Defense Distributed v. Dep’t of State

Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation are suing the Department of State regarding the unconstitutionality of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The Reporters Committee argued in an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals (5th Cir.) that the regulations are impermissibly content-based, overbroad, and vague, and appear to criminalize routine reporting regarding defense technologies. The State Department’s unfettered discretion to prosecute, coupled with the absence of judicial review, make it impossible to predict whether a reporter could be liable for violations of the regulations, which creates a deterrent effect and chills reporting, the brief argued.

Defense Distributed v. Dep’t of State