ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997 TAG: 9703170113
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Members of the nation's highest court have little or no experience with the Internet as they prepare to rule on it.
The institution that still presents quill pens to lawyers is ready to consider the propriety of restricting indecent materials on the Internet.
The Communications Decency Act case presents a tough challenge to lawyers on both sides: trying to explain cyberspace to justices unfamiliar with it.
``The court is called upon to apply the First Amendment to a form of communication it, in effect, knows nothing about, or at least has no hands-on experience with,'' said David Sobel, a lawyer for the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Interviews with current and former court employees, who insisted on anonymity, suggest that the Internet remains mainly a mystery for all nine justices. Lawyers arguing both sides of the case have tried to clear that hurdle by using their briefs as teaching tools.
They are also counting on input from the justices' clerks.
``There is a hope on both sides that the law clerks to the justices will play an unusually pivotal role in deciding this case,'' said Andrew Schwartzman, a lawyer representing the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition.
``The clerks ... are likely to be very comfortable with this technology, and we hope they will be sitting down with their justices and explaining some of those concepts.''
Each justice has three or four law clerks - young lawyers chosen from among top graduates of prestigious law schools - who spend a year as research assistants.
While none of the justices is known to be a regular Internet user, computer technology is not new to them. Justices John Paul Stevens and Clarence Thomas are veteran telecommuters, using word processors and fax machines to keep in touch with their chambers from home when the court is not in session.
But their computers are connected only to the court's stand-alone system. For security reasons, their machines are not linked to computers outside the court's stately workplace on Capitol Hill.
All justices except David Souter have computers in their offices. And even though his office is not computerized, Souter has demonstrated an awareness of the technology. In June the court struck down part of a federal law aimed at restricting children's access to indecent programming on some cable stations. Souter's opinion contained what is believed be the first Supreme Court citation of material from the Internet.
In that opinion, Souter fretted: ``In my own ignorance I have to accept the real possibility that if we had to decide today just what the First Amendment should mean in cyberspace we would get it fundamentally wrong.''
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB