Did They Go Too Far?

by DCs Ghost 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  conflicted

  Willy,

  He wasn't prosecuted because he was in posession of child pornography.
  That is what you are missing here. Yes, child porn is illegal - I don't debate that.

  He was prosecuted because he wrote down a story depicting a crime that he may or may not commit. In this case the subject was child porn, but the ability of the prosecution to convict wasn't based on the subject matter,but the fact that he wrote it. Now that the precident is set, any one else can be convicted of similar crimes and sent to prison for writing a story.

  Again - to make my point - the subject matter isn't important in this case, but the fact that the accused put his thoughts on paper.

  Example:
  Arson is a crime - NOW so is writing about commiting arson.

  Mr. Daltons' crime was NOT posession of child porn.
  He wrota a story and went to prison for it.
• 

  Seeker

  This is just one thin step removed from 'thought crimes.' That's the next step, to arrest people for not thinking 'right' thoughts.

  What this guy did was no crime. He wrote down some abhorrent thoughts, put them away, intended for no one to see them. The mark of First Ammendment rights is to defend that which you find despicable. Anyone will defend stuff they agree with. Only when you can defend that which you disagree with can you be said to be standing up for a right.

  What this guy wrote was awful. What he thinks is awful. But he wasn't acting on his thoughts. No real child was depicted in his thoughts. No real child was involved in any way. Nobody would have seen his written thoughts if the parole office hadn't found them by accident. He was convicted of a thought crime, and that should send a shiver down every one of our backs.

  We all agree that child porn is wrong. What if the next thought crime is not so unambiguous? What precedent is being set when society can arrest you for having the wrong thoughts? That's the next step in this chain.

  no writing down your personal thoughts can not convict you of a crime. unless it constitutes a confession.

  writing or possesing graphic fictional STORYS of child rape IS a crime and has been for a long time.

  Then explain why you can buy Lolita at any bookstore.

  Once again, if you can't defend that which you find abhorrent (though no crime against anyone real), then you are merely defending the free speech rights of subjects you approve of. Once down that slippery slope there is much danger.
• 

  DCs Ghost

  i knew this would be great for conversation. . .

  Conflicted
  thank you very much for reiterating i think you said it much more clearly than i did. . . .

  Seeker
  thanks for expanding on this. . .btw his own parents turned in his journal. . . .

  that fact is that he did not act on it
  and he did not write it as a confession

  it was FICTION,
  btw thanks for bringing up Lolita, not only is it a book it is also a movie, which i believe pushes the issue even further. .

  for as horrible and grotesque as it was he has been sentenced for fiction. . . . .
  so all you writers out there think what this can do to you
  as Conflicted pointed out this sets a precedent that need s to be checked quickly if not we can kiss the horror genre goodbye, and most erotica will go out the window too,

  this is america in ohio boys and girls. . . .

  dc
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  DCs Ghost

  for anyone who may have missed this. . . .
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  BoozeRunner

  Truly disturbing. I guess that ANY fantasy put to paper can be used against a person and commit them to incarceration. I know that this involved child porn fantasies, but our thoughts are all we have left in a society which continues to strip us of our rights.

  Hell, just watch the LIFETIME Channel. Its full of women and children as victims. Are they going to jail all the writers and actors?

  Consider this possible aspect-journaling is a way suggested by mental health professionals to "get stuff out of ones system". Maybe this was this guy's way of NOT committing a crime.

  The THOuGHT POLICE are alive and on the prowl.

  Boozy
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  SixofNine

  Issues such as this are complicated. I believe true Christian parents would choose not to involve the authorities, but rather take their son to a lonely place and deal with him in the manner spoken of in the Bible.