[na] If there were ever a case for suing the government...

[Greebo]

http://www.nbc17.com/news/4773243/detail.html

Parents jailed, restricted contact with their child because they took a PICTURE of daddy giving baby a kiss on the stomach!!!

What the HELL is wrong with our society today when THIS is a criminal offense?!?!

I'm not much for lawsuits, but this is a case where I hope the parents sue the state and the local law enforcement for a pretty bucket and win!

 

[Greebo]

And add Eckert to the list of parties to be sued. Talk about a serious lapse in judgement...

 

[silver-eagle]

How many parents have pix of their babies in various states of undress that they always thought were just cute? I guess it's time they NOT bring them out for public display when their children bring home the first date.
It also means we either all go digital or learn to develop our own pix.

 

[Iceman]

6 months in jail???

 

[astanley]

How many parents have pix of their babies in various states of undress that they always thought were just cute? I guess it's time they NOT bring them out for public display when their children bring home the first date.
It also means we either all go digital or learn to develop our own pix.

My parents would be in prison for child porno probably - there is a picture from my 6th birthday, all three of us are covered in ice cream (faces, arms, legs), and two of us are in the sink naked being cleaned while my baby brother (1 at the time) is sitting on the counter laughing. Mom always trotted that out when I brought girlfriends home . . .

Cheers,

-Andrew

 

[Anthony]

Everybody takes pictures of their kids in the tub! There used to blackmail them when they become teenagers.

 

[grattonja]

"mandatory minimum sentences" "evil child abusers" "protection of the public" "child pornography".

These are just some of the statements that fuel the hysteria over "child abuse". Try to discipline your child physically some time and see what risks you run, on account of this hysteria.

Every time some perv grabs a random, stranger and absconds with them, people get indignant over the need to punish these sex offenders and protect children. In the rusk to get the really bad offenders (and I concede that some of what we have seen in the national spotlight lately is reprehensible behavior), we end up with hysteria like what you see here. We end up with more, broader laws, and a mentality such as seen here that ANY contact between an adult and a child, no matter how harmless in context, must be "bad" and "criminal".

Sorry guys. As a defense attorney, I see this sort of stuff all too frequently. Yep, there are bad sex offenders out there. But it is very easy too to persecute innocent behavior in the name of punishing "sex offenders".

And just remember, the next time you think ill of attorneys, that we are out there every day defending people like these poor parents. It could be any of us if we are not careful.

Sorry all. Rant off.

Jim G

 

[Greebo]

Hawk: What do you think, professionally, in this case? Strong case for the parents in civil court against Eckerd and the State? Or No?

 

[poadeleted3]

Hawk: What do you think, professionally, in this case? Strong case for the parents in civil court against Eckerd and the State? Or No?

Most states have laws protecting people who report suspected child abuse.

 

[Greebo]

Granted, and necessary laws - but six months in jail as a result? The protection has to have limits, doesn't it? In any event, I'd like to hear a professional opinion on this case.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Don't you want to see the picture before you judge what happened, I do.
If it all is as presented in the article, harmless - then I agree. I just find it hard to believe people have so completely lost their common sense that they would throw this guy in jail without any justification. The picture must have made most normal people go, "hmmmm", don't you think? Surely several people had to agree it was suspicious to take it that far - not just one prosecutor/lawperson.

 

[Greebo]

Some other links on the subject:
Culture Clash blamed for arrest: -> http://www.newsobserver.com/news/v-printer/story/1599467p-7803649c.html
Charges dropped: -> http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/raleigh/story/2056919p-8441184c.html

Now these articles do make it clearer why the photos aroused interest, at the very least...they refer to the kissing as being in the "groin area" instead of the stomach (a distance on a young infant of what, about an inch and a half difference?)

But - even so - the courts and the experts ruled that there was not an intent of molestation or pornography - and in the spirit of "innocent before proven guilty" I still think this case is a pretty good example of just how nutso we've gotten in how we deal with parents/children in this day and age.

Six months in jail over a culture clash... *sigh* Got to love a free country...

 

[Frank Browne]

And add Eckert to the list of parties to be sued. Talk about a serious lapse in judgement...

It's the one size fits all, lowest common denominator, culture that we have created. Every product made has to be designed so that every moron in a birthday suit can use it without hurting themselves. Laws designed so that every pimply faced photo lab clerk can narc out someone because that common sense switch has shorted out on them on them and they just can't seem to get it working again. We've created a culture where it's more important to APPEAR to be doing something of value rather than using common sense to ACTUALLY BE doing something of value. We now live in an I, Me, Mine society where "what's in it for me" is the motivating factor for most people. Where people will only "do the right thing" if there's something in it for them, and not just because it's the right thing to do. The concept of cooperative effort is, i'm afraid, lost on most people. Judgement? What's that? Who cares? Give a photo clerk the power to disrupt a family and send the parents off to prison for kissing their child, and they'll sure as hell use it. Judgement? There had to someone in between that photo lab do-gooder and the jail cell door don't ya think? In a culture that teaches the "you owe me" mentality, and "I'm not responsible because my mommy didn't potty train me right" mentality, judgement simply doesn't fly any more. The very society that we have allowed to take hold in this country precludes rational thinking and sound judgement.
OK, rant off...now where's the Tylenol?

 

[grattonja]

Hawk: What do you think, professionally, in this case? Strong case for the parents in civil court against Eckerd and the State? Or No?

I'm not the civil end. I defend the ones charged, and my rep ends there. As someone noted below though, there are some laws that protect reporters. I doubt they would apply to a photo shop operator in PA where I practice, though. There are "mandatory reporters", docs, counselors, child care workers etc who MUST report all instances of suspected child abuse.

It doesn't take much, sometimes, to see charges get filed. And yes, there are a number of steps that a prosecution must go through to get into court. But some of those steps are pretty pro forma. In other words, at some of those steps there is a whole lot of "stamp the paper" and not a whole lot of justice going on.

I would note that, without more, based on the newspaper article, these people sound like they might be first generation immigrants. I can't tell you how many times I see someone in that position getting charged with something that a "less ethnic, more caucasion" individual might not get charged with. Sometimes the cultural misunderstanding can be what pushes the charges over the edge.

We are quick to legislate safety. Sometimes too much legislation has bad ramifications.

Jim G