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Maryland bosses: keep child porn misdemeanor |
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Tuesday, 20 March 2007 19:00 |
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Is this Maryland... or Thailand? Ask the political bosses who run the Capitol in Annapolis. They are not just ignorant about Maryland's shameful child pornography laws, they are actually fighting to keep them weak.
This week, Maryland House Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Vallario
finally let a child pornography bill escape the backrooms of his
committee and head to the House of Delegates for a vote. The bill he
chose to let survive? House Bill 285,
a weak piece of legislation written especially to make it past
Vallario. The bill keeps child pornography possession a misdemeanor.
Worse, Vallario's committee watered it down even further, reducing
maximum penalties from five years to two.
How is this possible? PROTECT believes that a majority of the public
servants on the Judiciary Committee are in tune with America and want
to make child pornography a felony. But they are forced to submit to
Vallario by Democratic party leaders. Maryland House Republicans have
caved in too. House Bill 285 was introduced and backed by Republicans.
Stay tuned for PROTECT action alerts, including news about
PROTECT warrior Alison "Nellie Oleson" Arngrim, who has stepped into
the Maryland arena and is ready for a fight. In the meantime, meet the
powerful public officials who allow Maryland to remain a safe haven for
child pornography traffickers: Speaker of the House Michael Busch, Majority Leader Kumar Barve and Judiciary Chairman Joseph Vallario.
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