INDIANAPOLIS – A federal appeals court on Friday stayed an injunction blocking enforcement of an Indiana law requiring pornography websites to verify user ages. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit called the Hoosier measure “functionally identical” to one adopted by Texas.
That law has been in effect since April when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a preliminary injunction. Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 17 has never gone live, despite an effectiveness date of July 1.
Days before that happened, a U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young, of Indiana’s Southern District, issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement. He said the requirements were “likely unconstitutional.”
But now that injunction is on hold. “We do not see any adequate reason why Texas’s law may be enforced pending the decision on the merits …, while Indiana’s may not be enforced,” Judges Frank H. Easterbrook and Amy J. St. Eve wrote.
“Functionally identical statutes should be treated the same while the Supreme Court considers the matter,” they added.
They granted Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s request for a stay on the preliminary injunction until the nation’s top court decides the Texan case.
“This is a huge win for Hoosier families, ensuring our children can’t easily access explicit material,” he said on X (Twitter). “We will continue upholding our constitutional duty to defend our laws in court.”
Pornography video-sharing website Pornhub had promised to pull out of Indiana before the stay was issued. It is unclear if it will now do so.
Read the complete Leslie Bonilla Muñiz story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
