A Texas anti-porn law violates the First Amendment by requiring websites to verify users’ ages, the Free Speech Coalition said at the U.S. Supreme Court. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief Monday on behalf of the FSC, a pornography industry trade association. The U.S. District Court in Austin agreed in August 2023 to block the law (HB-1181), one day before its Sept. 1 effective date. U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra found the law likely violates the First Amendment rights of adults trying to access constitutionally protected speech. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partially vacated the injunction, finding the age-verification requirements constitutional. SCOTUS in July agreed to hear the case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (docket 23-1122) (see 2407020033). “Under strict scrutiny, this is a straightforward case,” said the coalition’s brief: The Texas law “is both overinclusive and underinclusive, and it fails to pursue its objective with the means least restrictive of adults’ protected speech.” The coalition added, “Restoring the preliminary injunction … would not undermine genuine efforts to limit minors’ access to sexually inappropriate material.” Adults “have a First Amendment right to read about sexual health, see R-rated movies, watch porn, and otherwise access information about sex if they want to," said Vera Eidelman, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project staff attorney. “They should be allowed to exercise that right as they see fit, without having to worry about exposing their personal identifying information in the process.”
The following lawsuits were recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
Importer Worldwide Distribution dropped its bid to participate in an appeal of an antidumping duty review after failing to file a notice of appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had asked the company whether it sought to take part in the case as an appellant, and, if so, what the court's jurisdiction is over such an appeal (Sahamitr Pressure Container v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-2043).
The U.S. “respectfully disagree[d]” with recent Court of International Trade cases that have held that the government cannot hear counterclaims seeking to reclassify products under a new heading. These holdings, it said Sept. 13, go against 28 U.S.C. Section 1583, “its legislative history, and decades of consistent practice immediately following its enactment” (BASF Corp. v. U.S., CIT Consol. # 13-00318).
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade:
The U.S. and surety company Aegis Security Insurance Co. on Sept. 13 asked the Court of International Trade to use the items produced in discovery in a separate case involving both parties (U.S. v. Aegis Security Insurance Co., CIT # 22-00327).
Responding to a trade court remand order (see 2404230031), the Commerce Department said it has reconsidered its decision and chosen to apply the subsidies received by unaffiliated suppliers of lumber to a few expedited Canadian lumber review respondents -- though this ultimately had no effect on those respondents’ countervailing duty rates (Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations v. U.S., CIT # 19-00122).
The Court of International Trade on Sept. 12 dismissed a customs penalty suit against Greenlight Organic and its owner Parambir Singh "Sonny" Aulakh after the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal. The parties told the court a settlement was reached in the case, which was filed in 2017 to address an alleged misclassification scheme carried out by the defendants (see 2409090056) (United States v. Greenlight Organic, CIT # 17-00031).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Sept. 12 allowed the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations appear as an amicus in a case on the Commerce Department's use of the Cohen's d test to detect "masked" dumping. The committee filed the brief to respond to claims from other amici led by the Canadian government, which invoked various academic literature on the use of the test (see 2408230010) (Mid Continent Steel & Wire v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-1556).
The following lawsuit was recently filed at the Court of International Trade: