Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 315 posts

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#251

Post by tinus_hn »

Chathamization wrote: post #138
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #4

Because of the potential for selective or punitive prosecution I'm in favour of legalising teen sexting. Obviously the law needs to be carefully drafted to avoid allowing child exploitation, but it should absolutely not be possible to prosecute normal sexually-active teens under child pornography statutes. “Trust us, we'd never use it against the people it's supposed to protect” isn't enough.

> “Trust us, we'd never use it against the people it's supposed to protect” isn't enough. Especially because it's been so horribly abused in the past. Take this case in Manassas, Virginia. 17 year old texts a picture of his penis to his 15 year old girlfriend. The police find out, charge the 17 year old with distributing child pornography, and take pictures of his penis saying they need it for evidence[1]. They then…

A major problem is that there are no consequences whatsoever for the judge that rubberstamped this ridiculous warrant.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#252

Post by totalZero »

dingo_bat wrote: post #238

Since almost all of us agree that sexual preference is something that is innate, we cannot consciously affect it significantly, isn't it wrong to prosecute pedophiles? IMO, these people should be treated with pity, not as criminals. If we do that, all these absurdities will disappear automatically. Of course, coercion is still illegal, and coercion of a minor would carry higher criminal penalties. But distribution of…

> Since almost all of us agree that sexual preference is something that is innate

Whatever one's opinion may be, it's pretty difficult to arrive at solid conclusions if the premise is such a sweeping assumption.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#253

Post by pritambaral »

mirimir wrote: post #156
rothbardrand wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment is on a completely different topic than mine. In child molestation there is a victim- the kid. I'm talking about situations where there is no victim. You cannot victimize yourself by taking a picture of yourself.

True. But someone else can victimize you by sharing it. Those people, it's fine to go after.

Correction: someone else.

You cannot victimize yourself by sharing pics of your own self.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#254

Post by PhasmaFelis »

adrianN wrote: post #196
astral303 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This case is such atrocious abuse of power. The fallout from this case did not affect nearly enough people. Think of all the enablers of this behavior at the various stages. The patriarchy has much of America in their clutch at various levels of so-called "public" service. Why was this man never reported? Everyone covered up for him. Standard operating procedure for America.

What does this have to do with the so-called patriarchy?

When you imagine the archetype of a person with both the desire and ability to throw teenagers in prison for sharing pictures of their own bodies, it's hands-down an old rich white guy.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#255

Post by PhasmaFelis »

Udik wrote: post #245
21 wrote: post #30

What other things that you can do to yourself are illegal? Suicide. Abortion in some places. What if I cut a piece of my body and eat it, is that cannibalism?

If I'm not wrong (but I might be), in some parts of the US you can get drunk, have consensual sex with somebody, and the day after somebody else can claim that you have been raped, as you were too drunk to consent.

I don't think you can press a rape charge without the consent of the alleged victim, assuming the victim is a competent adult. Anyone can claim you were raped, but if you stand up and say "bullshit", then nothing can come of it legally.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#256

Post by lr4444lr »

nitrogen wrote: post #144
lr4444lr wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rationale is the age of majority. As a parent, I have a right to control the influences in my daughter's life - save for some exceptions around mandatory education and maintaining basic health. That means whom she associates with, and how images of her taken are used save for those taken of her while in public and not under duress of compulsion. Why is that so hard to understand?

Teenagers also have the right to live lives that allow them to experience the world on their own terms and to learn from their experiences. Overly controlling parenting is ultimately detrimental to teenagers' development. Why is that so hard to understand?

That may be part of good parenting, but teenagers simply do not have that as a "right". The OP asked simply "What is the rationale behind defining child porn age Perhaps the age of majority ought to be changed, perhaps the placement of all convicted on the registry ought to be lifted, perhaps the record ought to be sealed if good behavior can be maintained for X number of years, but these are all "oughts".

Write to your legislators and put your morality into law if you want to see changes. Don't ask judges to use their discretion and open the door to widespread Brock Turner justice.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#257

Post by PhasmaFelis »

dingo_bat wrote: post #238

Since almost all of us agree that sexual preference is something that is innate, we cannot consciously affect it significantly, isn't it wrong to prosecute pedophiles? IMO, these people should be treated with pity, not as criminals. If we do that, all these absurdities will disappear automatically. Of course, coercion is still illegal, and coercion of a minor would carry higher criminal penalties. But distribution of…

I absolutely agree that we shouldn't prosecute people for being attracted to children. Seeking out and looking at live CP (as opposed to cartoons) is another matter, because looking at someone's naked body without their consent is always a violation. There will always be a grey area around age of consent, but we have to draw the line somewhere, and I'm quite comfortable with the idea that a 10-year-old cannot meaningfully consent to being in porn.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#258

Post by mseebach »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #254
adrianN wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does this have to do with the so-called patriarchy?

When you imagine the archetype of a person with both the desire and ability to throw teenagers in prison for sharing pictures of their own bodies, it's hands-down an old rich white guy.

So the patriarchy is something you imagine. Interesting, although it does confirm a couple of longstanding suspicions in the area.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#259

Post by timthelion »

adrianN wrote: post #196
astral303 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This case is such atrocious abuse of power. The fallout from this case did not affect nearly enough people. Think of all the enablers of this behavior at the various stages. The patriarchy has much of America in their clutch at various levels of so-called "public" service. Why was this man never reported? Everyone covered up for him. Standard operating procedure for America.

What does this have to do with the so-called patriarchy?

Not OP, but I understand the OPs use of patriarchy as to mean a hierarchical power structure which justifies itself with the claim of protecting the weak, but in the end is just a repressive hierarchy.

Re: Court OKs child porn prosecution of minors distributing pictures of themselves

#260

Post by kgwgk »

jliptzin wrote: post #82
jfaucett wrote: post #7

What is the rationale behind defining child porn age The first case is something that actually happened to a friend of mine. He was 23 and dating a 17 year old, got convicted, sent to prison, and is now labeled a sex offender for life. Are there any countries out there that take a sane approach to this moral conundrum?

My friend's grandfather was 21 and his grandmother was 15 when they first started dating. Needless to say if laws were as crazy back then as they are now my friend wouldn't exist as his grandfather would have been on a registry and in prison instead of starting a family and a 60 year long marriage.

I'm not sure "dating" as in "the series of social engagements shared by a couple looking to get married" will put you on a sex offenders registry even now... Of course I don't know what did your friend's grandparents did precisely when they started "dating".
Post reply on HN