The decision hands a major setback to the Justice Department and the majority of Congress in their legislative efforts to fight child pornography. The 6-3 ruling says the law violates the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech. The law had banned a range of techniques - including computer-generated images and the use of youthful-looking adults - which were designed to convey the impression of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Supreme Court Tuesday struck down a 6-year-old law that prohibits the distribution and possession of virtual child pornography that appears to - but does not - depict real children.
