{"id":2453167,"date":"2025-06-27T19:32:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T23:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-was-it-not-9-0-scotus-split-on-texas-age-verification-law\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T19:32:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T23:32:48","slug":"how-was-it-not-9-0-scotus-split-on-texas-age-verification-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-was-it-not-9-0-scotus-split-on-texas-age-verification-law\/","title":{"rendered":"How Was It Not 9-0? SCOTUS Split on Texas Age Verification Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-was-it-not-9-0-scotus-split-on-texas-age-verification-law%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2453167&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S. supreme Court recently upheld a Texas law requiring adult websites to implement procedures verifying the age of users to prevent minors from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-upholds-pornography-age-verification-laws\/\" title=\"... upholds pornography ...-... ...s\">accessing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wapo-op-ed-showing-sex-kink-to-children-encourages-self-expression\/\" title=\"WaPo Op-Ed: Showing Sex \u2018Kink\u2019 To Children Encour...s \u2018Self-Expression\u2019\">sexually explicit content<\/a><\/a>. In a 6-3 decision, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion, asserting that states hold the authority to impose such requirements as a means to protect children. the law allows for age verification through goverment-issued ids or other commercially reasonable methods. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, arguing that while the aim of protecting children is valid, the law infringes on adults&#8217; rights to access legal content that may be deemed inappropriate for minors. Critics raised concerns about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/usps-workers-destroyed-elise-stefaniks-campaign-mail-stole-20000-worth-of-donations-lawyers-allege\/\" title=\"USPS Workers Destroyed Elise Stefanik\u2019s Campaign Mail, Stole ,000 Worth Of Donations, ...yers Allege\">potential identity theft<\/a> and compliance difficulties, which Thomas dismissed, asserting that established verification methods are legitimate and necessary. The ruling has led some platforms, like Pornhub, to block users from Texas, while advocacy groups have welcomed it as a step towards a safer internet for children.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday approved a lower court ruling that said states can require that porn sites have a procedure in place to verify the age of people who visit their sites.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion for the 6-3 court. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/24pdf\/23-1122_3e04.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concurred<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/amy-coney-barrett-crushes-ketanji-brown-jackson-devastating-line-universal-injunction-opinion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ketanji Brown Jackson<\/a> dissented.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The statute advances the State&rsquo;s important interest in shielding children from sexually explicit content,&rdquo; Thomas wrote in the majority opinion backing the 2023 Texcas law, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/06\/27\/us-news\/supreme-court-upholds-texas-age-verification-law-for-adult-websites\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And, it is appropriately tailored because it permits users to verify their ages through the established methods of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >providing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/india-11-times-vaxed-man-threatens-to-kill-himself-if-prosecuted\/\" title=\"India: 11-Times Vaxed Man Threatens to Kill Himself if Prosecuted\">government-issued identification<\/a><\/a> and sharing transactional data,&rdquo; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The power to require age verification is within a State&rsquo;s authority to prevent children from accessing sexually explicit content,&rdquo; Thomas wrote, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/applewebdata:\/\/52E2A449-C41C-43FF-A530-52D4D1B731FB\/according%20to%20The%20Hill.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The First Amendment leaves undisturbed States&rsquo; traditional power to prevent minors from accessing speech that is obscene from their perspective,&rdquo; he wrote &ldquo;That power includes the power to require proof of age before an individual can access such speech.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kagan led the liberal wing&rsquo;s argument, noting &ldquo;[n]o one doubts that the distribution of sexually explicit speech to children, of the sort involved here, can cause great harm.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But she said the Texas law impinged on the rights of adults.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Speech that is obscene for minors is often not so for adults. For them, the category of obscene&mdash;and therefore unprotected speech&mdash;is narrower,&rdquo; she wrote. &ldquo;So adults have a constitutional right to view the very same speech that a State may prohibit for children.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What if Texas could do better&mdash;what if Texas could achieve its interest without so interfering with adults&rsquo; constitutionally protected rights in viewing the speech?&rdquo; she wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Opponents of the Texas law claimed identity theft and other compliance problems would result from the law. Thomas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dem-governor-vetoes-age-verification-pornography-key-swing-state-leaving-minors-vulnerable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">swatted away<\/a> those concerns.<\/p>\n<p>He wrote that the &ldquo;specific verification methods that H. B. 1181 permits are &hellip; plainly legitimate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Verification can take place on the covered website itself or through a third-party service,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;Other age-restricted services, such as online gambling, alcohol and tobacco sales, and car rentals, rely on the same methods.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The law requires users to have a government-issued identification or a &ldquo;commercially reasonable method that relies on public or private transactional data,&rdquo; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/supreme-court-upholds-texas-law-requiring-age-verification-porn-websites\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>, which noted 21 other states have similar laws.<\/p>\n<p>The site Pornhub reacted to the law by blocking customers from Texas.<\/p>\n<p>The company Verifymy said the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/porn-websites-cut-off-access-millions-users-law-takes-effect-short-days\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruling<\/a> &ldquo;cleared a key obstacle in the path to a safer internet.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It will reassure parents across Texas about the type of content their children can access online and lay out a legislative blueprint for other states to follow to keep explicit material in the hands of adults only,&rdquo; Lina Ghazal, Verifymy head of regulatory and public affairs, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Online platforms have been allowed to rely on users self-reporting their age for too long, leaving the door ajar for children to spaces they are not mature enough to navigate. Robust age checks are a common-sense safeguard that put the online and offline world on the same footing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The technology already exists to carry out these checks effectively, while also respecting privacy,&rdquo; Ghazal said. &ldquo;Methods like -based or facial age estimation are tools adult websites can easily implement, with minimal impact on user experience. What has been missing is a clear legislative precedent. &hellip; Children&rsquo;s safety must now be embedded into the foundation of every platform.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower court decision allowing states to mandate that pornographic websites implement age verification processes for visitors. Justice Clarence Thomas authored the majority opinion in the 6-3 ruling, which was supported by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Thomas stated that the law serves the state&#8217;s significant interest in protecting children from explicit content and is appropriately designed to allow users to verify their ages through government-issued IDs or transactional data sharing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2453168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/scotus-3.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33211,6994,32275,58083],"class_list":["post-2453167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-legal-news","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court","tag-texas-age-verification"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/scotus-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2453167"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2453171,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453167\/revisions\/2453171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2453168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}