Tim Scott: “Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4623 is a hasty attempt to override the United States Supreme Court decision of just 2 months ago…”

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4623 is a hasty attempt to override the United States Supreme Court decision of just 2 months ago, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition. Unfortunately, it tries to do exactly what the Supreme Court said could not be done. H.R. 4623 seeks to ban virtual child pornography. It not only defines child pornography to include virtual child pornography that is indistinguishable from real child pornography, but makes even possession of an image that is indistinguishable a crime. Child pornography may be banned and prosecuted. However, pornography that does not involve a real child is just that, pornography which, if not obscene, has been ruled by the Supreme Court to be not illegal. To constitute child pornography, a real child must be involved. The Supreme Court has ruled that computer-generated images depicting childlike characters which do not involve real children do not constitute child pornography any more than a movie with a 22-year-old actor who plays and looks like a 15-year-old engaging in sex would be illegal. The Supreme Court has ruled that pornography, computer-generated or not, which is not produced using real children, and is not otherwise obscene, is protected under the first amendment. H.R. 4623, like the CPPA struck down in Ashcroft v. Free Speech, attempts to ban this protected material and therefore is likely to meet the same fate.”