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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Courts - "Does the punishment fit the crime for child porn?" [Updated]

Thanks to the Sentencing Law and Policy Blog for the pointer to this story by Tracey Read, published Nov. 19th in the Northern Ohio News-Herald. It begins:

Legal experts on all sides agree that downloading and watching child pornography is repugnant behavior.

What they are at odds over is whether such defendants are as much of a threat to society as rapists or murderers.

Nationwide, judges are questioning whether mandatory and recommended sentences for child porn are too harsh.

The story ends with this note: "The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report." So the ILB checked the WSJ and found: "Making Punishments Fit the Most Offensive Crimes: Societal Revulsion at Child-Pornography Consumers Has Led to Stiff Prison Sentences -- and Caused Some Judges to Rebel" by Amir Efrati in the Oct. 23, 2008 WSJ, and "Still More on Sentencing and Child Pornography," an entry by Ashby Jones in the Sept. 10, 2009 WSJ Law Blog.

[Updated 11/29/09] From the Denver Post, this long story by Felisa Cardona, headlined "Federal judges argue for reduced sentences for child-porn convicts."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 21, 2009 08:51 AM
Posted to Courts in general