The United States Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Stevens a few weeks ago generated responses on two different fronts.

Many animal welfare advocates decried the ruling, which found unconstitutional a federal law supposedly aimed at “crush videos.” The 10-year-old law never was used for its stated purpose, however. It had been applied only once, to convict Robert Stevens for the sale of dog fighting videos. The Court properly found that the law was “substantially overbroad” and violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech, while leaving open the possibility that a more carefully drafted law could withstand judicial scrutiny