PA Police Abet Nudity Hysteria

Local police departments are mandated with enforcing the laws of their jurisdiction. But, common sense is supposed to be applied to ensure that the enforcement is consistent with both the letter and the intent of the law. That doesn’t always happen. Witness the arrest of teenagers on pornography charges in Pennsylvania.

GREENSBURG, Pa. -- Three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves, and three male classmates in a Greensburg Salem High School who received them, are charged with child pornography. 1

Police said the girls are 14 or 15, and the boys charged with receiving the photos are 16 or 17. None are being identified because most criminal cases in Pennsylvania juvenile courts are not public. 1

Pornography and indecency are tough concepts, and it ultimately comes down to an interpretation of local community standards. In some parts of the country it is permissible for adults to sunbathe nude in a public park, or ride bicycles and participate in public runs in the nude. In other parts of the country, such an action causes the heavens to open with denunciations of wickedness from citizenry and elected officials alike. In either case, the local police enforce their concept of the law no matter how stupid the law.

The real problem is that a goodly portion of the U.S. public is sexually bonkers and perceives nudity as strictly sexual. Well, it might be, and it might not be.

"It was a self portrait taken of a juvenile female taking pictures of her body, nude," said Capt. George Seranko of the Greensburg Police Department. 1

"Taking nude pictures of yourself, nothing good can come out of it," said Seranko. 1

Now, there is an enlightened police official.

How bad can nudity really be when it’s acceptable to be used as an expression of a First Amendment right, which is consistently upheld by the courts?

Stigmatizing and persecuting these teenagers with child pornography charges is a form of child abuse in and of its self. The local police and the District Attorney are abetting the abuse if these cases go forward.

Child pornography? Give me a break. Better yet, give the kids a break!

Link in this Blog:
1. High Schoolers Accused Of Sending Naked Pictures To Each Other