Judge Greenlights Suit Against Montana Porn Age Verification Law

A lawsuit brought by a coalition of sex-related businesses and a trade group to block a Montana law requiring websites offering sexual content to verify users’ ages can proceed, a Montana judge ruled.

The state failed to prove it should dodge a constitutional challenge of the law, Judge Donald W. Molloy for the US District Court for the District of Montana ruled Tuesday.

The state “carries the burden to show both that the means employed by the statute are the least-restrictive available and that the statute actually serves the interest identified,” wrote Molloy. “It has done neither. On the ...