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Court Rules That Sexting Teens Aren't Felons

by Amar Toor on March 18, 2010 at 04:00 PM

After a teenage girl from Pennsylvania was caught sending topless photos of herself to her fellow classmates, then-District Attorney George Skumanick offered her the chance to avoid court time by taking a class on sexual harassment. When the 16-year old called his bluff, Skumanick threatened her with felony charges. The student, in turn, filed her own lawsuit against the D.A.'s office, eventually becoming the first-ever sexting criminal case to make its way all the way up to a federal appeals court. On Wednesday, the Third U.S. District Court of Appeals finally ruled in her favor, deciding that teenagers involved in sexting criminal cases cannot be charged as felons.

According to the court, the D.A.'s attempt to force the student to take a class and write an essay on the social ills of sexting directly violated her constitutional right to be free from compelled speech, and unnecessarily infringed on her parents' rights to direct their child's upbringing. The court also interpreted Skumanick's felony threats as "retaliation" against the girl for refusing to participate in the course. Witold Walczack, the legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU, was understandably satisfied with the decision, calling it an "important message for prosecutors... that there are constitutional limits on their ability to bring criminal charges against kids involved in sexting." Current Wyoming County D.A. Jeff Mitchell, on the other hand, was a bit more disappointed, saying, "[The] decision appears to limit the discretion a district attorney has when faced with a criminal case, or a juvenile case.''

We understand that Skumanick was trying to give the teen an easy way out by giving her the option of taking a sensitivity course, and most of the other kids involved in this 2008 scandal did indeed take the bargain. But, for the sake of setting a legal precedent, we're glad that this particular student decided to stick to her guns and head to court. Sexting could, in specific situations, lead to felonious activity. But there's a big difference between salacious exchanges among hormonal teenagers, and an SMS card's worth of naked pre-teens on Uncle Bob's phone. As long as it's restricted to intra-teen communication, and remains far removed from more predatory realms, it's a matter that's probably best left to parents or schools. [From: AP/Huffington Post]

Tags: aclu, cellphone, crime, law, lawsuit, sexting, teens, texting, top, Witold Walczack, WitoldWalczack

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