Dog-Fighting Videos Spur Lively Ethics Debate at Supreme Court
Oct 12th, 2009 • Posted in: News Justices volley hypotheticals while considering case
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Supreme Court last week engaged in a free-wheeling debate over the legal and ethical balance between free speech and the government’s responsibility to outlaw depictions of illegal and disturbing acts.
At issue are dog-fighting videos that earned their producer a conviction for violating a law outlawing depictions of animal cruelty.
While originally aimed at halting a type of bizarre fetish video that shows the crushing of small animals, the law was applied later to the dog-fighting tapes, reports National Public Radio.
Critics of the law, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, say it could lead to a slippery slope and eventually be applied to banning, for example, Hemingway’s descriptions of gory bullfights, films on fox hunts, the production of pate de foie gras from geese, or legitimate documentaries that show cruelty against animals in an effort to protest such actions.
Animal-rights activists lined the steps outside the Supreme Court to show support for the law, arguing, among other things, that it had nearly eliminated the distribution of “crush” videos.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, the case produced some of the most lively crossfire of hypotheticals in recent sessions. Justice Antonin Scalia, an avid hunter, wondered if the law could criminalize a film showing out-of-season hunting, reports the Monitor.
But Justice Samuel Alito, one of the few who seemed supportive of the law, countered with his own scenario, reports the paper: “What if people like to see human sacrifice … live pay-per-view over the Human Sacrifice Channel? Don’t they have a right?”
Central to the dispute is whether animal cruelty is in the same category as child pornography — an act considered so inherently criminal that it deserves no protection under the First Amendment.
Sources: NPR, Oct. 6 — Newsweek, Oct. 6 — San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 6 — Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 6.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug. 17 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 3 — Related Newsline story, July 27.
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