Texas Legislature Considers New Sexting Bill

Child pornography laws are aimed at protecting children. However, the phenomenon of teen 'sexting' has put legislators in a difficult position.

2011-03-26

March 26, 2011 (Press-News.org) Child pornography laws are aimed at protecting children; by criminalizing the possession and distribution of child pornography, lawmakers aim to eliminate the harm to children when such materials are created. The penalties are steep--under Texas laws, possessing images of those under the age of 18 engaging in sexual conduct is a felony. Federal convictions result in long sentences. A child pornography conviction in any court will result in lifetime sex offender registration.

However, the phenomenon of teen 'sexting' has put legislators in a difficult position. The practice of 'sexting'--teens creating and sending sexually explicit text messages to one another--is on the rise. A 2008 study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy stated that 22 percent of teenage girls have electronically sent or posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves.

Though such acts are forbidden under existing child pornography laws, these acts often are not prosecuted even when they are discovered. Prosecutors are hesitant to press charges for these acts, given the severe penalties of conviction for these felonies--including mandatory registration as a sex offender, potentially for life.

To address this situation, Texas lawmakers have proposed new legislation that would crack down on sexting with offenses and penalties that are less severe.

Under Texas Senate Bill 407, those under the age of 18 who are convicted of sending sexually explicit images of themselves or others under the age of 18 could face misdemeanor charges rather than felony charges. This effort to mitigate the harsh effects of law on those they were intended to protect may have unintended consequences. Will this give adults trafficking in child pornography the opportunity to use children as 'mules', to send these illicit images?

If both laws are on the books, could one prosecutor choose this sexting bill to prosecute and another use the older child pornography laws in her cases? In addition to these potential issues of the misuse of prosecutorial discretion, would other states recognize Texas' decision not to require sex offender registration, or would they require such registration if the convicted person transfers to their states? This is a significant issue in other areas regarding sex offender registration law.

Regardless of what happens with this bill, it is important to understand that teenage sexting may have serious consequences. If your child faces criminal prosecution for sexting, speak with a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney to discuss the options and the most effective way to mitigate any consequences.

Article provided by Patrick J. McLain
Visit us at www.dallasdefenselaw.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Baylor, Texas A&M researchers find earliest people to inhabit the Americas

2011-03-26

Baylor University geology researchers, along with scientists from Texas A&M University and around the country, have found the oldest archaeological evidence of human occupation in the Americas at a Central Texas archaeological site located about 40 miles northwest of Austin. "This find really rewrites history, so to speak, and changes our collective thought on the early colonization of North, Central and South America," said Dr. Lee Nordt, professor of geology at Baylor and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who is an author on the study. "What sets this study ...

Stranglers of the tropics -- and beyond

2011-03-26

Kudzu, the plant scourge of the U.S. Southeast. The long tendrils of this woody vine, or liana, are on the move north with a warming climate. But kudzu may be no match for the lianas of the tropics, scientists have found. Data from sites in eight studies show that lianas are overgrowing trees in every instance. If the trend continues, these "stranglers-of-the-tropics" may suffocate equatorial forest ecosystems. Tropical forests contain more than half of Earth's terrestrial species, and contribute more than a third of global terrestrial carbon and a third of terrestrial ...

When Pit Bulls Attack, California Dog Owners Can Be Held Liable

2011-03-26

A recent news story in the Modesto Bee highlights the horror of dog bite attacks. A woman was attacked at a party by a pit bull that had never exhibited any signs of aggressiveness. As the story relates, "It lunged at [the woman's] face, biting down so hard that nearly half of her nose was ripped away." The dog had been acting playfully moments before, so she had no warning of the attack and apparently had done nothing to provoke the pit bull. After two reconstructive surgeries, and the prospect of an unknown number of additional surgeries, the victim of the attack described ...

Debenhams Announces Mismatched Crockery Threatens Formal Dining

2011-03-26

Debenhams, the high street store, has announced that deliberately mismatched crockery, where no two plates or cups are the same, is the latest craze to hit the UK. A fad which started in trendy restaurants has spread to homes all over Britain, latest sales show. It's a rebellion against the rigid, formal, starched table cloth rules which have governed dinner parties in Britain for the last century. Debenhams' spokesman Ed Watson said: "It's a Mad Hatter's approach to formal dining: "Young people are turning their backs on one of the last surviving forms of ...

Large-scale assessment of the Arctic Ocean

2011-03-26

Large-scale assessment of the Arctic Ocean: significant increase in freshwater content since 1990s The freshwater content of the upper Arctic Ocean has increased by about 20 percent since the 1990s. This corresponds to a rise of approx. 8,400 cubic kilometres and has the same magnitude as the volume of freshwater annually exported on average from this marine region in liquid or frozen form. This result is published by researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute in the journal Deep-Sea Research. The freshwater content in the layer of the Arctic Ocean near the surface ...

Participatory mapping workshops underway in Congo

2011-03-26

Many of the mapping and monitoring efforts associated with REDD focus on the big picture of carbon stock and of deforestation trends throughout the tropics. A research expedition just underway, led by scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center, is focusing on the third piece necessary to inform a global REDD mechanism – namely, how do people use the land? Through a series of participatory mapping workshops with indigenous peoples in the Congo Basin, scientists and participants are discussing land tenure, forest inventory techniques, and baselines that could help secure ...

WARHEADS Takes It Off for the St. Baldrick's Foundation

2011-03-26

WARHEADS (www.warheads.com), the authentic, edgy and kid favorite sour candy, has partnered for the second year in a row with the leading organization committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives - the St. Baldrick's Foundation. The St. Baldrick's Foundation (www.stbaldricks.org), started in 2000, hosts an annual event around St. Patrick's Day, in which volunteers shave their heads in solidarity of children that have cancer. Over $95 million in donations in 24 countries and all 50 states ...

Asthma drug could help control or treat Alzheimer's disease

2011-03-26

A drug used to treat asthma has been shown to help reduce the formation of amyloid beta, a peptide in the brain that is implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Medicine. The researchers published their findings, "Pharmacologic Blockade of 5-Lipoxygenase Improves the Amyloidotic Phenotype of an AD Transgenic Mouse Model," in the American Journal of Pathology. In previous studies, the Temple researchers discovered that 5-lipoxygenase, an enzyme long known to exist in the brain, controls the activation ...

Researchers unlock new secret to how smells are detected

2011-03-26

AURORA, Colo. (March 25, 2011) – Researchers seeking to unravel the most ancient yet least understood of the five senses – smell – have discovered a previously unknown step in how odors are detected and processed by the brain. The four year study, focusing on how mice respond to odors, showed that smells are picked up by the olfactory bulb – the first stop on the way to the brain – then sent to the olfactory cortex for further analysis. But scientists discovered something else – a dialogue between the bulb and the cortex conducted by rapidly firing nerve cells. "It ...

Study shows living at high altitude reduces risk of dying from heart disease

2011-03-26

AURORA, Colo. (March 25, 2011) – In one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in partnership with the Harvard School of Global Health have found that people living at higher altitudes have a lower chance of dying from ischemic heart disease and tend to live longer than others. "If living in a lower oxygen environment such as in our Colorado mountains helps reduce the risk of dying from heart disease it could help us develop new clinical treatments for those conditions," said Benjamin Honigman, MD, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

AI finds undiagnosed liver disease in early stages

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announce new research fellowship in malaria genomics in honor of professor Dominic Kwiatkowski