Abstract
The Illinois Supreme Court decision in People v. Hollins upheld the conviction of a defendant under the Illinois child pornography statute for taking photographs of himself and his seventeen-year-old girlfriend having sexual relations, while another Illinois statute legalizes consensual sex with any person seventeen or older. This is due to the fact that Illinois considers child pornography as its own distinct historical category of unprotected speech, as recognized by the Supreme Court in United States v. Ferber. However, after the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Stevens, child pornography is arguably not its own distinct historical category, but instead is placed under the category of “speech integral to the commission of a crime.” The Illinois Supreme Court failed to discuss Stevens and its more narrow approach to interpreting Ferber, which requires the initial question of whether there is specific illegal conduct to which the speech is integral before the content of expression can be restricted. This Note addresses the court’s failure to apply the Stevens decision to Hollins and the applicability of the First Amendment. It also questions whether the court’s two rationales under the rational basis review will withstand strict scrutiny.
Recommended Citation
Ariana E. Calderaro,
Ignoring the First Amendment: Criminalizing Legally Consensual Sexual Photographs in People v. Hollins, 2012 IL 112754, 971 N.E.2d 504,
38
S. Ill. U. L.J.
515
(2014).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol38/iss3/7