Prison Time For Viewing Porn?

ABC News 20/20 ^ | Jan. 12, 2007

[JTN]

More here.

The prosecutor in this case, realizing that he had no evidence that the boy was guilty, plea bargained the case down to a charge of, as the story says, "distributing obscene materials to minors — a "Playboy" magazine to his classmates."

Then he wanted to force Matthew to register as a sex offender - for Playboy.

Is it just me, or does the world get crazier every day?

[kinoxi]

As soon as Matthew was charged, he was put on virtual house arrest, and an electronic bracelet was attached to his ankle to monitor his movements 24 hours a day.

They didn't even find him guilty of anything before punishing him.

[CrawDaddyCA]

Is it just me, or does the world get crazier every day?

No, it's not just you. The concept of justice in this country is on a downward spiral. Call me a nut, but I firmly believe that our government wishes to make criminals of us all.

[Andonius_99]

You're a nut. Don't you know that government is the most benevolent force out there? /s

[JTN]

Call me a nut, but I firmly believe that our government wishes to make criminals of us all.

The link I posted in comment #1 had this to say about the registration requirement:

One gets the impression that if every American who ever broke a law related to sex was listed on the offender’s registry that one could simple chuck out the registry and in it’s place write: “Please see census data.”

[TruthWillWin]

Jail for Playboy? Why? He only had it for reading the articles.

[Yo-Yo]

If anyone ever makes the wrong click on a website or spam email and is sent to a porn site, a bunch of porn thumbnails appear on your screen and guess what? Months later your computer can be seized and the authorities will "find" every one of those thumbnails "downloaded" onto your computer.

It's called the "Temporary Internet Files" folder and it is where your browser stores all the images on a webpage so that the next time you go to that same page it won't have to reload them again, giving you faster access on subsequent visits.

But it can also be misconstrued as "downloading images" that can get you, as this article says, 10 years per image. And all you did was click on the wrong link!

[traviskicks]

An illustrative personal story.





Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[JTN]

Ping

[SpaceBar]

As Michael Savage has noted in the past, each and every one of us is just one mistake away from going to prison. With the myriad of laws and arcane legal nitpicking, the powers that be need only look long enough to find the dirt they need. The above doesn't apply though if your name is Samuel "Sandy" Berger.

[JTN]

Ha ha. Um, about that ping? Ignore it.

[traviskicks]

lol, quick fingers. :)

[Ciexyz]

oh, dear Lord.

[Tolkien]

Call me a nut, but I firmly believe that our government wishes to make criminals of us all.

You're a nut. /sarc

I thought I would obige my government by possessing as many firearms as I can. I'm a nut as well.

[Ramius]

I really don't like some of the ways criminal justice is adapting to the Internet age. This business of defining "possession" by merely being found on somebody's computer is a huge slippery slope.

There's far to many ways for things to be made to be found on other people's computers for this to really be solid enough criteria for charging someone with a crime. Enough perhaps to get probable cause for an investigation, but a crime all by itself? No way.

[CrawDaddyCA]

The above doesn't apply though if your name is Samuel "Sandy" Berger.

Or William 'Cold Cash' Jefferson, or William 'Cigar' Clinton...the list goes on.

I, for one, am sick and tired of the government using gray areas of the law to incarcerate it's citizens.

Justice is not only the word of law, but also the spirit in which laws are written.

[JohnBovenmyer]

I wonder if a budding Democrat in AK ever read the interview with a budding Democrat from GA in Playboy c. 1976 and ever showed it to a budding Democrat from TN. Maybe we can get all three registered as sex offenders.

[CrawDaddyCA]

I thought I would oblige my government by possessing as many firearms as I can.

Likewise.

[Paleo Conservative]

Anyone with a computer connected to the internet with a broadband connection needs to have a strong firewall to prevent unauthorized transmissions to the computer and storage of files on it. It also needs a spyware scanner and blocker.

[Polybius]

If anyone ever makes the wrong click on a website or spam email and is sent to a porn site, a bunch of porn thumbnails appear on your screen and guess what? Months later your computer can be seized and the authorities will "find" every one of those thumbnails "downloaded" onto your computer. .......that can get you, as this article says, 10 years per image. And all you did was click on the wrong link!

Click here

I triple-dog dare ya!