Defendant was charged with producing, distributing, and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and transferring that material to a child under the age of sixteen. The images in question were produced using a generative artificial intelligence software that allowed him to create hyper-realistic images of children engaged in sexually explicit acts. The district court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss the indictment as to the possession charge, finding that the federal statute was unconstitutional as applied to defendant and the government appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, explaining that the case was an example of how evolving technology complicates the lines drawn by the Supreme Court in a series of First Amendment cases and that the appellate court was not free to redraw those lines even though it had concerns about their application to hyper-realistic images created by AI. (LEE and KOLAR, concurring and specially concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
First Amendment