Appeals Court Affirms Vermont Internet Law Is Unconstitutional
On August 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed a Vermont federal district court decision holding a Vermont Internet law unconstitutional under both the First Amendment and the federal Commerce Clause. The law, which prohibited the distribution on the Internet of non-obscene sexually explicit materials that are defined as "harmful to minors" if they could be accessed by persons under 18, was found by the Court of Appeals to burden speech protected by the First Amendment and to not be narrowly tailored.
It just seemed that Green River Books in Princeton, Illinois, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, was meant to be -- and that LuAnn Salz and her author husband, Trey Barker, were destined to own it. Though Salz and Barker had plans to move from Denver to the Princeton area to open an independent bookstore, it was through good luck -- and, of course, hard work -- that they happened upon their dream location for the store.