SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Texas Age Verification Case

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court has officially granted a writ of certiorari for a legal case challenging whether a controversial Texas law requiring mandatory age verification for porn websites is constitutional.  The case is Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton. Adult industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition and a plaintiff class containing the parent companies of the largest adult tube websites in the world brought the lawsuit against the state of Texas and Attorney General Ken Paxton. At the center of the lawsuit is House Bill (HB) 1181. HB 1181 was adopted by the conservative controlled Texas state legislature and prompted a legal challenge from adult entertainment industry groups.  Oral arguments for this case will occur during the next term of the Supreme Court, which begins in October.  Plaintiffs alongside the Free Speech Coalition include Aylo, the Montreal-based owner of Pornhub, which has made international news for geo-blocking entire states, including Texas, for adopting age verification statutes.  Other plaintiffs include Web Group Czech Republic and NKL Associates, the owners of XVideos and Xnxx, with other companies. The plaintiffs are represented by a team of attorneys from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP., Webb Daniel Friedlander, LLP., and the American Civil Liberties Union.  Paxton and his office are representing the state of Texas in his official capacity as state Attorney General. AVN has covered this particular case extensively. Other lawsuits involving the Free Speech Coalition fighting age verification laws are progressing in federal courts across the country, as well. These lawsuits include an appeal to the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on Utah’s age verification bounty law, a filing in a federal district court in Montana, and the most recent legal victory against age verification laws in Indiana.  This is a developing story.