United States v. X-Citement Video - 513 U.S. 64, 115 S. Ct. 464 (1994)

Rule:

The Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act of 1977, as amended, prohibits the interstate transportation, shipping, receipt, distribution, or reproduction of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 18 U.S.C.S. § 2252. 

Facts:

A provision of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act of 1977 provides for criminal penalties against any person who (1) knowingly transports or ships in interstate or foreign commerce visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct; or (2) knowingly receives, distributes, or reproduces such depictions. The term "minor" is defined in the statute as any person under the age of 18. The owner and operator of a video company sold and shipped to an undercover police officer pornographic videotapes which featured a performer who had made the tapes when she was under the age of 18. After a trial in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the company and its owner were convicted of violating 2252. On appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the owner argued, among other things, that 2252 was facially unconstitutional as lacking a scienter requirement, that is, a requirement that defendants knew that they were distributing or shipping child pornography. The Court of Appeals remanded the case to the District Court in light of a previous Court of Appeals decision which had held that 2252 did not contain a scienter requirement. On remand, the District Court upheld the constitutionality of 2252 and refused to set aside the judgment of conviction. On appeal for the second time, the Court of Appeals (1) held that (a) 2252 lacked a requirement that the defendant possess knowledge of the fact that one performer had not reached the age of majority at the time that the visual depiction was produced, (b) the Federal Constitution's First Amendment mandated that a child pornography statute require knowledge of the minority of at least one performer as an element of the crime, and (c) 2252 was thus unconstitutional on its face; and accordingly (2) reversed the judgment of conviction.

Issue:

Did the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act (18 USCS 2252), banning interstate transportation of child pornography, include requirement of knowledge that performer was minor?

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

The Court reversed, holding that § 2252 was not unconstitutional and required knowledge because the term "knowingly" in § 2252 extended to both the sexually explicit nature of the material and to the age of the performers.