Supreme Court strikes down ban

April 21, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court, with only one dissenting vote Tuesday, struck down a federal ban on videos that show graphic violence against animals. The ruling cheered free-speech advocates, but it raised concerns that more animals will be harmed.

The justices threw out the criminal conviction of Robert Stevens of Pittsville, Va., who was sentenced to three years in prison for videos he made about pit-bull fights.

The law was enacted in 1999 to limit Internet sales of so-called crush videos, which appeal to a certain sexual fetish by showing women crushing to death small animals with their bare feet or high-heeled shoes.

The videos virtually disappeared once the measure became law, the government argued. The Bush administration used the law for the first time when it indicted Stevens in 2004.

All 50 states have laws against animal cruelty, but the federal statute targeted the videos because it has been difficult to prosecute people who take part in violence against animals with a camera rolling but not showing their faces.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said the law goes too far. He suggested that a measure limited to crush videos might be valid.

The Humane Society of the United States said it would press Congress to adopt a narrower ban on the sale of videos showing “malicious acts of cruelty.” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is looking at whether there is a way “to protect animal rights, which really is the main focus, without infringing on free speech,” Blumenauer spokeswoman Erin Allweiss said.

In dissent, Justice Samuel Alito, a dog-owner himself, said the harm animals suffer in dogfights is enough to sustain the law. Alito’s dog, Zeus, a springer spaniel, is sometimes seen around the court being walked by Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann.

Alito also said the ruling probably will spur new crush videos because it has “the practical effect of legalizing the sale of such videos.”

Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said hundreds of crush videos appeared on the Internet after a federal appeals court ruled in Stevens’ favor in 2008. “This court ruling is going to accelerate that trend. That’s why it’s critical that the Congress take action,” he said.

Other animal-rights groups, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and 26 states also joined the Obama administration in support of the law. The government sought a ruling that treated videos showing animal cruelty like child pornography — that is, not entitled to constitutional protection.

But Roberts said the law could be read to allow the prosecution of the producers of films about hunting. And he scoffed at the administration’s assurances that it would only apply the law to depictions of extreme cruelty.

“But the First Amendment protects against the government,” Roberts said. “We would not uphold an unconstitutional statute merely because the government promised to use it responsibly.”

Free-speech advocates praised Tuesday’s ruling.

“Speech is protected whether it’s popular or unpopular, harmful or unharmful,” said David Horowitz, executive director of the Media Coalition.