Sentencing Law & Policy and Scotus Blog pick up on a recently granted cert petition challenging the 2003 PROTECT Act in US v. Williams. Prof. Berman does "not know if there is a sentencing angle in Williams, but I suspect the buzz around this new SCOTUS case could impact debates over severe sentences for simply downloading child porn (such as the 200-year prison sentence given to former Phoenix high school teacher Morton Berger discussed here and here.)"
From the Cert Petition the "Question Presented" is as follows:
Section 2252A(a)(3)(B) of Title 18 (Supp. IV 2004) prohibits “knowingly * * * advertis[ing], promot[ing], present[ing], distribut[ing], or solicit[ing] * * * any material or purported material in a manner that reflects the belief, or that is intended to cause another to believe, that the material or purported material” is illegal child pornography. The question presented is whether Section 2252A(a)(3)(B) is overly broad and impermissibly vague, and thus facially unconstitutional.
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