Mr. Volokh said one problem with the law is that it attempts to regulate speech that is arguably misleading or deceptive, but not necessarily false. "The same logic would justify regulating a broad range of political or historical statements," he said. "I think that's a pretty dangerous policy."

Told of the ACLU's stance on the bill, a former member of the organization's board, Nat Hentoff, exclaimed, "My God, what about the First Amendment?"

Mr. Hentoff, who is anti-abortion, said the Federal Trade Commission should not wade into the perilous waters of the abortion debate. "When you have the state, with its power, deciding what is deceptive on something as thoroughly controversial as this, it goes against the very core, it seems to me, of the First Amendment," he said.

Mr. Hentoff, who called ACLU's endorsement of the legislation "a really extraordinary mistake," said the organization has become so protective of abortion rights that it has lost sight of free speech issues. "It's the problem the ACLU has had for years," he said.

# posted by Squach : 11:57 PM   |