Tuesday, January 20.  The US Supreme court ruled against a federal law banning animal cruelty on the grounds that it violated the constitutional right to free speech.  The law had been enacted to prevent interstate sale of videos depicting torture or killing of animals, such as the so-called "crush" videos which depict certain deviant practices.  

This particular case involved a Virginia man who made videos depicting pit bull dogs fighting or attacking other animals.  He was sentenced to 3 years in prison which he will now not have to serve.

The Supreme Court rejected the law on the grounds that it was too vague and eroded the special protection guaranteed by the First Amendment.  Proponents of the law argued that this kind of material is similar to child pornography which has been given a legal exception.  

Only one justice dissented from the ruling.  Justice Samuel Alito argued that the law would only be applied to two specific types of videos depicting "crush" or animal fighting, and that the law was directed at prohibiting those kinds of behaviors, not free speech.  Opponents of the law argued that it could be used against nature documentaries or videos depicting blood sports with animals such as hunting.

Laws have long been enacted in all fifty states and at the federal level against animal cruelty.   The Humane Society of the United States, however, has urged Congress to enact a more specific law to prohibit such videos.