最高院否決虐畜視頻禁令
原文原圖版權歸紐約時報公司所有。
法官們否決了虐畜禁播令
JUSTICES REJECTS BAN ON DEPICTING ANIMAL CRUELTY
援引第一修正案
CITE FIRST AMENDMENT
八比一裁定結果表示禁播令實在是過頭了
8-to-1 Ruling Says Law Against Videos Was Too Sweeping
By ADAM LIPTAK
華府－依據第一修正案，最高院在週二裁定撤下一條聯邦法令，該律法擬將製作或販賣鬥狗等虐畜視頻定罪。WASHINGTON — In a major First Amendment ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a federal law that made it a crime to create or sell dogfight videos and other depictions of animal cruelty.
首席大法官羅忠爵為八比一投票判決所作主辨陳詞中講到，該法令實際上已達到「一個令人憂心的犯罪防止廣度」，而政府對其極力維護實在「讓我驚訝和後怕」。Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority in the 8-to-1 decision, said that the law had created “a criminal prohibition of alarming breadth” and that the government’s aggressive defense of the law was “startling and dangerous.”
該判決仍留有一定餘地。國會可制定出一條稍寬鬆的法令以通過違憲審查。但羅大法官指出，現有該法令涉及到太多受第一修正案保護的地方了。The decision left open the possibility that Congress could enact a narrower law that would pass constitutional muster. But the existing law, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, covered too much speech protected by the First Amendment.
美國憲法第一修正案
國會不得制定關於下列事項的法律：確立國教或禁止信教自由；剝奪言論自由或出版自由；或剝奪人民和平集會和向政府請願伸冤的權利。First Amendment to the United States Constitution
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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英文全文詳見紐約時報官方網站：Justices Reject Ban on Videos of Animal Cruelty