Many of you took action to contact NY Governor and the NY State Senate on our website here in response to a NY Court ruling that it is legal to view child pornography on the Internet. Thousands immediately contacted NY officials and urged them to take immediate action to fix this loophole. They did! The next day a bill was introduced in the Senate and the bill was passed in the Senate on June 19th that makes the viewing of child pornography a federal crime (just as it should be!!). Now the law is in the Assembly.
We want to congratulate those of you who took swift action here. It is possible to make a difference!
Here is an article about the bill. You can find the full original article here: http://www.newsli.com/2012/06/19/legislation-prohibiting-viewing-of-child-porn/
Bill Closes Loophole Created by Recent Court of Appeals Ruling
(Long Island, NY) The New York State Senate today passed legislation (S7742) sponsored by Senator Marty Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn), that would make the viewing of child pornography a felony crime. The bill is part of a three-way agreement with the Senate, Assembly and Governor Cuomo to amend current state law to make a person guilty of a crime when the person knowingly accesses child pornography with the intent to view.
The legislation comes after a state Court of Appeals ruling in May= 2012 that said viewing child pornography on the Internet is not a crime. This legislation closes that loophole.
“Today, just a little more than a month from the time that citizens of New York and our nation were shocked and offended by a loophole that prevented the appropriate prosecution of individuals who view child pornography, the State Senate has moved to effectively change the law,” Senator Golden said. “Our children, families and all citizens are safer because of these efforts as we implement stricter penalties against this wrongful behavior. New York will now conform with federal regulations and rightly classify viewing child pornography as a crime.”
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