WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court Monday upheld a federal law that forces public libraries to install Internet filters on their publicly accessed computers.
The 6-3 judgment came with a plurality opinion by Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
The Children's Internet Protection Act forbids public libraries federal funding for Internet access unless they install software to block pornography. A lower court had ruled the act unconstitutional.
But the court majority Monday said the law did not violate the First Amendment's free speech guarantees.
Rehnquist's plurality opinion, joined by three other members of the court, said challengers had been unable to show that adult users of the library were burdened to any appreciable degree.
Two other justices writing separately agreed with the judgment. Three dissented.