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<b><i>Commentary</b></i> The Strange Case Of Justice Breyer

By James C. Goodale By Samuel B. Fineman
September 08, 2004

After the U.S. Supreme Court came down with its last decision in June, Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union, No. 03-218, 124 S. Ct. 2783, 159 L. Ed. 2d 690, PBS Newshour commentator Margaret Warner asked rhetorically: Why in the world was Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer in the dissent?

The case was a great First Amendment victory. The Court decided, 5-4, that the Child's On-Line Protection Act (COPA), a law regulating pornography on the Internet, was unconstitutional.

But there was Justice Breyer dissenting, along with Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Justices Antonin Scalia and Sandra Day O'Connor, voting to uphold the law. His dissent ran 17 pages ' longer than the majority opinion. And this is not the only time he has voted against the First Amendment in recent years.

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