Supreme Court strikes down law banning animal-cruelty depictions

WASHINGTON—In a defense of free speech by both liberal and conservative justices, the Supreme Court struck down a federal law banning depictions of animal cruelty, dismissing claims that gruesome animal films had no constitutional protection.

By an 8-1 vote, the court refused to add animal-cruelty images to the narrow spectrum of speech considered so vile or harmful that it stands outside the First Amendment’s shelter, such as child pornography.

Writing for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the government’s arguments that Congress could proscribe new categories of speech when it found their “societal costs” exceeded their “value.” Read More…