Va. Supreme Court Strikes Down State's Anti-Spam Law
By Tom Jackman, Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 12, 2008; 2:59 PM


The Virginia Supreme Court today invalidated the state's "anti-spam"
law, designed to prevent the sending of masses of unwanted e-mail, by
saying the law broadly violated the First Amendment right to freedom
of speech, in particular anonymous speech.

The ruling, arising from the Loudoun County criminal prosecution of
Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., was also remarkable because the
Supreme Court reversed itself: Just six months ago, the same court
upheld the anti-spam law by a 4-3 margin. But Jaynes's attorneys asked
the court to reconsider, typically a long shot in appellate law, and
the court not only reconsidered but changed its mind.

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