Federal Judge Hears Application for TRO in Pa. Sexting Case

At yesterday’s hearing, federal judge James Munley stated that “serious constitutional issues”  had been presented in the suit filed by three teenagers and their parents who are seeking to enjoin the local DA from prosecuting them for child pornography.  Photos of the girls in various stages of undress were discovered when high school officials examined cellphones confiscated at the school.  According to news accounts, plaintiff MaryJo Miller, high school employee and mother of one of the girls photographed, had seen the waist up photo of her child wearing only a bra when it was taken by one of her daughter’s friends at a sleepover party and had considered it harmless.  Ms. Miller did indicate that she would not have let her daughter post the picture online. How the pictures were actually distributed is not yet clear.  Representing the girls, ACLU attorney Witold Walczak argued that the photos were not pornographic and were protected by the First Amendment.  In addition, Walczak asserted that the threatened prosecution of the girls, who are not alleged to have distributed the photos via “sexting” , is an abuse of power by the prosecutor. Coverage of the hearing appears in the New York Times and Scranton Times Tribune.  Hat tip to How Appealing for link to local coverage.

JFB