WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Friday in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the adult industry trade association's challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law, HB 1181.
Chief Justice John Roberts announced from the bench Thursday morning that Friday will be the final day on which the Supreme Court will hand down decisions from October Term 2024. Only a handful of pending cases remain — including FSC v. Paxton.
The issue before the court is what standard of review should apply to age verification laws that aim to protect minors — but in the process may burden adults’ access to protected speech. A lower court applied only the “rational basis” standard, whereas FSC, its fellow plaintiffs and free speech advocates have maintained that the highest level of judicial review, “strict scrutiny,” should apply.
A ruling in favor of the adult industry could render state age verification laws around the country vulnerable to challenges, and halt similar legislative proposals in other states unless they make substantial adjustments to satisfy strict scrutiny.
A ruling against the industry could bolster existing state age verification laws, and advance similar legislative proposals in other states.
A decision in either direction is also likely to impact pending litigation. Some cases that were put on hold in anticipation of the court’s decision in this case, including in Texas, Indiana and Florida, could be expected to advance or not, depending on how the court rules.
HB 1181 was passed by the Texas legislature in May 2023 and is a much-augmented version of Louisiana’s age verification law and its many copycat versions in other states. FSC has condemned the law as “blatantly unconstitutional” and a “violation of First Amendment rights of creators, consumers and platforms.”