates the need to clarify the constitutionality of government-mandated age verification requirements.

"I am overwhelmingly thrilled with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to take on this imperative legal challenge," said attorney Corey Silverstein. Silverstein, along with other attorneys from the adult entertainment and technology space, filed an amicus brief with funding from MojoHost in support of the high court taking up the Texas age verification lawsuit.

"The states passing these age verification laws are completely ignoring the U.S. Constitution and existing case precedent," Silverstein explained. "The court granting this petition for writ of certiorari is a battle win in a prolonged war against ... lawmakers and the Fifth Circuit, which has seemingly been fueled more by conservative politics versus following the law."

Silverstein was joined by fellow adult industry attorney Larry Walters in filing an amicus brief on behalf of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation and the Electronic Freedom Foundation.

"Victory for justice," reads a post on X by Woodhull Freedom Foundation, a non-governmental organization that advocates for broad sex workers' rights and sexual freedom under the First Amendment. "The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in Free Speech Coalition v. Ken Paxton, AG of TX! This is a huge win for free speech and privacy online!"

Walters, managing partner of Walters Law Group and general counsel for the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, told AVN, "Given the wave of state age verification laws recently adopted in the U.S., the court must provide some guidance to avoid protracted state-by-state litigation of these issues. ... While there are always risks involved in presenting issues like this to the [Supreme Court], we remain hopeful that the Justices adhere to prior precedent and strike down the harmful and constitutionally defective Texas law."

The plaintiffs are represented by a team of attorneys from firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP., Webb Daniel Friedlander, LLP., and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Ken Paxton and his office are representing the state of Texas in his official capacity as state Attorney General.

More:
https://avn.com/business/articles/le...se-932695.html

[Brad Mitchell]

also reported on XBiz

https://www.xbiz.com/news/282514/sco...tion-challenge

SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Texas Age Verification Challenge

WASHINGTON — The United States Supreme Court granted on Tuesday the petition for a writ of certiorari in the Free Speech Coalition-led challenge to Texas’ age verification law, agreeing to hear the case in the next term.

As XBIZ reported, HB 1181 was passed by the Texas legislature in May 2023 and is a much-augmented version of Louisiana’s age verification law and its many copycat versions in other states. At the time, the FSC condemned the law as “blatantly unconstitutional” and a “violation of the First Amendment rights of creators, consumers and platforms.”

In August 2023, FSC filed a legal challenge in Texas over HB 1181, which is still ongoing, even after the 5th Circuit ruling. Joining the FSC as co-plaintiffs were an array of adult platforms and workers, including MG Premium LTD; MG Freesites LTD (now Aylo companies); Webgroup Czech Republic, A.S.; NKL Associates, S.R.O.; Sonesta Technologies, S.R.O.; Sonesta Media, S.R.O.; Yellow Production S.R.O.; Paper Street Media, LLC; Neptune Media, LLC; Mediame SRL; Midus Holdings, Inc.; and Jane Doe, an adult content creator.

The group of plaintiffs in Free Speech Coaliton v. Paxton is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

They argue that Texas’ HB 1181, if left standing, would improperly burden free speech online. The law was authored by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, reportedly with input from pastor Mike Buster of the Prestonwood Baptist megachurch, to which the Paxtons belong.

In March, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals partially upheld HB 1181. The Supreme Court has previously rebuked the 5th Circuit Court for eccentric, politicized rulings, most recently last week when ruling against the court's defense of state interference in social media platforms' content.

FSC Director of Communication Mike Stabile told XBIZ in April that the HB 1181 ruling by the 5th Circuit “remains in direct opposition to decades of Supreme Court precedent, and we remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will reaffirm its lengthy line of cases applying strict scrutiny to content-based restrictions on speech like those in the Texas statute we’ve challenged. We will continue to fight for the right to access the internet without intrusive government oversight."

Vera Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project said at the time, “Though it purportedly seeks to limit minors’ access to online sexual content, the law in fact imposes significant burdens on adults’ access to constitutionally-protected expression, requiring them to provide personal identifying information online to access sensitive, intimate content.”

Eidelman added, “This is not the first time that concerns about minors’ access have led legislators to pass unconstitutional laws. We’ve gone through this time and again, with everything from drive-in movies to video games to websites, and courts have repeatedly struck down laws imposing requirements that burden adults’ access to non-obscene sexual content in the name of protecting children.”

In May, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) submitted an amicus brief in support of the petition for writ of certiorari. The legal team included industry attorneys Corey Silverstein and Lawrence Walters, and also Aaron Mackey, Elizabeth Femia, David Greene and Kevin S. Toll.

"We made essential arguments that Woodhull and EFF believed were integral to the Supreme Court ultimately granting this petition and agreeing to take on this case," Silverstein noted. "Make no mistake about it, this was a massive victory, but the war isn’t over yet, and we are eager to continue advocating for Woodhull and the EFF once briefing begins. Woodhull’s intervention in the case wouldn’t be possible without the financial commitment of MojoHost who stepped up when then adult industry needed it most."

Silverstein added he remains optimistic that the Supreme Court will ultimately strike down HB 1181 "and send a message to all of the states and their lawmakers who decided that they would ignore the First Amendment and existing case precedent in order to push their selfish political aspirations and conservative views.”

[King Mark]

The diversion into hosting threw me off 🤣 but keep fighting the good fight, as long as it's for the right reasons ✊