Even though I am a law student, this is not a blawg, so I am not going to engage in a thorough legal analysis of sexting. But here’s the skinny: Sexting is when people, usually teenager women, send nude or semi nude pictures of themselves. Some teenagers have been prosecuted for sending pictures of themselves as a form of child pornography. The rebuttal is that these photos are either no pornography or are protected by the First Amendment.
The Third Circuit will soon decide whether prosecuting teenagers for sexting or threatening them with prosecution if they do not take a class is legal. The District Court below said it is illegal and enjoined the prosecutors.
Why weigh in – I appreciate the prosecutors for trying to get at the root of the problem, but it’s not the government’s job to give little girls criminal records when they don’t even know what they are doing. The responsibility starts with the parents. I wrote my law review note on a similar issue with regard to provocative pictures on social networking websites.
I would argue that sexting is not as bad as putting a picture up on MySpace or Facebook. At least you know who is on the receiving end with sexting. The only concern is that your boyfriend (who you most likely won’t marry) will show it to his friends. The entire world, however, can see your MySpace profile. I don’t know much about the statistics of sexual assault that results from sexting, but sexual predators attack almost daily on social networking sites. Just check out one of my favorite sites MyCrimeSpace.
I know that the Third Circuit will do the right thing and affirm in this case. I don’t know how much publicity it is getting, but I truly hope that parents take this as an opportunity to understand what their kids are doing online and on their phones. I don’t have any kids, but I cannot imagine giving them free range in these times.
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