News coverage: http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168404.html Court Rejects Govt. Move To Toss Net Porn Filtering Case ********* PRESS STATEMENT John W. Berry President, American Library Association (CHICAGOJuly 26, 2001) Less than 72 hours after hearing arguments, the three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the Eastern District in Philadelphia denied the government's Motion to Dismiss. The American Library Association and its 63,000 members are pleased the court ruled that we will have our day in court on this most vital issue. We firmly believe mandatory filtering is misguided and unworkable in the context of a public institution. The American Library Association filed suit against the Children's Internet Protection Act in the United States District Court for the Eastern District on March 20, 2001. Plaintiffs in the suit include libraries, library users, state library associations and the Freedom to Read Foundation. People for the American Way is serving as supporting counsel. The case is American Library Association, Inc., et al. v. United States, et. al., No. 01-CV-1303. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a similar challenge; the two cases have been consolidated by the court and will be heard together. For more information, call the American Library Association's Public Information Office at 312-280-5043. Attached below is the language from the court's memorandum and order. -30- IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, INC., et al. v. UNITED STATES, et al. NO. 01-1303 MULTNOMAH COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, et al. v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al. NO. 01-1322 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER July 26, 2001 A motion to dismiss the complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P.12(b)(6) addresses only the sufficiency of a plaintiff's pleading. After careful consideration of the pending motions and responses, we have concluded that plaintiffs' complaints in these actions contain enough factual allegations to withstand dismissal. Plaintiffs are entitled to an opportunity to prove their allegations. It is therefore Ordered: That the defendants' Motions to Dismiss the Complaints are denied. Edward R. Becker, Ch. J. John P. Fullam, Sr. J. Harvey Bartle III, J. ********* [David is responding to: http://www.politechbot.com/p-02298.html which I titled "Philadelphia judges OK library filtering case for 2002 trial," a headline that was about 72 hours premature. --DBM] Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 12:05:06 -0400 To: declanat_private From: David Sobel <sobelat_private> Subject: Re: FC: Philadelphia judges OK library filtering case for 2002 trial Cc: politechat_private X-UIDL: bf2e06266395a8a357c541d581062637 Declan - Although the hearing yesterday went very well, with the three judges expressing quite a bit of skepticism concerning CIPA, your subject line jumps the gun a bit. As the last line of the Reuters article on the Wired site states, >[Chief Judge] Becker said the panel would rule later on whether the >case should be dismissed, but set no deadline for a decision. - David ....................................................................... David L. Sobel, General Counsel * +1 202 483 1140 (tel) Electronic Privacy Information Center * +1 202 483 1248 (fax) 1718 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Suite 200 * sobelat_private Washington, DC 20009 USA * http://www.epic.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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