April 16

Events

• Current events

• 2002 - Sometimes sanity does prevail - Expressing concern that the ban on pornographic images that appear to show children engaging in sex would have barred the production of Romeo + Juliet, American Beauty, and Lolita, on this date the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1996 law that had received widespread bipartisan support when it was passed. In a 6-3 decision, the justices held that the law barring sexually explicit material in which any participant "appear[s] to be a minor" was too vague. In the past, the court noted, the court had upheld laws barring pornography only when they were aimed at protecting real victims. However, the court said, the 1996 law "prohibits speech that records no crime and creates no victims by its production."