FOSTA Judge Gives Justice Department an Extension of Time

WASHINGTON — U.S. District Judge Richard Leon today ordered a two-day extension of time for the Justice Department to file its opposition to Woodhull Freedom Foundation’s motion for a preliminary injunction over FOSTA.

“[F]or good cause shown, it is hereby ordered that defendants shall file their opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction by 6 p.m. on July 12, 2018, and that plaintiffs shall file their reply in support of the motion by 6 p.m. on July 17, 2018,” Leon wrote in a signed order this afternoon.

As previously scheduled, Leon will hear the motion for preliminary injunction on Thursday, July 19, at 4 p.m., in his courtroom at U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.

Justice Department attorneys, as defendants in the suit, will respond to challenges waged by Woodhull Freedom Foundation, the Human Rights Watch, the Internet Archive and two individuals, Alex Andrews and Eric Koszyk.

Woodhull’s legal group includes attorneys Bob Corn-Revere, Ronald London, Daphne Keller, Lawrence Walters and counsel from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Woodhull and other plaintiffs sued the government last month following President Trump signing FOSTA into law in early April.

FOSTA, known formally as the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, brings new tools for law enforcement, including the ability to bring criminal charges against the operators of sites that facilitate prostitution.

Woodhull and the other plaintiffs noted First and Fifth Amendments violations come with the law amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provided companies immunity from most liability for publishing third-party content.

Sex workers and civil liberties advocates have condemned FOSTA’s heavy-handed approach ever since legislation in both the Senate and House gathered steam.

Now, lawmakers in the U.K. are considering a FOSTA-like statute in Britain.