Legal Question in Constitutional Law in North Carolina
Obscenity or Child Endangerment
The question is one which came out of a discussion of the relationship between societal morés and constitutional law; it may be purely a matter of semantics, as we can’t agree on whether the question is, “Why is child pornography illegal?” Or, “How is child pornography illegal?” Is child pornography illegal because it’s obscene, because of the child endangerment inherent within the creation of such pornography?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Obscenity or Child Endangerment
The latter. The basis for lack of constitutional protection for child pornography is founded in the protection of the child. Obscenity, in contrast, has nothing whatsoever to do with harm to anyone.
The basis for the protection of child pornography was recently reaffirmed when the Supreme Court correctly held that to constitute child pornography, the images in issue had to actually be of real minors. (I once had a case in which the District Attorney insisted that if the viewer simply imagined it, that was enough. Fortunately, the DA is all wet.)
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