More on Sexting

Last night while I was procrastinating doing work, I watched a very interested Law & Order Episode that focused on a girl who was sexting.

This new concept of sexting, (texting illicit pictures of oneself or another to other people) has taken many by people by surprise, and until very recently had no legislation to monitor or control it. By a positivist view on this, sexting would be considered producing, possesing, and distributing of child pornography (if the girl is under 18). These offenses can carry strict penalities such as jail time, and could cause the offender to be labeled as a sex offender for the rest of their lives.

In the episode of Law & Order, a girl had sexted pictures of herself to her boyfriend and to a second boy that she had been involved with. When the boyfriend found out about this second guy, he not only beat her, but viraled the pictures to the rest of the school, causing the girl to be harrassed and made fun of daily. The girl ended up being beaten badly enough by her boyfriend that she ended up in teh hospital. In an attempt to get her to reveal who was beating her (she wouldnt disclose his name) the prosecutor placed her under arrest for distribution of kiddie porn. While this was just a scare tactic, when she went to court, she was placed in front of a bribe taking judge who had it out for kids committing sexual crimes that thought they could get away with it.

The Judge based her decision on a purely positivist view of this law and sentanced the girl to a year in jail for the distribution of child pornography. Even though this girl had only intended for the photo to be seen by her boyfriend and lover. This girl was victim of severe abuse and was being punished for simply sending a nude photo of herself to two boys. Both the prosecution and defense took a realist approach to this case and argued that in the circumstances of the case, this girl definitley did not intend to distribute porn to the entire student body. She was the victim, not the criminal. While they admitted that child pornography was against the law they didnt feel as though this girl should have been made an example of and sent to jail.

The episode ended with a revealing that the judge had been taking bribes to fill beds at a certain sex related penetentiary and the girl was released.

This episode however does raise the issue of whether or not sexting should be considered such a serious crime. I did some research and found that currently "In Pennsylvania, sexting can result in state felony charges, including creation, possession and distribution of child pornography.
In the United States, it is against the law to possess lewd photographs of minors. A New York lawyer is petitioning for federal sexting legislation that would make sexting a misdemeanor for minors". By taking a striclty positivist view, and following this to the letter of the law, sexting should remain a felony because it fits the exact description of this type of crime. However, if we examine this issue from a realist viewpoint and take in all of the circumstances of the case, should a 17 year old girl really be charged with a felony, sent to jail, and labeled a sex offender just for sending a picture of herself to her boyfriend??

I feel that it is best to examine these cases from a realist viewpoint. However this is a very serious offense because teens do not understand the implications that their actions might have. If these pictures get distrubted to many people, they may never go away. They could resurface years down teh road when they are applying to interships and jobs. In this new technology driven world, people really need to becareful of what they are putting out there that could harm them some day down the road.