Congress has tried to restrict minors' access to online pornography by requiring porn sites to verify the age of their viewers

National Review, July 26, 2004

Congress has tried to restrict minors' access to online pornography by requiring porn sites to verify the age of their viewers (by, for example, getting a credit card number). Most people, especially parents, consider this a modest restriction on adults' freedom that serves a worthy goal. The courts have repeatedly blocked the law, however, on the theory that it violates "well-established First Amendment principles," as Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy put it in the latest decision.

The Court's principles are not to be confused with the actual amendment. Images are not "speech," which is what the amendment protects. Most pornography could therefore be banned altogether without bringing the amendment into play. Many conservatives have observed that this Court seems more inclined to strike down laws regulating pornography than laws regulating political speech. The complaint is, indeed, becoming something of a conservative cliche. Perhaps because it is true.