Iowa Prosecutor Ed Bull Goes After The Worst Criminals -- Like A 14-Year-Old Girl Who Shot A Selfie While Wearing A Sports Bra
Good news from Jacob Sullum at Reason:
Yesterday the ACLU of Iowa announced that Marion County Attorney Ed Bull, who last year threatened to prosecute a teenager for producing child pornography by using her phone to take pictures of herself in her underwear, has promised not to bring charges....According to the lawsuit, one photo showed the girl "from the waist up, hair entirely covering her breasts and dressed in boy shorts." The other picture showed her "standing upright, clad in the same boy shorts and wearing a sports bra." The statute defining "sexual exploitation of a minor," the charge that Bull threatened to bring, requires "a prohibited sexual act," which includes prurient nudity only when it involves exposure of breasts, genitals, or buttocks.
In other words, this was not a case where a prudish prosecutor was applying the letter of the law too strictly. It was a case where a prudish prosecutor was twisting the law to give himself license to meddle in matters that were none of his business. Since the photos were perfectly legal, Bull's bullying was also a First Amendment violation.
Even if the pictures qualified as child pornography in Iowa, it defies logic to say a teenager can be guilty of sexually exploiting herself. That mind-boggling notion illustrates the unjust, irrational, and unconstitutional consequences of the pedophilia panic that prevents prosecutors like Bull and the legislators who empower them from thinking straight
I think there's something else going on here, and it's the desire to exercise power combine with the desire to stack up prosecutorial wins.
An ethical prosecutor doesn't nail someone to the wall because they see a way to do it; they do what they are tasked with doing: protecting society from victimizers.
Robby Soave's initial story on this is here:
The trouble began last March, when two boys at Knoxville High School were caught using the school printers to print inappropriate photos of their classmates, both male and female, which had been obtained via texts and Snapchat. Some of the teens in the photos were nude, though emojis were covering their private parts, according to the lawsuit. Doe's two photos were among them.School officials notified the police, and the school counselor began reaching out to the parents. Doe's family was horrified to learn that she had sent inappropriate photos to a boy who had then violated her privacy and shared them with his friends. They restricted Doe's phone access as punishment.
This was a parental matter, and that's how it should have stayed.
But now we have helicopter policing and prosecuting.
Soave's right:
By now, there should be no remaining doubt: the war on teen sexting is much more harmful to kids than sexting itself. And the only party engaged in exploiting teenagers is the state.
Once you send something it isn't private. They didn't violate her privacy.
Ben at July 16, 2017 7:42 AM
It's kind of depressing to think people--which is to say adolescents--don't think this stuff is going to get out. Of all the generations who are supposed to know from social media.
And either their parents haven't been able to clue them in, or it hasn't occurred to them.
Sheesh. WTH is going on here?
Or do we have some folks who really, really want to have their sexy selfies go viral?
Richard Aubrey at July 16, 2017 8:23 AM
Yes, we do; at least until they figure out that having your sexy selfie go viral attracts the attention of creeps.
Kind of like how it's flirting when George Clooney or Brad Pitt does it, but sexual harassment when Gilbert Gottfried does it.
There's a teenager mentality at work here; one that wants to wear the sexy bikini to the beach or the miniskirt to school, but then feels creeped out when the attention garnered is not the desired kind or comes from the "wrong" source.
The problem comes when the viral selfie doesn't blow over. The sexy bikini worn to the beach or the miniskirt to school can be forgotten in a few weeks and dismissed as a fashion mistake. But the viral selfie remains a "permanent" fixture of the digital world and comes back to haunt the subject again and again.
Conan the Grammarian at July 16, 2017 9:23 AM
How many people are we talking about here Richard? You have to remember there are roughly 42 million teenagers in the US at any given time. The odds that a few of them are doing something incredibly stupid is pretty good. So you can generate a news story about a stupid teen every week without much effort.
None of that is to say I support the prosecutor in this situation. I think the family should go after him with everything they can and make sure he finds a different line of work. But I have to put the kids situation in perspective as well. Roughly 16 thousand teenagers die each year in the US. So she is doing better than that. And from what I can tell this isn't an issue for the vast majority of teenagers. So I end up with meh. It is tragic but a tragedy brought on by personal choice. And tragedy is an inherent part of life.
Ben at July 16, 2017 11:52 AM
"with the desire to stack up prosecutorial wins":
That statement pretty much nails it.
Perhaps such prosecutors cannot win "legitimate" cases; so, they after what they consider to be easy wins. Real justice be damned.
charles at July 16, 2017 12:45 PM
I support the prosecutor going forward in this case. Until enough women are sacrificed on the alter of these laws designed to punish male sexuality they will never change
I also support this girls family suing the state for prosecutorial misconduct for pursing charges not supported by the laws as written
Furthermore I hope the families of any teenage boys caught by these laws also sue the state for civil rights violations under the disparate impact theory as they never seem to prosecute girls for theses crimes, only boys
lujlp at July 16, 2017 1:29 PM
"There's a teenager mentality at work here; one that wants to wear the sexy bikini to the beach or the miniskirt to school, but then feels creeped out when the attention garnered is not the desired kind or comes from the "wrong" source."
This is something completely missed by parents - possibly enamored of the idea of the matchless worth and freedom of expression they and their offspring enjoy, they forget that if you advertise something, you will be expected to deliver.
This is hotly denied by those who blame others for misconduct up to and including the "Rape Culture" they fear they face alone.
Radwaste at July 16, 2017 3:13 PM
Marion County Attorney Ed Bull is a pedophile with a thing for underage girls.
(The preceding is the personal opinion of the writer who claims no psychriatric education or experience. As such it is protected by his first amendment freedom of speech rights. Take that Ed Bull, you freaking perverted asshat)
Jay at July 16, 2017 3:57 PM
I'm with lujlp on this one. Until the laws are applied to girls, the general public will not care how they are used or how draconian the are.
And with a statement like: " threatened to prosecute a teenager for producing child pornography by using her phone to take pictures of herself "
Perhaps that was this prosecutors plan.
Joe J at July 16, 2017 4:37 PM
Ten bucks says that freak wants to spank her with a bibble.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at July 16, 2017 9:06 PM
Ben.
I'm not talking about numbers. I'm talking about ignorance. If she'd been told what might happen and blew it off, double ignorance.
If she thought this wouldn't come back to inconvenience her--not referring to the prosecutor--she is ignorant and about one step away from smoking while trying to start charcoal with gasoline.
Richard Aubrey at July 17, 2017 5:51 AM
"Christopher Janes Kimberley, 56, is suing both the former first daughter and Penguin Random House publisher, accusing them of copyright infringement"
Exactly. Simple answer: don't be one of those creeps? (For those too lazy to click, that's the "don't be unattractive" video from SNL).
a_random_guy at July 17, 2017 6:09 AM
I'm sure he can blame it on Title IX and the "Dear Colleague" letter from DoE.
Perhaps such prosecutors cannot win "legitimate" cases; so, they after what they consider to be easy wins. Real justice be damned.
Have you seen the movie Law Abiding Citizen? some prosecutors see a high conviction rate as a good thing, and work to protect their's as best they can.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 17, 2017 6:55 AM
"she is ignorant and about one step away from smoking while trying to start charcoal with gasoline."
Yes, she is. But you can't save them all. Some people dare to be stupid.
Ben at July 17, 2017 7:30 AM
Ben.
Darwin wouldn't appreciate us saving them all. but it's one of those things about which the exasperated may comment, and simultaneously wonder what, if anything, came as a warning from parents.
Richard Aubrey at July 17, 2017 9:15 AM
Ben.
Darwin wouldn't appreciate us saving them all. but it's one of those things about which the exasperated may comment, and simultaneously wonder what, if anything, came as a warning from parents.
Richard Aubrey at July 17, 2017 9:16 AM
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