Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997) Essay

Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997) - Essay Example The CDA provisions were in tandem with Christian faith and the Holy bible which deplores immorality. The book of 1Thessalonians 4:3 states,† For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality." The Bible also states in the book of Proverbs 29:17, â€Å"Correct your son and he will give you comfort; He will also delight your soul.† This act sought to safeguard upbringing of children by shielding them from a filthy society that threatens corrupt their morality. However, in the case of â€Å"Reno vs. American Civil Liberties Union,† the court of Supreme upheld a previous lower court decision that the CDA violated two existing provisions of the constitution. The CDA act violated the first amendment that provided freedom of speech. The CDA was found also violating the Fifth Amendment by virtue of vagueness of its words such as â€Å"indecent â€Å"and â€Å"patently offensive† (Law.cornell.edu, 2014). The judges final ruling resonates with an incidence in the Bible where Jesus disregarded Mosaic Law in order to protect a more fundamental right in the book of John 8:7-8 where he saved an adulterous woman from a mob that wanted to stone her, as required by the Mosaic Law. â€Å"He, who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her and when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones...† Justice John Paul Steven recognized the fact that the government had the responsibility to protect minors from sexually explicit materials but expressed his concern that the provisions unnecessarily suppressed the right to provide information to adults which could be educative. For instance a discussion on birth Control practices. The court was also concerned with the criterion used to define indecent materials or communication. The court argued that CDA â€Å"community standards† criterion implied that other nation- wide internet communication would be