SUPREME COURT . . . KIDDIE PORN BAN BANNED

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in a California case upholding a 1977 law banning distribution of child pornography, two years after an appeals court ruled the ban unconstitutional. The decision reinstated a Los Angeles porn shop owner's conviction for distributing sexually-explicit videotapes made by porn star Traci Lords when she was 15. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented on the central issue, claiming the law cannot effectively single out those who "knowingly" make, distribute or receive depictions of minors engaged in sexually-explicit conduct.