"The Weiner Act of 2011"
Lawmakers Propose Teen 'Sexting' Law
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304474804576367960734408624.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5By JACOB GERSHMAN
New York state lawmakers are advancing a bill that would create an "educational reform program" for teenagers who get in trouble for creating and sharing pornographic images of minors.
The program, proposed by Assembly Democrats, is intended to give prosecutors and judges a more lenient option for dealing with teenagers accused of "sexting," using their cellphones, email or social-networking sites to distribute naked and sexually explicit pictures of themselves or classmates.
Lawmakers introduced what they call the "Cyber Crime Youth Rescue Act" on Friday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn't taken a position on the bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Nick Perry of Brooklyn. The measure hasn't been introduced in the Republican-led Senate.
Journal Community
More than a dozen other statehouses have introduced or passed statutes giving prosecutors more leeway in handling "sexting" cases and distinguishing such offenses from child pornography and sexual-predator crimes that come with more serious and lasting punishments.
A similar measure passed the New Jersey Assembly this year.
Zuma Press
New York state lawmakers are advancing a bill that would create an "educational reform program" for teenagers who get in trouble for creating and sharing pornographic images of minors.
"There are too many kids who are getting themselves into serious trouble for adolescent behavior," said Alan Maisel, a Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn and a co-sponsor of the bill. "I don't know if they should be tainted with this evil brush for the rest of their lives."
The training program created under the bill would be available statewide and administered by the Office of Children and Family Services. As an alternative to prosecution, district attorneys could recommend that judges assign mandatory training to first-time offenders who are 18 years old or younger.
Prosecutors would have to determine that the child didn't intend to commit a crime and that directing them to the program would have a public benefit outweighing "the harm done to society by abandoning criminal prosecution."
The program would teach children the potential legal consequences for sharing sexually suggestive or explicit images. And it would lay out the impact that such graphic materials could have on their relationships and career. And it would also stress to them "the nearly unlimited ability of an infinite audience to utilize the Internet search for and replicate materials."
"A charge of this type can ruin the future of a young person who was too inexperienced to understand the consequences of his or her actions," states the bill.
Write to Jacob Gershman at jacob.gershman@wsj.com