A federal statute makes it a felony to engage in any commercial act involving the "cruelty, wounding, or killing" of an animal o
r depicting anything being to an animal that is prohibited by law. robert stevens ran a website that sold films of dog fighting, many of which were films done in japan where such activity is not illegal. he was convicted of violating the federal statute. stevens appealed his case on the grounds that his first amendment rights were violated because the statute was overly broad. what theory of constitutional law would stevens be using in his appeal
The substantive due process theory of the constitutional law that prohibit the government from violating the rights of the defendant during the due process.
The first amendment protect the government to prevent the citizens from exercising their free will. Since on the case above the dog fighting is not illegal in japan , the defendant could make a case that the government is violating first amendment during the due process (since he is not informed why he is sentenced from exercising activities that he believed as legal) and can be used as a basis for his appeal.
The excessive money spending by the government. There is no free lunch. If the government spend too much money in something, it is not going to have money to attend other needs.
