POMA, the Professional Outdoor Media Association, in a news briefing, discussed a case in which the government is asking the Supreme Court for the power to censor hunting and fishing imagery, creating a new exception to the First Amendment for the first time in 25 years.
At issue in U.S. v. Stevens, No. 08-769, is a 1999 federal law that makes it a crime to create, sell or possess videos and other depictions of cruelty to animals. The case arose over the conviction of a Virginia man, Robert Stevens, who received a three-year prison sentence from a Pennsylvania court for selling videos that included scenes of hunting with dogs.
The Justices will hear arguments in the case on Tuesday, October 6.
In addition to working with the Washington, D.C., Jones Day Law Firm to file a brief on behalf of its members, Laurie Lee Dovey, POMA's executive director, coordinated a larger group of amici from a wide range of constituencies.
The American Society of Media Photographers, North American Nature Photographers, Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, Southeastern Outdoor Press Association, Texas Outdoor Writers Association and more than 600 individual journalists, outdoor industry professionals and sportsmen joined POMA's brief.
POMA members, such as the National Rifle Association, Safari Club International, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and others filed individual briefs on behalf of their members.
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