SCOTUS Allows Miss. Age-Verification Law to Stand, Denies NetChoice Emergency Injunction
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a Mississippi age-verification law to stand Thursday, denying NetChoice's emergency application that would have blocked the measure.
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The trade association asked the high court to quickly reinstate the preliminary injunction granted by a district court in July (see 2507210072), days after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the injunction of HB-1126 without explanation (see 2507170019).
The application to vacate the stay and block the law was presented to Justice Samuel Alito, who gave no explanation for denying the motion. However, in a concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that NetChoice "demonstrated that it is likely to succeed on the merits -- namely, that enforcement of the Mississippi law would likely violate its members’ First Amendment rights under this Court’s precedents."
Kavanaugh added, "Given those precedents, it is no surprise that the District Court in this case enjoined enforcement of the Mississippi law and that seven other Federal District Courts have likewise enjoined enforcement of similar state laws."
"Nonetheless, because NetChoice has not sufficiently demonstrated that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time, I concur in the Court’s denial of the application for interim relief," Kavanaugh said.
In a release following the ruling, Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, called the decision "merely an unfortunate procedural delay."
“Although we’re disappointed with the Court’s decision, Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence makes clear that NetChoice will ultimately succeed in defending the First Amendment -- not just in this case but across all NetChoice’s ID-for-Speech lawsuits."
In late June, SCOTUS upheld a Texas age-verification law on a 6-3 vote, which critics also argued violated free speech (see [Ref:2506270041).