In March 1995 Senator Jim Exon introduces legislation to criminalize online publication of any material deemed "obscene, lascivious, filthy or indecent." This legislation was attached to a larger and popular Telecommunications Reform Bill. The Senate and the House voted to approve the Telecommunications Reform Bill in February 1996. After President Clinton signed the bill the ACLU filed a suit claiming it violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights. Eight days later US District Court Judge Ronald Buckwalter issues an order temporarily blocking the CDA and ruled that the CDA was unconstitutionally over broad and vague. In June 1996 a panel declares the CDA unconstitutional; the Department of Justice appeals the decision to the Supreme Court. On March 19, 1997 the Supreme Court hears the Shea vs. the ACLU case regarding the CDA. On June 26, 1997 the Supreme Court decided for the ACLU saying that the District Court was correct in holding that the CDA violated the First Amendment because it was too broad in definition. The Supreme Court however did not agree that the CDA violated the Fifth Amendment because it was too vague. With that loss, proponents of the CDA have vowed to bring new legislation. Another Bill that was introduced into legislation is the Child Online Protection Act or COPA. In March of 1998, the Child Online Protection Act was proposed to make it a federal crime for "Whoever, in interstate or foreign commerce, by means of the World Wide Web, knowingly makes any communication for commercial purposes that includes any material that is harmful to minors without restricting access to such material by minors pursuant to subsection (c) should be fined not more than $50,000, imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both." The ACLU and other groups immediately filed a federal court complaint challenging the law. A temporary restraining order was granted enjoining enforcement of the law by a federal court.
