Special-edition round-up: United States v. Stevens
This morning, the Court handed down its opinion in United States v. Stevens (08-769), striking down as overly broad a law which criminalized the creation or sale of depictions of animal cruelty. [DISCLAIMER: Akin Gump represented the respondent in the case.] In addition to Lyle Denniston’s analysis, published on this blog earlier today, a number of news sources have already begun reporting on the ruling, including the following (listed below the jump):
- The Washington Post (Robert Barnes, “Justices Cite Free Speech in Striking Down Animal-Cruelty Lawâ€);
- The Wall Street Journal (Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Strikes Down Prohibition on Depictions of Animal Crueltyâ€);
- NPR (Nina Totenberg, “Supreme Court Calls Animal Cruelty Law Too Broad”);
- The New York Times (Adam Liptak, “Justices Void Law Banning Videos of Animal Crueltyâ€);
- The Blog of Legal Times (Tony Mauro, “Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Animal Cruelty Videosâ€);
- Bloomberg (Greg Stohr, “Animal ‘Crush Video’ Law Voided by U.S. Supreme Courtâ€);
- The WSJ Law Blog (Ashby Jones, “High Court Shoots Down Animal-Cruelty Lawâ€);
- CNN (Bill Mears, “Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Banning Dogfight Videosâ€);
- The Associated Press (Mark Sherman, “Court Voids Law Aimed at Animal Cruelty Videosâ€);
- USA Today (Joan Biskupic, “Supreme Court Kills Animal Cruelty Lawâ€);
- The Christian Science Monitor (Warren Richey, “Supreme Court Rejects Animal Cruelty Law, Upholds Free Speechâ€);
- Reuters (James Vicini, “Supreme Court Strikes Down Animal Cruelty Lawâ€);
- ABC News (Ariane de Vogue, “Supreme Court Overturns Law Banning Depictions of Animal Crueltyâ€);
- Fox News (Lee Ross, “Court: Animal Cruelty Image Law Too Broadâ€);
- The BBC News (“US Court Ends Animal Cruelty Lawâ€);
- McClatchy (via the Miami Herald) (Michael Doyle, “Supreme Court Rejects Law Banning Animal-Cruelty Videosâ€);
- Above the Law (David Lat, “SCOTUS Scuttles Ban on Animal Cruelty Videosâ€);
- JURIST (Jaclyn Belczyk, “Supreme Court Strikes Down Animal Cruelty Video Banâ€); and
- ACSBlog (“High Court Strikes Federal Law Banning Depictions of Animal Crueltyâ€).
We’ll have more on the media response to United States v. Stevens, as well as links to commentary on the decision, in this week’s subsequent round-up posts.
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