--- In [email protected], "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "curtisdeltablues"
> <curtisdeltablues@> wrote:
<snip>
> > Speach is not protected when it is in this context.
>
> Speech is most definitely protected in this context everywhere...
> EXCEPT the internet!
No, it isn't. It's a crime even to *possess* child
pornography, for example, whether obtained over the
Internet or in some other manner. There are lots of
laws that restrict free speech in other than the
Internet context.
> Foley could have been chatting up this "kid" on the phone or at the
> local bar, got him into bed, and there would be ZERO crime
committed.
>
> It's just that there are these weird laws about the internet that
> make what he did MAYBE a crime.
That's the federal law he sponsored and helped write,
which sets the age of consent for sexual Internet
communications at 18. Most on the left recognize that's
absurd when the age of consent for actual sexual activity
is at least two years younger in most states.
The folks who *support* that federal law are mostly on
the right.
For an example on the left, here's an excerpt from a
blog post by Glenn Greenwald, a lefty lawyer:
...I will just note what seems to be the bizarre and incoherent
contradiction in the law..., that in-person, actual sex between Foley
and a 16-year-old page would be perfectly legal in D.C. and in most
places in the U.S..., but it seems that it is a criminal act for
Foley to discuss or solicit sexual acts with the same page over the
Internet [this is the law that Foley wrote and sponsored--JS].
Despite all the irritatingly righteous (and overheated) "pedophile"
language being tossed around, in the overwhelming majority of states,
and in Washington DC, the legal age of consent for sex is 16 years
old. That means that actual, in-person sex between Foley and a 16-
year-old page in D.C. would not be criminal at all (though it likely
could have other legal implications).
But under the so-called "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
of 2006" (of which Foley was a co-sponsor)...discussion or
solicitation of sexual acts between Foley and any "minor" under the
age of 18 would appear to be a criminal offense (see Adam Walsh Act,
Sec. 111(14) ("MINOR.--The term 'minor' means an individual who has
not attained the age of 18 years")....
http://tinyurl.com/f8uyp
Note that in any case, there's no evidence that
Foley was actually a *pedophile*. A pedophile
is a person who is attracted exclusively to
children under the age of puberty. Pedophilia
is a serious, apparently incurable sexual disorder.
"Pedophilia" is not a synonym for illegal sexual
activity (including communications) with minors.
It's a specific clinical diagnosis.
Attraction to adolescents past the age of puberty
is entirely sexually normal (and rules out pedophilia
as a diagnosis). *Acting* on that attraction when
the adolescent is underage is, at worst, a symptom of
a psychological disorder involving terrible judgment
and poor impulse control; it can usually be completely
cured by psycyhotherapy.
Moreover, the damage to the child victims of pedophilia
is typically much more severe than the damage to the
adolescent victims of sexual predators.
This doesn't mean, of course, that the latter is
somehow OK; the harm to underage adolescents can be
pretty bad. It's just that the harm to prepubertal
children is much worse.
Both are illegal, and rightly so.
> Now, of course, all this doesn't address either the sleaziness of
> it all and the fact that there are the considerations of his role
> as a Representative that has its own sets of rules that he could
> have broken (and probably did)...but those aren't crimes but broken
> rules internal to the House of Representatives.
>
> Again, we ALL should be VERY concerned about the laws that curtail
> speech on the internet.
I suspect all of us are, actually.
> That's really what this issue is all about.
It's also about the irresponsibility and hypocrisy
of the Republican leadership of the House--and perhaps
other congressional Republicans--in not cracking down
on a fellow congressman whom they knew was at least
potentially a sexual predator who could be
endangering the psychological welfare of underage
pages.
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