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North Carolina lawmakers refuse to protect children |
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Wednesday, 05 September 2007 19:00 |
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In North Carolina, the penalty for possessing images or movies of child rape and torture is the same as operating an illegal bingo parlor.
Sentencing is so weak in the Tarheel state that prosecutors say it is often impossible to get any jail time at all for child pornography possession. But in the 2007 legislative session, lawmakers refused to strengthen these penalties.
The political leadership in Raleigh can have only two explanations for their shameful failure. Either they truly wanted to keep possession virtually decriminalized or they just didn't care enough to get it done. There were at least three bills at the statehouse that would have raised the penalties for possession of child pornography. A bill by Sen. Walter Dalton (backed by Attorney General Roy Cooper) was killed because it contained a provision opposed by MySpace and its team of lobbyists. The Jessica Lunsford Act was also killed, along with its tougher child pornography penalties. And a bill carried by PROTECT allies Karen Ray (R) and Bruce Goforth (D) met a similar fate. But legislative leaders could have easily amended the bills to salvage these important reforms to protect children.
PROTECT tries to work as a partner with lawmakers whenever possible. In 2007, we met with dozens of North Carolina legislators, educating them about the true horror of child exploitation and about their state's weak laws. If there are still some legislators kicking around Raleigh who are innocent about what is at stake, they'll now have to educate themselves. That class is dismissed.
PROTECT will now launch a campaign to demand that every North Carolina lawmaker signs a two-part pledge to strengthen criminal penalties for child exploitation and dramatically increase the resources for the State's Internet Crimes Against Children task force. Then we'll aggressively let voters know who stands for child protection and who doesn't before the next election.
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