Latest news with #parentalconsent
Reuters
a day ago
- Politics
- Reuters
US Supreme Court urged to block Mississippi law restricting children's social media use
July 21 (Reuters) - An internet trade association whose members include Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to block a Mississippi law that imposes age-verification and parental-consent requirements on social media sites. Washington, D.C.-based NetChoice said in its filing that a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel improperly allowed the Mississippi law to take effect even though a judge had found the regulations likely violate, opens new tab constitutional free speech protections. The law requires minors to obtain parental consent to open accounts at certain kinds of digital service providers, and says regulated platforms must make 'commercially reasonable' efforts to verify users' ages. The state can pursue civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation as well as criminal penalties under Mississippi's deceptive trade practices law. NetChoice's emergency filing, opens new tab provides the first opportunity for the Supreme Court to consider a social media age-verification law. 'Just as the government can't force you to provide identification to read a newspaper, the same holds true when that news is available online," Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said in a statement. The Mississippi attorney general's office in a statement welcomed the 5th Circuit's order permitting the law to take effect and said it looked forward to the appellate court's full consideration of the case. Courts in Florida, Texas and five other states have preliminarily or permanently blocked similar measures, NetChoice said in its filing. Only Mississippi has been allowed to implement its rules. NetChoice, which sued to block the Mississippi law in 2024, said in Monday's Supreme Court filing that its members' social media platforms have already adopted extensive policies to moderate content for minors and provide parental controls. States increasingly have sought ways to mitigate the potentially harmful effects of social media on young people. Some big technology companies are separately battling lawsuits from U.S. states, school districts and individual users alleging social platforms have fueled mental health problems. The companies have denied any wrongdoing. U.S. District Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden in Gulfport, Mississippi, last year blocked Mississippi from enforcing the restrictions on some NetChoice members. Ozerden issued a second order, opens new tab in June pausing the rules against those members, including Meta and its Instagram and Facebook platforms, Snapchat and YouTube. A Fifth Circuit appeals panel last week issued a one-sentence ruling that paused the lower court order, without explaining its reasoning. The case is NetChoice v. Fitch, U.S. Supreme Court, not yet assigned. For applicant: Scott Keller of Lehotsky Keller Cohn For respondent: No appearance yet Read more: Judge blocks Florida law banning social media accounts for children Court blocks California law on children's online safety Utah law restricting youth social media use blocked by judge Court blocks key part of California law on children's online safety
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court declines to hear dispute over Montana abortion consent law
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to take up a dispute over a Montana law that would have required notarized parental consent for a minor to receive an abortion. State lawmakers have argued that parents have a constitutional right to make decisions concerning the care, custody and control of their children. Planned Parenthood of Montana, in challenging the law, argued that minors have a constitutional right to privacy that cannot be infringed. The Montana Supreme Court struck down the law on state constitutional grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court now leaves that decision in place. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they agreed with the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case, saying it "provides a poor vehicle" for addressing the constitutional question about the rights of parents, which they suggested they are open to resolving in a future case.
CBS News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Supreme Court rejects case over Montana abortion law requiring parental consent for minors
Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to review a blocked Montana law that would require physicians to obtain a parent's consent before performing an abortion on a minor, leaving intact a state high court decision that invalidated the requirement. In rejecting the appeal from Montana state officials, the high court turned away what the officials said was a chance to clarify the scope of parents' right to be informed of and participate in their children's medical decisions, including abortion. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote a separate statement respecting the court's decision not to take up the case. Alito said the case is a "poor vehicle" for deciding the question at hand. "It is therefore especially important that the denial of review is not read by interested parties or other courts as a rejection of the argument that the petition asks us to decide," Alito wrote. The long-running dispute dates back to 2013, when the Montana legislature approved the Parental Consent for Abortion Act, which requires physicians to obtain notarized written consent from a parent or guardian before performing an abortion for patients under the age of 18. The law allows a minor who cannot get parental consent to access abortion care through a court order. Before the consent law took effect, in July 2013, Planned Parenthood sued to block the measure as a violation of the Montana Constitution. The Montana attorney general agreed to a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the consent requirement, and it has never gone into effect. A separate state law that requires parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor is in place. The case languished for several years until the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade. A state trial court ruled that the consent requirement violated the Montana Constitution because it interfered with a minor's right to privacy. The state appealed, and the Montana Supreme Court upheld the district court's decision. It found that when evaluated under the most stringent level of judicial review, strict scrutiny, the consent law was not narrowly tailored to any of Montana's compelling interests that they said justified the requirement. The consent rule, the state supreme court found, violates the "fundamental right of a minor to control her body and destiny," as guaranteed by the state constitution. Montana officials asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state court's decision earlier this year and warned that its view of a minor's right to privacy under the state constitution threatens parental rights under the federal Constitution to direct their child's medical care, including decisions about abortion and access to contraception. "State experimentation with the scope of a minor's state constitutional right to seek an abortion threatens to erode parents' federal fundamental rights," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen wrote in urging the Supreme Court to take up the appeal. State officials are asking the justices to decide whether a fundamental right to direct the care and custody of their children includes a right to "know and participate in decisions" about their medical care, including getting an abortion. But lawyers for Planned Parenthood urged the high court to turn away the case because it involves unique provisions of Montana's Constitution — one that grants all Montana citizens the right to individual privacy and a second that guarantees minors the same state constitutional rights as adults. State officials, they wrote in a filing, "seek to use the parental right as a cudgel against a minor's rights." "The court's protection of a minor's right to privacy is not any less of a deserving counterweight to the federal Constitution's guarantee of parental rights, simply because that protection inheres in Montana's constitution," Planned Parenthood lawyers wrote. The Montana Supreme Court recognized the right to abortion under its constitution in 1999, and it is legal up to the point of fetal viability. In the 2024 election, Montana voters approved an initiative that amended the state constitution to "expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion."
CNN
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Supreme Court declines to hear case challenging parental consent for abortion
The Supreme Court declined Thursday to review a Montana law that requires people under 18 to seek parental consent before obtaining an abortion, leaving in place a state court ruling that struck the law down. Montana's law, enacted in 2013, prohibits a doctor from providing an abortion to a patient under 18 without notarized written consent from a parent. The state's highest court concluded that the law violated the Montana state constitution, which includes broader protections for abortion than the US Constitution. This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
CNN
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Supreme Court declines to hear case challenging parental consent for abortion
The Supreme Court declined Thursday to review a Montana law that requires people under 18 to seek parental consent before obtaining an abortion, leaving in place a state court ruling that struck the law down. Montana's law, enacted in 2013, prohibits a doctor from providing an abortion to a patient under 18 without notarized written consent from a parent. The state's highest court concluded that the law violated the Montana state constitution, which includes broader protections for abortion than the US Constitution. This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
