Vermont moves to reduce teen ‘sexting’ charges

[JonLP24]

Source: MSNBC

Unwilling to force teens to go through life as registered sex offenders because they foolishly used their cell phones and computers to exchange revealing photos of themselves with friends, state legislators in Vermont are moving to decriminalize the practice known as “sexting.”

“We have to understand that there is certainly a difference between bad behavior and bad decision making and criminal behavior,” Vermont State Sen. John Campbell told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Wednesday from the state capital in Montpelier.

As Vermont’s and most states’ laws are written, there is no distinction made between pedophiles who possess sexually explicit images of minors and underage teens who consensually exchange images of themselves. As more minors are being prosecuted as adults and being branded sex offenders for life, Vermont is among the first to consider legislation to separate what teens do among themselves from adult crimes.

“It’s extremely important for America to understand is what we’re talking about are children here,” Campbell said. “These are teenagers who make very bad decisions. If a 14-year-old girl decides to send a picture of her breasts to her boyfriend who’s 15, she has just become a transmitter of child pornography and he is in possession of child pornography. And as such, they are now on the lifetime sex-offender registry.”

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30224261/

[Eric J in MN]

1. Donna Rice Hughes

====================
Donna Rice Hughes, an Internet safety expert for the organization Enough Is Enough, joined the discussion, agreeing with Campbell that lifetime punishment does not fit the perceived crime. But she also warned that states shouldn’t be too quick to remove criminal penalties from behavior that can be dangerous. Hughes pointed out that most state laws already give prosecutors the discretion to not prosecute juveniles as adults.
======================

I'm guessing that if she has a cousin who is a 14 year old girl who got prosecuted for sending a nude photo to her boyfriend, then she wouldn't say that's fine because the prosecutor was using his "discretion."

Prosecutors have discretion in applying any law. Under her logic, that means that bad laws should never be changed.

[caseymoz]

2. Is that the same Donna Rice of Gary Hart fame?

:wow:

[Eric J in MN]

9. Yes, same woman. (NT)

NT

[Posteritatis]

3. "internet safety expert?" oy. (nt)

[question everything]

18. And if she - or you - had a 14 yr old cousin

who, after sending a nude photo of herself, then broke with her boyfriend and was humiliated by the spread of the photo and killed herself - she, and you, may have a different opinion, too. (This was part of the story on MSNBC)

Teens do foolish things and, yes, it is up to us, adults, parents, teachers and counselors to protect them. After all, we don't let them drive after a certain age and tests.

Perhaps not being tagged for the rest of their lives. And I think this should hold true for many other cases of that label, but if this would prevent them from being accepted to the college of their choice, than, by all means do prosecute.

[B3Nut]

4. Teens engaging in "sexting" are not criminals...

...they are merely being idiots. I don't think there's a one of us here that didn't do *something* idiotic in their teen years, it's endemic to that stage of development. They need to be instructed, not have their lives ruined because of bad teen judgment. The fact that some prosecutors and judges are intellectually incapable of perceiving this glaringly obvious fact leads me to believe that precious few working in the justice system are even remotely equipped with the mental wherewithal to be competent and qualified for their positions. It's one of the more irksome downfalls of our present society...the intelligent are ruled over by the blitheringly stupid.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

5. exactly- well said

[izquierdista]

6. Not idiots

They are being children. "You show me yours, I'll show you mine" has been a game a long, long time before the picture transmitting cell phone came along.

[Oak2004]

17. Unfortunately it's not intelligence that's at issue

It's empathy vs. sociopathy, and yes, our society is structured to reward sociopathy.

[ddrew2u]

7. Possible First Amendment protection for teen “sexters?”

Possible First Amendment protection for teen “sexters?”

The justification for not protecting child pornography under the First Amendment is that it is necessary to take prurient advantage of a child to make the picture. Hand drawn or computer generated child porn is not illegal (unless they use a live child for an artist’s subject I suppose) – one thinks movie scenes in “The Glitter Dome.”

A sexting teen who transmits her own is not being taken advantage of by an adult or anyone else. If she sends nude pictures to an 80 year old her part in the transaction might very well be protected under the First Amendment – once the first principles of the scenario are considered. Ditto for her side of sexting to a friend.

There is an outside chance a child possessing such the “sext” should be considered to be taking prurient advantage of a minor under the First Amendment (depending on which generation of judges gets hold of it maybe) – but does it make sense to make a teen boyfriend -- who may even have made legal sexual contact with the girl -- the equivalent of an adult who possesses child pornography?

The free speech crossover seems to be when boys distribute nude pictures of girls among themselves without the girls permission – certainly not free speech. But to begin with no child was hurt making the image. The kind of personal damage to a child making pornographic images may be much more devastating than that of having the image passed around (again, once thinks of “The Glitter Dome”) – at least most of the time.

Wouldn’t we feel more comfortable with law that punishes such a gross invasion of privacy in a case for case damage way – not rounding up dozens of students and plastering them all with sex offender status and heavy jail time – but treating the offense as the privacy offense it really is?

[Eric J in MN]

10. Yes, there should be the possibility of lawsuits for distributing a photo without permission.

It shouldn't be criminal, however, for a boyfriend to email a nude photo his girlfriend sent him to his classmates without her permission.

The worst he should face is a lawsuit.

[Dr. Strange]

11. What would be the difference to the girl?

...but does it make sense to make a teen boyfriend ...the equivalent of an adult who possesses child pornography?

If we decide the girl is not a "victim" for sending her own sext, then what would the difference be in whether the picture is possessed by a 16-year-old or a 56-year-old?

Wouldn’t we feel more comfortable with law that punishes such a gross invasion of privacy in a case for case damage way – not rounding up dozens of students and plastering them all with sex offender status and heavy jail time – but treating the offense as the privacy offense it really is?

I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know the answer to this, but can you expect privacy when you send someone a picture?

[Posteritatis]

12. Of course you can

Can you expect privacy if you send someone a letter? A phone call? An email? A letter with a picture in it? An email with an attachment? Yes. That's a silly question.

[Vidar]

8. Good for Vermont. Teens adting like teens.

[SoCalDem]

13. An easier plan

phones for those UNDER 21 are for PHONE CALLS ONLY.. no texting, videos, pictures, games, internet, etc ..

If they MUST be "in touch" 24/7, make it for TELEPHONE ONLY..

It would save parents a shit-load of cash too:)

[jmm]

15. I sort of agree

When I was 18 I was paying my way through college and bought my first cell phone so I may not agree with the under 21 part but it should be easier to limit phone options.

[depakid]

14. Vermont talking a little bit of sense

Now if only the other states- and their puritanical citizens would have a listen.

[marshall]

16. Those girls have a lucrative porn career ahead of them

They don't understand the economics of it yet.

Maybe they'll give teabagging its rightful name in the media world one day.