A federal judge on Thursday struck down an Alaska law intended to prevent sexual predators from distributing indecent materials to minors under 16 years old.

U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline said the Legislature's intent was admirable.

But he said the statute, both as it was changed last year and as it existed previously, violated the free speech clause in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Senator Bill Wielechowski said lawmakers were stunned a couple of years ago when they attended a presentation on the Internet by state troopers.

"It was really shocking to see the amount of Internet pornography that's going on in this state and the number of predators that are out there preying on kids, and so it was really a response to what we've been seeing in this state."

Last year, Governor Parnell introduced an omnibus crime bill that toughened the statute concerning the distribution of indecent material to minors.

The legislature passed the final version of the bill unanimously, and the law took effect a year ago today.

A lawsuit was filed by a group including librarians, booksellers, artists and the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Last fall, Beistline barred enforcement of the section on distribution of indecent material, and on Thursday he struck it down.

Beistline wrote:

"There are no reasonable technological means that enable a speaker on the Internet to ascertain the actual age of persons who access their communications. ...

"Individuals who fear the possibility of a minor receiving speech intended for an adult may refrain from exercising their right to free speech at all -- an unacceptable result. ...

"In short, if the Legislature intends this statute to only criminalize the grooming of children for sexual abuse, the Legislature can say so."

"What the court pointed out is that we all agree that children deserve special protections, and there are laws around the country that ensure that they have those protections,” said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Alaska. “But the court also pointed out that what adults want and need and are protected by the first amendment to access is different than what children can access. And what we can't do is use a big broad hammer and slam it at the Internet and say the Internet is shut down, and adults can only read what is available or suitable to children."

Wielechowski, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says there will be an attempt to enact a more narrowly tailored version of the law.

"We'll go back, we'll look at the judge's decision and if we need to make changes to it, make tweaks to it that we accomplish the result we want to accomplish, which is keeping kids safe, keeping predators away from Alaskan kids, keeping child pornography off the Internet, then absolutely we'll go back and we'll look at it in the Judiciary Committee and hopefully come up with a fix."

The ACLU says that court decisions in other states should have made it clear that the Alaska statute was unconstitutional.

Beistline noted in his ruling that a law in Ohio was upheld that applied only to "personally directed communication between an adult and a person that the adult knows or should know is a minor."

A spokeswoman for Governor Parnell said that the Department of Law is reviewing the ruling.

There has been no announcement about whether the state will appeal.