ACLU Staff Attorney Ann Beeson questions ACLU Associate Director Barry Steinhardt on the impact of New York's Internet censorship law.

Case Materials

Legal Documents

• Judge Preska's Final Ruling Granting a Preliminary Injunction     
• Plaintiff's Reply Brief in ALA v. Pataki, filed March 21, 1997           
• Complaint  in ALA v. Pataki           
• Motion for Preliminary Injunction  in ALA v. Pataki  

Court Transcripts  April 3-7

• April 3, Day One  
  • Plaintiff lawyers Christopher Hansen  and  Ann Beeson , ACLU; Michael Hertz and Anat Hakim, Latham & Watkins (pro-bono attorneys).      
  • For the Defendants: Michael McCartney, Investigator, Office of the Attorney General, Buffalo, New York
• April 4, Day Two       
  • For the Plaintiffs:  Diane Kovacs , computer consultant (Mrs. Kovacs will present a live Internet demonstration to the court.
• April 7, Day Three  
• For the Plaintiffs: 
  • Matthew Ehrlich, host of LAMBDA conference on ECHO           
  • Rudolf Kinsky, artist and member of Art on the Net           
  • Maurice Friedman, executive director, Westchester Library System           
  • Barry Steinhardt, associate director, American Civil Liberties Union

Expert Witnesses 

• Bill Burrington, America Online    
• Gerald Michalski, managing editor, Release 1.0

Plaintiff Declarations 

• Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom     
• Lile Elam, Art on the Net        
• Stacy Horn, ECHO     
• Bennett Haselton, Peacefire       
• Oren Teicher, American Booksellers Association          
• Lawrence Kaufman, Magazine Publishers Association           
• Alexis Rosen, PANIX     
• Todd Sowers, NYC Net

Press Releases

06/20/1997 -- New York Judge Prohibits State Regulation of Internet
04/18/1997 -- NY's Internet Censorship Law Crosses State Lines, Violating Commerce Clause and Free Speech Rights
04/09/1997 -- Witnesses Describe Internet Censorship Fears to Court; Oral Argument Set for April 22
04/03/1997 -- New York Courtroom Gets Wired As Groups Present Evidence In Challenge to State Cyber-Censorship Law

Press Conference Materials

Pictured left to right: Nancy Kranich, ALA, Glenn Haumann, Bibliobytes, Ann Beeson, ACLU, Norman Siegel, NYCLU, Maurice Friedman, Westchester Library System, and Shabbir Safdar, Voters Telecommunications Watch 
(Photo by Emily Whitfield)