[LINK] more fightback - sexting teens

[Jan Whitaker]

Was it Shakespeare who said the law is an ass? I think a few 
politicians and prosecutors are as well. check this out:


'Sexting' teens sue over porn charge

http://www.theage.com.au/news/home/technology/sexting-teens-sue-over-porn-charge/2009/03/27/1237657112529.html
March 27, 2009 - 5:52AM

Three teenage girls in the US state of Washington are suing a US 
prosecutor who accused them of peddling "child pornography", after 
semi-nude pictures of them were sent by mobile phone to friends.

The complaint is the latest legal wrangle over "sexting" - the 
apparently popular practice of sending nude or semi-nude photos to 
friends by mobile phone.

Teachers alerted the authorities after discovering a waist-up image 
of two girls covered just by a bra, and another image of a girl topless.

District Attorney George Skumanik called for the girls to undergo 
five weeks of behaviour courses and take a drug test or face 
prosecution, according to a letter apparently sent to the teenagers' parents.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a co-signatory to the complaint, 
said Skumanik's threat was unconstitutional, and prosecution could 
have landed the girls on the sex offenders' register, blighting 
future job prospects.

"In many states these charges would land these kids on (sex offender) 
databases ... for 10 years or more, and prevent them from getting 
many types of jobs," said Witold Walczak, Legal Director for the ACLU 
in Pennsylvania.

"That's a heck of a lesson for a kid who probably doesn't even 
realise she is doing something wrong."

In the letter, Skumanik described the pictures as "provocative", and 
insisted the teens need to "gain an understanding of how (their) 
actions were wrong", as well as "what it means to be a girl in 
today's society".

According to a survey by a US family planning organisation, published 
in December, 20 per cent of American teenagers said they had 
participated in sexting.



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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