Thought of the Day – 02/25/2010

Yesterday, the House of Representatives took a positive step forward on the issue of protecting children from obscenity.

The House passed an important bill prohibiting people from sending sexually graphic instant messages to minors.

Passing this law is necessary because, a few weeks ago, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found a loophole in our criminal laws that prevents prosecutors from enforcing obscenity laws (which were originally designed to apply to printed materials in the days before e-mail and texting) against sexually graphic instant messages. This is a growing problem in Massachusetts and in other states as people try to exploit children who are using computers and cell phones to communicate at younger and younger ages.

I voted in favor of the bill, and I hope it’s the first of many steps that the Legislature will take to protect children this session. I’ve filed other proposals that would strengthen our obscenity laws and to impose greater punishment for crimes like posing of a minor. I am also continuing my fight for stronger mandatory minimum sentences for people who commit sex offenses against children, in hopes that we can fully-implement Jessica’s Law here in Massachusetts soon.

The obscenity law we passed yesterday still awaits Senate approval before it can be passed into law. I’ll keep you posted on its progress.