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ACLU Sues Penn Prosecutor For Empty Threat of Child Porn
TechDirt is reporting that the ACLU has stepped in on behalf of several teens facing the threat of child pornography charges in Pennsylvania for sharing nude pics of themselves. Unfortunately for a girl in New Jersey, she is facing much more than just a threat, as she was arrested yesterday for posting almost 30 explicit pictures of herself on MySpace for her boyfriend to see. "...the ACLU has sued the prosecutor on the girls' behalf, saying he shouldn't have threatened them with baseless charges — which haven't yet been filed — if they wouldn't agree to probation and a counseling program. The prosecutor says he was being 'proactive' in offering them a choice, but the ACLU says he shouldn't be using 'heavy artillery' to make the threats. As its attorney points out, teaching kids that this sort of behavior can bring all sorts of unwanted and unforeseen ramifications is a good idea, but threatening them with child-porn charges isn't the best way to do it."
Why anyone should have a problem with this is beyond me. These teens can be making plenty of money with nude pictures, or they can benefit all of humankind with their generousity. Because anyone who saw them probably saved them and they are now for sale.
Face it, if people will pay for naked pictures of teen-age girls, teen-age girls are going to get their pictures taken. Trying to stop it is futile, like trying to stop music piracy.
You can call the consumers perverts, but who is to say their lifestyle choice is any less valid than any other? In an age of utter and complete moral relativism, who is there that can really judge anything.
Teaching children that their bodies are illegal leads to fear, guilt, and shame. Really no different than religion or any other form of mind control.
Or the recursive joke which generates a 'stack overflow.' Or the tired memes of yesteryear, "In Soviet Russia, it's a trap for Natalie Portman, in your parents basement." Or people who use the terms 'M$,' 'Loonix,' or 'Open Sores.' Or the joke where your communications channel is interrupted, but still somehow manages to post your comment, complete with line noise. &^_%#!&=*^-%$ [NO CARRIER]
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
One of the most sensible British judges, Pickles J, once commented in dismissing a case that there are many things that people do which are annoying, stupid etc., but so long as they do no harm to other people the law should never get involved.
The US had a similar judge, Judge Learned Hand. He once said a person has the right to punch someone else but that right ends where the other person's nose begins.
Falcon
Should there be a Law?
If anything, you could charge the minor with public nudity or something, but not a pornography charge.
They've noted the pictures are 'very explicit' and the intended audience was the girl's boyfriend. I'm going to take the safe leap and say her pictures were intended by her to be pornographic. Don't paint them as something they're not.
The tricky part of the whole situation is she's 14, doing this all herself, and posting them onto MySpace.