CANOGA PARK, CA — In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) issued its first public response to Federal District Court Judge Walker Miller’s recent ruling the FSC’s legal challenge to the federal record-keeping requirements most commonly referred to as “2257 regulations.”“On Friday March 30th, Colorado Federal District Court Judge Walker Miller issued an interim ruling dismissing some causes of action and allowing others to proceed in light of the Adam Walsh Act amendments to 18 U.S.C. § 2257 signed into law on July 27, 2006,” the FSC release begins. “FSC attorneys, in cooperation with government litigators, had held off amending their lawsuit until the regulations for those amendments were issued. These regulations were scheduled to be issued in January, but have not yet been made public.”
“It makes no sense to rule on a law prior to the issuance regulations defining how the law is to be carried out,” states Diane Duke, FSC Executive Director, in the FSC statement released today.
In its release, the FSC notes that Judge Miller’s latest decision is “consistent with his December 2005 ruling enjoining parts of 2257,” but, due to the amendments made to 2257 under the Adam Walsh Act, “FSC has until April 16th to present to the court grounds for why the amended 2257 is unconstitutional and the government has until April 30th for response.”
According to the release, FSC attorneys “have identified and are working on a number of strategies to address Judge Miller’s most recent decision.”
Reed Lee, FSC Board member and President of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, said that while the FSC is “disappointed” by the ruling, “this case is far from over.”
“There are a number of constitutional issues, previously appropriately avoided by Judge Miller that must now be addressed,” added Lee.
As the FSC pursues its options, the Coalition will keep its members in the loop, Duke said.
“FSC will provide regular updates on the status of 2257 as the case unfolds through our weekly XPRESS newsletter, e-mail alerts and posting on our websites,” said Duke. “As soon as we have additional information, we will communicate it to our membership.”
