Court decision on virtual child porn draws debate

0 Comments | Insight on the News, June 3, 2002

Thank God for someone who is making sense. I was about to give up on all humankind until reading the column by Paul M. Rodriguez on "Virtual Child Porn's Very Real Consequences" [the last word, May 27].

When I remarked about the stupidity of the Supreme Court's decision that virtual child porn is protected by the Constitution, a male coworker said that the high court was correct--that this stuff is only cartoons and not pornography. That same coworker is becoming a new daddy. I want to see if his attitude will change now.

Karen Foster
via the Internet

I totally agree with your column on child porn. I felt helpless and sickened when I first read the news regarding the Supreme Court ruling.

Something that was not considered is the claim that virtual images of children do not use real children as their source. In fact they do, morphing them to disguise the artifice.

Virtual images and their components/textures are indeed based upon real pictures of children--images captured, disassembled and categorized to be used later at the artist's command.

Kirk Hubbell
via the Internet

I have a 14-year-old sister whom I love dearly. These idiots that head up our Supreme Court now are potentially putting her at risk. Are we non-pedophile, nonbureaucrats the only ones who seem to understand this? All in the name of free speech, right?

Eric, USMC
via the Internet

The Supreme Court's judgment is a victory for freedom and liberty and should be applauded as such. No matter how vile or evil pedophilia may be, we cannot criminalize the thought of committing the act.

Let's suppose that I draw a digital image of myself getting romantic with an emu, or I write a text describing this weird fantasy. Will the Humane Society come after me? Should they? Who is the victim?

My point is that we cannot imprison people for thinking about committing a crime. Once that Pandora's box is open, where does it end?

Francois Goyeau
Longueuil, Quebec