NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge has denied Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's motion to lift an injunction against enforcement of the state's new age verification law, which was scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.
On Monday, Judge Sheryl H. Lipman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee granted a motion filed by Free Speech Coalition (FSC) for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Protect Tennessee Minors Act. Skrmetti, the defendant in the FSC lawsuit, then filed an appeal with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. On Tuesday, he also filed an emergency motion to stay the injunction until the 6th Circuit issues its ruling. Lipman denied the stay.
"The Attorney General's argument that Tennessee citizens will be irreparably harmed absent a stay on the injunction is also unpersuasive," Lipman wrote in her decision. "Tennessee citizens have been able to access any website without restriction for decades. Continuing to do so while the Attorney General's appeal makes its way to the Sixth Circuit will pose no additional harm, especially when parents can restrict access themselves."
As a result, the Tennessee law will be prevented from taking effect at least until the 6th Circuit decides on Skrmetti's appeal.
Across the country, several lawsuits against state age verification laws have been paused at the request of either FSC or, in at least one case, a state attorney general, pending the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Texas age verification law in Free Speech Coalition et al. v. Paxton. Oral arguments in that case are scheduled for later this month.
Adult industry attorney and First Amendment expert Corey D. Silverstein, who filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation in the Texas case, praised Lipman's wisdom in deciding not to grant the stay.
"Judge Lipman’s order confirmed what First Amendment advocates across the country have been saying since this tidal wave of unconstitutional age verification laws started," he told XBIZ.
Silverstein also expressed confidence that in the Tennessee case, the 6th Circuit will not repeat what he termed the 5th Circuit's "erroneous decision" to uphold the Texas law, which led to the upcoming Supreme Court hearing.
FSC declined to comment as the case is in active litigation.