Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 27, 2025 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- June 27, 2025
- Term
- October Term 2024
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
PRELIMINARY PRINT Volume 606 U. S. Part 2 Pages 461–521 OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE SUPREME COURT June 27, 2025 Page Proof Pending Publication REBECCA A. WOMELDORF reporter of decisions NOTICE: This preliminary print is subject to formal revision before the bound volume is published. Users are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors. OCTOBER TERM, 2024 461 Syllabus FREE SPEECH COALITION, INC., et al. v. PAXTON, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the fth circuit No. 23–1122. Argued January 15, 2025—Decided June 27, 2025 Texas, like many States, prohibits distributing sexually explicit content to children. In 2023, Texas enacted H. B. 1181, requiring certain commer- cial websites publishing sexually explicit content that is obscene to mi- nors to verify that visitors are 18 or older. Knowing violations subject covered entities to injunctions and civil penalties. Petitioners—representatives of the pornography industry—sued the Texas attorney general to enjoin enforcement of H. B. 1181 as facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. They alleged that adults have a right to access the covered speech, and that the statute impermissibly hinders them. The Fifth Circuit held that an…
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