In Elonis v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2001 (2015), this Court recently held that a federal criminal threats statute required a knowingly mens rea and thereby avoided the constitutional question of whether the First Amendment required a particular level of scienter. This case presents related questions in the context of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a), a federal child pornography statute. The questions presented are:

1. Whether the child pornography offense set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) should be interpreted as including at least a recklessly mens rea element regarding the status of the minor, thereby avoiding significant constitutional questions under the First and Fifth Amendments.

2. Whether, under the First Amendment, a child pornography offense must require at least a recklessly mens rea as to the status of the minor in order to distinguish wrongful conduct from constitutionally-protected conduct.

3. Whether a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence for a strict liability offense violates the Fifth Amendment.

Whether the child pornography offense set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) should be interpreted as including at least a recklessly mens rea element regarding the status of the minor, thereby avoiding significant constitutional questions under the First and Fifth Amendments