{"id":2114,"date":"2011-03-30T20:21:45","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T00:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/?p=2114"},"modified":"2016-11-17T08:14:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T13:14:53","slug":"kids-sex-and-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/kids-sex-and-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids, Sex, and Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kids will be kids, but \u2018sexting\u2019 may lead to federal child pornography charges and sex offender registration for the nation\u2019s youth.\u00a0 \u2018Sexting\u2019 is a growing phenomenon among adolescents:\u00a0 equipped with cell phones and teenage dreams, adolescents \u2018sext\u2019 when they take nude or semi-nude photographs and text or email them to friends or significant others.\u00a0 A recent duo of NY Times articles reveals the devastating consequences that high schoolers in Washington faced after one such \u2018sexted\u2019 photograph went viral, and how state legislatures are responding.\u00a0 Those articles are available\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/03\/27\/us\/27sexting.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/03\/27\/us\/27sextinglaw.html?_r=1&amp;emc=eta1\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.\u00a0 It is well settled in First Amendment jurisprudence that adults may freely trade sexually charged images without fear of censorship.\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">See<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Miller v. California<\/span> 413 U.S. 15 (1973). When it comes to minors, however, the Supreme Court has been clear that preventing sexual abuse of children categorically trumps the First Amendment in the world of child pornography.\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">See<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">New York v. Ferber<\/span> 485 U.S. 747 (1982).\u00a0Still, as technology advances and social networking continues to lower the privacy qualms of savvy teens, important balancing questions arise as to the extent to which we are willing to protect speech, even explicit speech, between minors, and the extent to which we want to protect children from their immaturity and from the predators in whose hands \u2018sexted\u2019 photographs could fall.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kids will be kids, but \u2018sexting\u2019 may lead to federal child pornography charges and sex offender registration for the nation\u2019s youth.  \u2018Sexting\u2019 is a growing phenomenon among adolescents:  equipped with cell phones and teenage dreams, adolescents \u2018sext\u2019 when they take nude or semi-nude photographs and text or email them to friends or significant others. 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