Conservative icon George Will, allowing that Supreme Court rulings make it likely that the "morphed" child porn law will be overturned? Amazing. Next perhaps the right's favorite pundit might start talking about how the states and not the Feds should be responsible for most criminal laws. Background: http://www.politechbot.com/p-02223.html http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44110-2001Jul24.html http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/opinion/columns/004169.htm http://enquirer.com/editions/2001/07/15/loc_journal_raises.html -Declan --- http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63743-2001Jul27.html The Puzzling Case of a Dirty Diarist 2001-07-29 03:15:56 Category: opinion The Puzzling Case of a Dirty Diarist By George F. Will Sunday, July 29, 2001; Page B07 Brian Dalton, 22, of Columbus, Ohio, will probably lower the moral tone of the prison if he serves the seven-year term -- plus 18 months for violation of his probation -- to which he recently was sentenced. He seems to be an appalling person with ghastly tastes. But his conviction under a state statute concerning child pornography is puzzling. He was convicted for writing in his 14-page journal, for his private delectation, pornographic stories involving three fictional children, caged in a basement. The journal was found during a search of his home by his probation officer. Dalton was on probation after serving time in jail for a 1998 conviction involving pornographic photographs of children. The Associated Press reports that Dalton's stories about the sexual abuse and torture of children were so lurid that grand jurors asked the detective reading them to stop almost as soon as he began. But Dalton is believed to be the first person ever convicted in any U.S. jurisdiction for child pornography involving writings rather than photographs, films or other images of real children. A second problematic aspect of Dalton's case is that he evidently had no interest in disseminating his writings. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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