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STEMMING SEXTING:
SENSIBLE LEGAL APPROACHES TO TEENAGERS'

EXCHANGE OF SELF-PRODUCED PORNOGRAPHY
Elizabeth C. Eraker
Judging from the recent acdvides of local prosecutors, one tnight think
that a crime wave of chUd pornography offenses perpetuated by middle- and
high-schoolers is fiooding the nadon.' In actuaUty, the fiurry of media
coverage has shed Ught on a phenomenon popularly known as sexting: the
digital exchange of sexuaUy expUcit images between teenagers using text
messaging services on camera-equipped ceU phones.^ Local prosecutors
across the countr}' are responding to the increase in sexdng incidents by
charging the teenage pardcipants with chUd pornography felonies, which may
require them to register as sex offenders.^ Recent poUing data suggests that
sexdng is pervasive among today's teenagers."* Further evidence of the
© 2010 Elizabeth C. Eraker.

1. E.g., Jesse Singal, Panic Over Teen 'Sexting' Eclipses Bigger Threat, BOSTON GLOBE, Jan.
8, 2010, at A15; Naked Photos, E-Mail Get Teens in Trouble, ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 5, 2008,
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,363438,00.html.
2. This Note uses the term "sexdng" to describe the exchange of suggesdve text
messages between juveniles, although there is some popular usage of "sext" and "sexdng" to
describe exchanges between adults. E.g., Mike Taibbi, Seniors Spice Things Up With 'Sexting',
NBC NEWS CHANNEL, NOV. 27, 2009, http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Seniors-
spice-things-up-with-sexdng/S5qx8-cvlUq6nYMxXgiKmQ.cspx (describing a trend among
older adults of exchanging sexuaUy suggesdve text messages).
3. In a recent Ohio case, for example, a fifteen-year-old foster girl plead guilty to
charges of producdon of child pornography after she was found to have taken nude photos
of herself with a cell phone camera and distributed them to classmates. Russ Zimmer,
Hottinger Law Didn't Anticipate Cell Phone Photo Case, 7\DVOCATE (NEWARK, OH), Oct. 8,
2008, at Al. For a detailed explanadon of a sexdng invesdgadon and the felony penaldes
pursued by some prosecutors, see generally Robert D. Richards & Clay Calvert, When Sex and
Cell Phones Collide: Inside the Prosecution of a Teen Sexting Case, 32 HASTINGS COMM. & ENT. L.J.
1 (2009).
4. Depending on the study, somewhere between 4% and 20% of teenagers report that
they have sent sexually suggesdve text messages to another teen. According to a 2008 report
by The Nadonal Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (NCPTUP), 20% of
teenagers ages 13-19 have "electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude pictures
or video of themselves." NAT'L CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN AND UNPLANNED
PREGNANCY, SEX AND TECH: RESULTS FROM A SURVEY OF TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS 1
(2008), http://www.thenadonalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf; see infra
Part I (discussing some of the limitadons in the methodology underlying this poll). A
narrower 2009 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project focused exclusively on
cell phone transmission of images, finding that 4% of teenagers ages 12-17 who own cell
556 BERKELEY TECHNOLOGY LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 25:555
widespread nature of this phenomenon: search engine queries of "sexting"

are at an all-dme high,^ and the New Oxford American Dicdonary
considered "sexdng" among its nominees for new words of the year.'^
A stark disagreement over the appropriate societal response underlies the
popularity of sexdng, which has outpaced both the law and technological
limitadons of prior generadons. In at least ten states, authorities have publicly
contemplated, and in some instances followed through with, charging the
teenage participants with child pornography producdon, possession, and
distribution.^ In the first appellate decision to explicidy address "sexting
among teenagers" in September 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed that
there was sufficient evidence to convict an eighteen-year-old boy of
knowingly disseminadng obscene material to a minor.^ The boy e-mailed a
sexually explicit photo to a fourteen-year-old friend, accompanied by the
message of "I love you."^ While youth educators and child psychologists
have pushed for a more moderated response to behavior described as "high-
tech flirting"'"—teenage acts fueled by hormones and a lack of judgment—
some experts in the Internet safety community support the hard-line
approach to teenage sexting adopted by law enforcement authorities and the
judicial system."
phones "report sending a sexually suggestive nude or nearly-nude photo or video of

themselves to someone else." AMANDA LENHART, PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE
PROJECT, TEENS AND SEXTING: H O W AND W H Y MINOR TEENS ARE SENDING SEXUALLY
SUGGESTIVE NUDE OR NEARLY NUDE IMAGES V L \ TEXT MESSAGING 4 (2009),
http://www.pewintemet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2009/PIP_Teens_and_Sexting.pdf.
5. See Google Trends: Sexting, http://www.google.com/trends?q=sexdng (last visited
Dec. 23, 2009).
6. Facebook, Twitter Add New Words to Dictionary, BOSTON GLOBE, Nov. 16, 2009,
http://www.boston.eom/business/ticker/2009/l l/facebook_tweete.html.
7. These states include New Jersey, New York, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Texas,
Connecticut, Ohio, Utah, and Florida. See Jesse M. Nix, Unwholesome Activities in a Wholesome
Place: Utah Teens Creating Pornography and the Establishment of Prosecutorial Guidelines, 11 J.L. &
FAM. STUD. 183, 184, 188 (2008); Kim Zetter, ACLU Sues Prosecutor Over 'Sexting' Child Pom
Charges, WlRED.COM, Mar. 25, 2009, http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/03/aclu-sues-
da-ov.html.
8. State V. Canal, 773 N.W.2d 528, 529 (Iowa 2009).
9. Id
10. Jennifer Golson, A Debate Swirls Over Teens' Lurid Pictures: Should Self-Portraits Draw
Harsh Penalties?, NEW JERSEY STAR LEDGER, Mar. 29, 2009, at 1.
11. See, e.g., id. (noting that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC), the non-profit/quasi-government organization that serves as the clearinghouse
for reports of child sexual abuse on the Internet, has publicly stated that criminal charges are
warranted in some sexting cases).
2010] STEMMING SEXTING 557
Although sexting has been described as the modern equivalent of

"streaking,"'^ new technologies dramatically enhance the consequences of
this behavior. Camera-equipped phones allow permanent recording of
images and instant dissemination to large numbers of recipients,
transforming fieeting youthful indiscretions into lasting mistakes. Courts
have upheld juvenile child pornography convictions for the production and
distribution of self-produced pornography in cases of sexting-like activity,'^
including requirements for sex offender registration.''* The possibility that
digital images privately shared between teens wiU be disseminated to a
broader online audience may profoundly affect the participants, causing
humiliadon at school, pressure at home, and the loss of employment or
college prospects. In rarer instances, sexting can be used as a tool to
intimidate and harass, and has led to teen suicide in two reported cases in
2009."
The term sexting often describes a broad range of behaviors that differ
radically in terms of the actors, motivations, and tactics involved. In this
Note, the term "sexting" refers to the self-production and distribution by cell
phone of sexually explicit images in the course of consensual, voluntary
acdvity by teenagers. This definition describes a phenomenon differing from
the use of texting by sexual predators to exploit youth, a set of issues that is
not addressed here,'^ and the use of sexting to cyberbvdly.'^ This Note
12. Mary E. Muscari, Sexting: New Technology, Old Problem, MEDSCAPE TODAY, May 1,
2009, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/702078.
13. This includes the use of e-mail to exchange sexually explicit, self-produced
photographs or teens' recording of their own consensual sexual activitj' using video cameras.
Such activities, although not sexting under the strict definition focused on the use of text
messaging services on cell phones, still fall under the umbrella of "sexting-like activities." See
infra Part II.
14. Jíí/«/^ö Section ILA.
15. See Libby Quaid, 'Sexting' is More Common Than You Might Think, SEATTLE TIMES,
Dec. 4, 2009, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010411092_apus
sextingpoll.html (describing the death of Hope Witseü, a thirteen-year-old in Florida who
hung herself after being taunted by classmates after a photo she sexted to a boy she liked
was forwarded to other students, and the death of eighteen-year-old Jesse Logan in Ohio
who hung herself after weeks of ridicule after a sext she sent to her boyfriend at the time was
forwarded to other girls).
16. See, e.g., U.S. v. Hofus, No. 09-10076, 2010 WL 986799 (9th Cit. Mar. 19, 2010)
(affirming the conviction of an adult male attempting to entice two teenage girls using sex
messages);'i"í>r/z«¿' Case Goes to Trial, SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE, Sept. 5, 2009, at B3
(reporting that in a recent sexting incident clearly constituting child sexual exploitation, a
Florida high school teacher used his cell phone to seduce a child after he allegedly coaxed
the high school student to send naked photographs to him and exchanged sexual text
messages with the teen). Several states, including Colorado and Oregon, have recendy passed
bills to close loopholes in existing criminal laws to punish sexual predators using text
messages services to lure children. See National Conference of State Legislatures, 2009
focuses primarily on the typical sexting case involving the limited exchange
of provocative messages concerning consensual sexual. activity between
willing participants.
The prevalence of sexdng and the severity of its consequences have
prompted state and federal policymakers to consider various legislative
proposals, from crafting new criminal offenses to introducing educadonal
programs.'^ In exploring appropriate legal responses to sexdng, this Note
attempts to strike a balance between competing policy objectives,, such as
teenage privacy and the state's interest in prevendng child sexual abuse and
child pornography, while respecting the extent to which the digital revolution
changed how teenagers communicate and interact in social spaces. Whue
society may want to minimize teenagers' producdon and distribution of
provocadve images even under consensual and private circumstances, sexdng
should be exempt from treatment under child pornography statutes. In Part
I, this Note explores the sexting phenomenon and its underlying causes in
the context of a digital generadon of teenagers. Part II surveys the varied
responses of authorities to sexting incidents, including prosecutors and state
legislators. Part III discusses the range of policy issues implicated in
designing an appropriate legal framework to address sexting. Part IV
concludes by suggesting several legislative components that could help
authorities discipline the harms of sexdng without resorting to ill-suited child
pornography statutes.
I. DEFINING THE SEXTING PHENOMENON

Recent poUs suggest that the pracdce of sexting is well-engrained in teen
culture, although there is a range in survey data concertiing the extent of the
practice. According to a 2008 report by The National Campaign to Prevent
Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (NCPTUP), 22% of teen girls and 18% of
teen boys have used technology to send or post nude or semi-nude pictures
or video of themselves to other people, with two-thirds of the recipients
being a boyfriend or girlfriend.'^ Beyond the finding that one-in-five teens
send "sexts," the NCPTUP's research suggests that an even greater number
of teens receive such images and may forward them on to others, making
them liable for possession and distribudon charges under child pornography
Legislation Related to "Sexting", http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=17756 (lasted

visited Feb. 22, 2010).
17. See infra Section I.B.
18. See infra Section II.B.
19. NAT'L CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN AND UNPLANNED PREGNANCY, supra note
4,atl.
According to the NCPTUP survey, 31% of teenagers between the

ages of thirteen and nineteen report receiving a nude or semi-nude image or
video featuring the sender, and 29% of the same group report having had a
nude or semi-nude image or video shared with them that was intended to be
private.^' Individuals in relationships exchanged more than half of these
photos. ^^ Furthermore, 14% of teens acknowledge that they have shared a
nude or semi-nude picture or video with someone other than the intended
recipient.^'' A 2009 survey conducted by Cox Communications reports simuar
findings, including the fact that 19% of teens surveyed have engaged in
sexting, "sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually suggestive nude or nearly
nude photos through text message or emaü."^"* Most recendy, polling by the
Pew Internet & American Life Project produced lower figures, finding that
4% of teenagers ages 12-17 with cell phones report texting nude or nearly
nude images of themselves and 15% of that group has "received a sexually
suggestive nude or nearly nude photo or video of someone they know on
their cell phone."^^
While these figures undoubtedly refiect a significant trend, either extreme
of the polling data deserves some skepticism. For starters, the NCPTUP poll
relied exclusively on an online survey to query youth about their online
experiences. Results of online surveys may not be representative when there
is a correlation between the subject matter and respondents' comfort in
sharing personal information—teenagers who sext may also be the most
likely to reveal such behavior in an online poU.^"" In the opinion of one
academic who conducted weU-known studies of online teen behavior over
the phone, "online poll-takers might be two to four times more likely to send
nude photos of themselves than the average teen."^^ At the same time, the
lower numbers found in the Pew Internet & American Life poll for sending
20. John A. Humbach, "Sexting" and the First Amendment 3-4 (Pace Law Faculty Publ'ns,
Paper No. 596, 2009), available at http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/596/..
21. NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN AND UNPLANNED PREGNANCY, supra
note 4, at 11.
22. Id. at 13; Mathias H. Heck, Sexting and Charging Juveniles—Balancing the Law and Bad
Choices, 43 PROSECUTOR 28, 28 (2009).
23. NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN AND UNPLANNED PREGNANCY, supra
note 4, at 11.
24. Press Release, Cox Commc'ns, Cox's New Survey on Cyber-Safety Finds Many
Teens Going Online Wirelessly Without Limits or Controls (May 14, 2009),
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NEWS/newsletters/clientnews/CoxCommunications_N
ationalCenterN0ssing&ExploitedChildren_Cyber-Safety_May2009.pdf.
25. LENHART, supra note 4, at 4-5.
26. Carl BiaUk, Which Is Epidemic - Sexting or Worrying About It?, WALL ST. J., Apr. 8,
2009, at A9.
27. Id. (quoting David Finkelhor at the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against
Children Research Center).
and receiving expUcit text messages may underreport the actual incidence of
sexting given that the topic is loaded with "a relatively high, level of social
disapproval" and thus subjects may not admit to the behavior.^^ Yet even if
some fracdon of reported teens are engaging in sending or receiving sexuaUy
expUcit texts, the data is significant enough to warrant discussion
The prevalence of sexting among today's teenagers refiects the
intersecdon of two trends infiuencing teenage behavior: the omnipresence of
digpltal technologies and the enhanced sharing and personal expression
faciUtated by these technologies. In contrast to their parents and
grandparents, the current generadon of youth is "born digital," meaning that
most major aspects of their Uves are mediated by digital technologies, from
social interacdons to academics to hobbies and entertainment.^^ These
individuals never knew an offUne world—they "do not stay in touch with
pens and scented paper," but with an endless array of technological gadgets.^"
For adults who view Internet-based sociaUzing as a supplement to Ufe in real
spaces, the nodon of teens moving seamlessly between face-to-face and
computer-mediated social interactions is novel.^' The concept of using text
messaging services to send highly personal photos may sound bizarre to
adiilts, but it is much less so to teens who rely on ceU phones as a critical tool
to maintain their social connecdons. According to recent research by the Pew
Internet & American Life project, 7 1 % of teens owned ceU phones in 2008,
an increase from 45% in 2004.^^ Among teen ceU phone users, 76% used
their phones to send text messages.'''' Another study by the mobUe phone
industry suggest that 54% of teenage girls and 40% of teenage boys think
that their social Ufe would "end" or significandy worsen if texdng were no
longer avaUable on ceU phones.^"* And ceU phones are not the only
distribution channel by which teens exchange sexts; simUar message can also
be sent dirough desktop and laptop computers, usuaUy through e-mail
28. Lenhart notes that the number of teens in the focus groups who were able to talk
about sexdng experiences suggests that dus effect may have been present in the Pew poll. See
LENHART, supra note 4, at 4 n.lO.
29. JOHN PALFREY & URS GLASSER, BORN DIGITAL 2-7 (2008).
30. Humbach, supra note 20, at 3.
31. SAMEER HINDUJA & JUSTIN W . PATCHIN, BULLYING BEYOND THE SCHOOLYARD:
PREVENTING AND RESPONDING TO CYBERBULLYING 25 (2009) (nodng that "[f]or many
youth, there really is no clear disdncdon between life as lived in real space and in cyberspace;
one social sphere is now a natural and complementing extension of the other").
32. AMANDA LENHART, PEW INTERNET &C AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT, TEENS AND
MOBILE PHONES OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS: PEW INTERNET LOOKS BACK 3 (2009),
http://www.pewinternet.Org/~/media//Files/Reports/2009/PIP%20Teens%20and%20M
obüe%20Phones%20Data%20Memo.pdf.
33. 7í/. at8.
34. HARRIS INTERACTIVE, A GENERATION UNPLUGGED RESEARCH REPORT (2008),
http://files.cda.org/pdf/HI_TeenMobileStudy_ResearchReport.pdf.
services or social networks.^^ For example, earlier diis year, a fourteen-year-

old New Jersey girl was charged with distribudon of child pornography after
posting nearly thirty nude portraits of herself on die social networking site
MySpace.''
A. TYPICAL SEXTING INCIDENTS
Much remains to be learned about the motivations underlying teenage

sexdng. Many of the news accounts, however, report behavior refiecting
typical expressions of teenage emotions, such as the instance where photos
are taken to impress a member of the opposite sex or to record private
encounters between teens in a reladonship.^^ Although social norms affecdng
adult behavior may warn against sharing revealing images over cell phones or
uploading them to public profiles on social networking sites, teens' online
behaviors refiect a different set of norms developed in their online
communides. Sometimes these social norms, infiuenced by an entertainment
industry glamorizing outrageous online personalides and the public
disclosure of dtüladng personal information, support brash behavior such as
sexting.^* Among peer-conscious teenagers, an "everybody does it"
radonalizadon can further perpetuate inappropriate acdvides.^' According to
the NCPTUP poll, of those who have sent suggesdve content online, 66% of
girls and 60% of boys said diat diey did it to be "fun or flirtadous."""
Research about youth cognidve development supports the nodon that
teenage brains are generally not sufficiendy matured to enable consistendy
good decision-making.
The possibility that an innocent effort to impress friends could have
serious consequences does not enter most sexting teenagers' minds. In a
spring 2009 Good Morning America "town hall" on sexdng, one Texan
35. LENHART, supra note 4, at 12.

36. Golson, supra note 10 (noting that the photos were allegedly for the girl's boyfriend
to see).
37. See, e.g. Naked Photos, E-Mail Get Teens in Trouble, supra note 1; see also Stephen F.
Smith, Jailfor Juvenile Child Pomographers?: A ¥^ly to Professor Leary, 15 VA. J. SOC. POL'Y & L.
505, 524 (2008) (discussing how the bulk of teenage self-produced pornography is created by
minors in connection with their own consensual sexual activities).
38. NANCY E . WILLARD, CYBER-SAFE KIDS, CYBER-SAWY TEENS: HELPING YOUNG
PEOPLE LEARN TO USE THE INTERNET SAFELY AND RESPONSIBLY 187 (2007) (discussing
the influence of sexually provocative images of "hot stars" on teenagers).
39. / ¿ a t 142.
40. NATIONAI. CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN AND UNPLANNED PREGNANCY, supra
note 4, at 4.
41. Quaid, supra note 15. By the mid-teens, the brain's reward centers linked to
emotional arousal are well-developed, making teens vulnerable to peer pressure. Id.
However, the frontal cortex, which connects reasoning with emotion and enables people to
weigh consequences, is not fully formed until the early twenties. Id.
teenager gave a common explanation of how she started sexting at her

boyfriends' insistence: "He had kept asking me for [it]... [f|irst, I was kind of
like, 'No.' Well then, the further along we got on in the relationship, you
know, I thought I really cared about him, and I figured he cared about me,
too."" The concern that sexted images can be easily distributed over peer-to-
peer networks or odierwise fall into the hands of sexual predators,"'^ a
primary fear of diose outraged about sexting, is not a risk most teens
recognize.'"' Nor do most teens realize that their actions are illegal and could
qualify them for a decades-long sex offender registration requirement."^
On the other hand, it is not clear that knowledge of the consequences of
sexting would deter most teens. According to an Associated Press-MTV poll,
about half of the teens surveyed identified sexting as a behavior carrying the
risk of serious punishment, but did it anyway."^ In the Ohio case described
earlier, thefifteen-year-oldwho distributed nude images of herself via her cell
phone did so after a county prosecutor visited her high school to warn
students that they might serve twenty years in jaü if they were found with or
sent sexually explicit images of teenagers on their cell phones."^ Among
experts studying adolescence health, the phenomenon of "teens participating
in high-risk behaviors, even though they know that they should not" is well-
understood."^ According to die NCPTUP poU, three-fourths of teens
surveyed agreed that sexting can have serious negative consequences.
42. Cole Kazdin & Imaeyen Ibanga, The Truth About Teens Sexting: 'GMA ' Holds a Town
Hall Meeting to Discuss the Growing Teen Trend, ABCNEWS.COM, Apr. 15, 2009,
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7337547&page=l. According to the NCPTUP
poll, of those teens sending sexually explicit material, 59% of girls said that they did it as a
"sexy present" for their boyfriends. NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN AND
UNPLANNED PREGNANCY, supra note 4, at 4.
43. See, e.g., Mary G. Leary, Self-Produced Child Pornography: The Appropriate Soäetal Response
to Juvenile Self-Sexual Exploitation, 15 VA. J. Soc. POL'Y & L. 1, 12-14 (2007) (discussing how
juvenile self-produced pornography can fuel the child pornography industry, creating more
demand and putting more children at risk of exploitation); see also Smith, supra note 37, at
544 (finding that "[mjinors who distribute pornographic images of themselves place may
[sic] themselves at risk of being victimized by pedophiles").
44. Quaid, supra note 15.
45. Heck, supra note 22, at 28-29 (A prosecuting attorney in Montgomery County,
Ohio reports that many of her fellow prosecutors are finding that the teenagers engaged in
sexting "are completely unaware that what they are doing is illegal.").
46. Quaid, «granóte 15.
47. Girt Gharged with Sending Nude Photos To Classmates, WBNS lOTV, Oct. 7, 2008,
http://www.l0tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/07/story_nude_photos.html?si'
d=102 (noting that the principal of tiie school "felt there was a good understanding by our
student body about the seriousness of the matter").
48. Muscari, supra note 12.
although they may not fully understand the particular long-term

consequences of sexüng. ' • •
A final explanation for the sexting trend is die reality that nearly half of
American high-schoolers report sexual activity.^" More generally, as one
commentator observes, today's teens, "for better or worse...do not regard
sexuality as the monopoly of older generadons but as a part of their lives."
Sexdng could be viewed as merely an expression of teen sexuality in a digital
age, refiecdrig a long-documented trend of teens "using whatever technology
is at hand to express themselves and share their behavior with the world."
However, in contrast to previous generations, where the flashing of a
classmate tnight have had only momentary consequence, new technologies
gready enhance the likelihood that such indiscretions will be permanendy
recorded and disseminated to large audiences." Historically, teenagers who
took provocative self-portraits faced the hurdle of developing die film at a
photo lab, and distribudon was limited by the number of copies purchased.
In contrast, today, camera phones and broadband connections enable
instantaneous production and distribudon, even if the original sender did not
intend it.^" In a recent Massachusetts incident, pictures of a naked fourteen-
year-old were allegedly "sexted" to more than 100 cell phones.^^ While die
impact of an embarrassing incident in die offline world is largely limited to
physical witnesses, an image captured digitally and shared via cell and
broadband networks can reach an endless number of people. Furdier, it is
practically impossible to remove the offending object once it has been widely
shared.^'
49. Id
50. KAISER FAMILY FOUND., SEXUAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG
ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES (2008), http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/upload/
3040_04.pdf.
' 52. Muscari, supra note 12.
53. The permanent recording enabled by technologies, and the introduction of child
exploitation laws, also has dramatically enhanced the consequences of such activity. See id
(noting that although "streaking may have been just a nuisance in its heyday, but it could be
deemed a sexual offense today, just as a photo of an underwear-clad teen may now be
considered child pornography").
54. Kim Zetter, Child Pom Lam Used Against • Kids Who Photograph Themselves,
WlRED.COM, Jan. 15, 2009, http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/kids.html.
55. Dahlia Lithwick, Textual Misconduct: What to do About Teens and Their Dumb Naked
Photos of Themselves, SLATE.COM, Feb. 14, 2009, http://www.slate.com/id/2211169/. It is not
clear how investigators determined the scope of the dissemination of the images involved in
ÙUS cast. See id.
56. NANCY E . WILLARD, CYBERBULLYING AND CYBERTHREATS: RESPONDING TO
THE CHALLENGE OF ONLINE SOCIAL AGGRESSION, THREATS, AND DISTRESS 48 (2007).
B. THE CONVERGENCE OF SEXTING AND CYBERBULLYING
The detrimental effects of sexting greatly compound when teenagers use

sexting as a tool for online bullying—^what is popularly referred to as
"cyberbullying" or "sending or posting harmful material or engaging in other
forms of social aggression using die Internet or other digital technologies.""
A significant difference exists between the exchange of explicit messages
between two high-schoolers in a relationship—a sixteen-year-old girl sending
a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend—and the use of sexting as a means
of harassment—teen girls secredy taking and sending nude photos of a peer
changing in a locker room.^^ Whereas in the first instance both individuals
voluntarily agreed to the production and distribution, the latter case involves
images taken without the consent or control of those involved, and
forwarded to large numbers of outsiders with malicious intent. A recent
policy statement by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC) recognized the distinction between sexting and other forms of
online harassment and exploitation, noting that "sexting is not the
appropriate term to describe youth sending sexually explicit images of
themselves to odiers as a result of blackmail, duress, coercion or
enticement," nor does it include "situations in which young people send
sexually explicit images of themselves to adults."^^ To differentiate voluntary
sexting with limited distribution from instances of online harassment, this
Note refers to the later as "sextbuUying," a subset of the cyberbullying
phenomenon. Although most of the publicly reported cases of sexting
involve consensual sharing between teens in a relationship, there are
increasingly more examples of sext messages used as tools of coercion and
harassment.
Public accounts of two teenagers who committed suicide as a result of
sexting incidents tragically illustrate die harms diat can result when the lines
between sexting and cyberbullying blur.^" The story of Jesse Logan placed die
sexting issue squarely in the public spotiight in 2008." Logan, a high school
student from Cincinnati, committed suicide after nude photos she sent to her
57. Idatl.
" 58. See Muscari, supra note 12 (contrasting the differences between sexting,
cyberbullying, harassment, and sexual offenses).
59. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Policy Statement on Sexting
(Sept. 21, 2009), http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?
LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=4130.
60. Quaid, supra note 15.
61. See Mike Celizic, Her Teen Committed Suicide over Texting, TODAY SHOW.COM, Mar. 6,
2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29546030/.
boyfriend were forwarded to other teens and used to harass her.^^ More
recendy, a Florida thirteen-year-old, Hope WitseU, committed suicide after
facing months of incessant buUying by her middle-school peers stemming
from a topless photo of herself she sexted to a boy she Uked.
Several attributes of cyberbuUying disdnguish it from its counterpart in
the physical world, and in some ways exacerbate the weU-estabUshed harms
of buUying.*^" Simply put, online communides enforce fewer behavioral
restraints dian the offline world. The anonymity and pseudonymity offered
by digital technologies, the viral nature of computer-based communications,
and the difficuldes in supervising youth activity online, compound the
impacts of sexting in sextbuUying cases.^^ Besides not requiring die courage
needed to confront someone in person, digital aggression is furthered by a
disinhibidon effect, whereby spatial distance insvilates the aggressor from
fuUy comprehending the harmful effect of his actions on the victim."^^ Also,
technologies Uke text messaging or e-maU forwarding dramadcaUy ampUfy
the wildfire effect of spoken rumors; in instances of sextbuUying, viral digital
transmission means that vicdms are humUiated over and over again, with the
62. After Jesse Logan and her boyfriend broke up, he forwarded the photos to other
girls, who proceeded to tease Jesse about die photos. Id She grew depressed and started
skipping school. Id Eventually, Jesse decided to go on a local Cincinnad television stadon to
tell her story because she "just want[ed] to make sure no one else will have to go through
this again." Id. According to Jesse's mother, Cynthia, the harassment was intense: "Things
are thrown at her. Her reacdon to all diis was...anger, snapping. And I would ask her what
was wrong and she wouldn't... divulg[e] everything, just that she was having a hard time."
Kazdin & Ibanga, supra note 42. Two months after the interview, in July 2008, Logan hung
herself in her bedroom at the age of eighteen. Id.
63. Michael Inbar, 'Sexting' Bullying Cited in Teen Girl's Suicide: 13-year-old Hope WitseU
Hanged Herself After Topless Photos Circulated, TODAY SHOW.COM, Dec. 2, 2009,
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34236377/ns/today-today_people/. After WitseU sexted
the, boy she liked, a diird party intercepted die photo while using die boy's cell phone and
forwarded the image to friends. Id. Before long, the image had spread, not only to many of
Witsell's peers, but also to students at the local high school and neighboring schools, who
subjected her to incessant taunting and vulgar comments. Id Friends of Witsell's reported
that people "literally surrounded Hope as she walked the hallways while other students
shouted 'whore' and 'slut' at her." Id.
64. The harms of bullying are well established by research in the educadon, sociology,
psychology, and criminology disciplines. HlNDUJA & PATCHIN, supra note 31, at 11. Youth
who are bullied can become tense, anxious, and afraid, with negadve effects on their
concentradon and school performance as well. In some cases, students avoid school all
together. Continued bullying affects targets' self-esteem and feelings of self-worth and
increases their social isoladon, leading them to become depressed, anxious, and insecure. Id.
at 13-15.
65. See HlNDUJA & PATCHIN, supra note 31, at 25 (discussing cyberbullying but raising
issues applicable to sexdng as well).
66. Id M22.
harassment not limited to the school day or campus.'^^ The reliance of teens
on their cell phones for social connectedness or for safety enhances the
problem, as it makes them less likely to ever turn off their phones and escape
the victimizadon. A lack of adult supervision also exacerbates cyberbullying
harms. Because most teens are far more tech savvy than their caregivers, they
may text freely without the concern that others will discover their bullying or
vicdmizadon and restrict their access.^^
To the extent that sexdng is used as a tool for online harassment, it
presents a far more challenging set of issues than the more orthodox
aforemendoned sexting behavior. While the primary focus of this Note
concerns the common circumstance of teenagers voluntarily producing and
exchanging sexually expHcit images in a closed circle, it is important to
recognize the spectrum of sexdng behaviors and the corresponding range of
appropriate solutions. Remedies for addressing more typical sexting incidents
may not be sufficient in a sextbullying case. This theme is revisited in Part
rV's discussion of a model framework for sexting legisladon.
IL LEGAL RESPONSES TO SEXTING

In response to the phenomenon described in Part I, state authorides have
taken a range of acdons to limit sexdng that reflect varying degrees of
punitive intent. This Part analyzes the acdons of local prosecutors, the
courts, and legislators in addressing sexting and similar behaviors involving
teenagers' exchange of self-produced pornography.
A. PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION AND COURTS' RESPONSES TO SEXTING
Across the country, the discredon of local prosecutors drives a range of

different outcomes in sexting cases. Réponses range from police officers
confiscadng cell phones and offering educadon about the criminal
consequences for involved students to more serious felony charges against
the primary actors.^' In the New Jersey case, supra Part I, the fourteen-year-
old girl charged with the distribudon of child pornography for posdng nude
photos for her boyfriend on MySpace wül face a prison sentence of up to
seventeen years and the possibility of sex offender registradon under the
state's equivalent of Megan's Law,™ if convicted.^' Although the local
67. / ¿ a t 2 3 .
68. See WiLLARD, supra note 38, at 3—5 (discussing how "[cjhildren can quickly leave
their parents behind in embracing emerging online technologies and activities").
69. See, e.g., Jo Mathis & Art Aisner, Teen's Photo Considered Child Pom, ANN ARBOR
NEWS, Oct. 10, 2008, at Al, available at http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/
index.ssf?/base/news-29/l 224168016236750.xml&coll=2&thispage=1.
70. 42 U.S.C. § 14071 (e) (2) (2006) (mandating federally that all states pass legisladon to
make their federal sex offender registries available to the pubHc). See Phoebe Geer, Justice
prosecutor involved downplayed the likelihood that a minor without a

criminal record wovild be forced to register as a sex offender, the president of
the state's County Prosecutors Association has commented about the need
for "very serious consequences" in response to this sort of teen behavior. "
Prosecutors, as elected officials, may experience intense pressure from
constituents on eidier side of die issue; they may be lobbied to express
leniency or could be overwhelmed with requests from parents of teen victims
insisting that another teen be prosecuted for the misconduct.^^ Nothing in
child pornography laws exempts instances in which minors produce or
disseminate pornographic images of diemselves. The definitions of these
offenses may vary across jurisdictions, but "criminal statutes typically
prohibit the production and dissemination of pornography featuring minors
in terms that are broad enough to apply to self-produced child
pornography."^"
Although prosecutors may initially charge teens with child pornography
offenses in an effort to educate them about the dangers of sexual
exploitation on the Internet and to facilitate agreement to lesser penalties,
most teens end up with less extreme consequences, such as confiscation of a
cell phone, curfews, supervised Internet usage, and community service.
Even though the number of reported cases involving teenagers sharing self-
produced sexually explicit images is understandably few, ^ some local
prosecutors have successfully sought child pornography charges in sexting-
like situations. And there is at least some appellate authority affirming
minors' convictions for producing sexually explicit images of themselves."
In Iowa V. Canal, likely the first case explicidy upholding a "sexting"
prosecution, the Iowa Supreme Court recently affirmed an obscenity
conviction of an eighteen-year-old boy who sent an explicit photo of himself
to a fourteen-year-old friend, accompanied by a photograph of his face and
the message, "I love you."''^ The teenage boy sent the photograph only after
the girl repeatedly asked him to send die photo, which her parents later
Served? The High Cost ofjuvenile Sex Offender Registration, 27 D E V . MENTAL HEALTH L. 34, 36
n.21 (describing Megan's Law).
71. Golson, supra note 10.
72. Id
73. Patrick E. Corbett, Cyberbullying and Other High-Tech Crimes Involving Teens, J.
INTERNET L., Sept. 2008, at 1,19.
74. Smith, jft^ra note 37, at 513.
75. See e.g., Dave Gram, Vermont May Set Aside Harshest Penalties for 'Sexting', HERALD,
Apr. 15, 2009, at 3A.
76. Smith, j-Af/îra note 37, at 513.
77. Id. See also Smith, supra note 37, Ht 513.
78. 773 N.W.2d 528, 529 (Iowa 2009).
uncovered in the girl's e-mail account and sent to the police.™ Reviewing a
jury verdict challenged on sufficiency of the evidence grounds, the Iowa
court found sufficient evidence to convict the eighteen-year-old of knowingly
disseminating obscene material to a minor, a misdemeanor requiring him to
register as a sex offender.^" Recognizing the latitude a jury has to determine
what constitutes obscenity for its own community under the Supreme
Court's Miller test,^' the Iowa court found that the jury could find, applying
its own contemporary community standards, that "the material appealed to
the prurient interest, was patendy offensive, and lacked serious literary,
scientific, political, or artisdc value."^^
Besides Canal., state courts have upheld child pornography convictions
for teenagers' production and distribution of self-produced pornography
using technology such as e-mail and video cameras. These cases present
policy issues analogous, if not identical, to sexting using cell phones.
In A.H. V. State, a teenage girl's convicdon of a child pornography
offense after exchanging self-produced pornography over e-mail was upheld
by a Florida state appellate court.^^ A sixteen-year-old female, A.H., and her
sev:enteen-year-old boyfriend took digital photos of themselves engaged in
"sexual behavior," uploaded them to the girl's home computer, and sent
them to the boy's personal e-mail account.^"* Although neither teen reportedly
showed the photos to a third party, they somehow made their way into the
hands of the poHce.^^ On appeal, A.H. moved to dismiss the charges as an
unconstitutional violation of her privacy rights.^^ Given the lack of a
significant age difference or any allegation that the pictures were shown to a
third party, A.H. argued that the only compelling state interest implicated in
79. / ¿ a t 529.
80. Grant Schulte, Iowa Court Upholds 'Sexting' Conviction, DES MoiNES REGISTER Sept
18,2009.
181. Canal, 773 N.W.2d at 531. Miller v. California sets forth the "basic guidelines" for
obscenity:
(a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community
standards' would fmd that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the
prurient interest; (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patentiy
offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state
law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary,
artistic, political, or scientific value.
413 U.S. 15, 24 (;i973) (internal citations omitted).
82. Canal, 773 N.W.2d at 532.
83. 949 So. 2d 234, 235 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007).
84. Id
85. Id. at 235; see also Decían McCullagh, Police Blotter. Teens Prosecuted for Ragi Photos,
CNET NEWS, Feb. 9, 2007, http://news.cnet.com/Police-blotter-Teens-prosecuted-for-'
racy-photos/2100-1030_3-6157857.html.
86. A.H., 949 So. 2d at 235.
her conviction was protecting her and her co-defendant from engaging in
sexual behavior until their minds and bodies matured.^' She further argued
that pursuing that interest dirough a second-degree felony charge for child
pornography distribution did not meet the "least intrusive means" test
required under state law.
However, while die Florida Supreme Court previously recognized
constitutional protection for consensual sexual activity between two sixteen-
year-olds in B.B. V. State,^^ the A.H. court found that this privacy right does
not extend to situations where the "minor memorializes the act through
pictures or video."^° Distinguishing self-produced images of adults engaging
in sexual behavior, the court argued that minors cannot reasonably expect
that their relationships will continue and the photographs will not be shared
with others unintentionally or intentionally, for "profit or bragging rights."^'
Even if the AH. court recognized a teen's privacy right in die photos, it
found an overriding, compelling state interest in the convictions, stating that
"protecting children from exploitation in this statute is the same regardless of
whether the person inducing the child to appear in a sexual performance and
then promoting that performance is an adult or a minor."'^ Almost a decade
earlier, a Florida appeals court reached a similar conclusion about the state's
interest in "protect[ingl minors from exploitation by anjone who induces
them to appear in a sexual performance," recognizing the states' interest in
prosecuting a fifteen-year-old boy who videotaped himself and a younger
minor engaged in sexual activity and then shared the tape with a friend when
the girl was not present.^^
Convictions for sexting-like activity in other states have been affirmed on
similar rationales. In an unpublished Washington state opinion from 2005,
State V. Ve^z^ni, the court upheld a sixteen-year-old boy's conviction for
production and possession of child pornography where he took sexually
explicit photos of his girlfriend and then showed them to classmates at
school after the couple broke up.^"* Appealing tiie charges, die boy argued
87. Id
88. Id
89. 659 So. 2d 256, 259 (Fla. 1995). The court established that the crux of the State's
interest in regulating minor-minor sexual contact was "protecting the minor from the sexual
activity itself for reasons of health and quality of life," and that in the instance of consensual
sexual relations between two sixteen-year-olds, the state failed to demonstrate that a
conviction for sexual battery was "the least intrusive means of furthering what we have
determined to be the State's compelling interest." Id.
90. A.H., 949 So. 2d at 236.
91. Id at 237.
• 92. i^. at 238.
93. State v. A.R.S., 684 So. 2d 1383,1387 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1996) (emphasis added).
94. No. 22361-2-1II, 2005 WL 980588, at *l-2 (Wash. Ct. App., Apr. 28, 2005).
that the legislature did not intend for chUd pornography statutes to apply in
situations where teens capable of consendng to sexual acdvity take nude
photos of each other.^^ The court found the plain meaning of the statute
unambiguous in its appUcabUity to juvenUe of"fenders, noting the ease by
which lawmakers could have created "different degrees of criminal UabiUty
on the basis of a specific age disparity between the offender and the vicdm"
if that was their intent.^''
In a simUar case, the Washington Court of Appeals upheld a juvenile
convicdon for the producdon of child pornography where a fifteen-year-old
boy brought a video camera to high school and taped diree female classmates
voluntarUy exposing dieir breasts on camera." Though the court determined
the boy's behavior "feU squarely within the unambiguous statutory definidon
of sexual exploitadon of a minor," it acknowledged that the consequences
were "arguably excessive" as appUed to a youth "whose conduct Ues on the
periphery of concerns" that the legislature intended to address with the
statute, but declared that "such poUcy arguments must be directed to the
Legislature."'^
Cases Uke A.H. and Vef^tôni prompted acdon from state legislators
looking to moderate the "arguably excessive"'' penalties attached to
sexdng. Relying on prosecutors to exercise reasonable discredon in sexdng
cases is not a desirable approach for several reasons.'"' First, states generaUy
have not designed laws to specificaUy address teens' transmission of self-
produced expUcit images, leaving many law enforcement authorides with the
view diat dieir only opdon is to charge teens under statutes designed to
punish chUd pornography traffickers and sexual predators.'"^ Indeed, one
Internet safety expert described the recent use of child pornography law as
"desperate acts by frustrated law enforcement officials."'"^ Second,
prosecutors pursuing harsh penaldes for sexdng teens may be modvated by
consdtuent pressure or by a strong moral opposidon to any form of teenage
sexual activity, making their exercise of reasonable discredon unUkely. As the
Utah Supreme Court noted in State ex. rel Z.C in which the court overturned
95. /Ö: at*l.

96. Id at *2 (quodng State v. D.H., 9 P.3d 253, 256) (Wash. Ct. App. 2000).
97. D.H., 9 P.3d at 254.
98. /¿at256-58.
99. 7¿ at 257-58.
100. See infra Secdon II.B. 1.
101. There are, of course, prosecutors developing reasonable responses to teen sexdng.
For further discussion of such an approach in Montgomery County, Ohio, see infra Part IV.
102. Golson, supra note 10.
103. Zetter, supra note 54 (quodng Parry Aftab, founder and director of
wiredsafety.com).
the conviction of a thirteen-year-old boy for having consensual sex with a

twelve-year-old girl, where "there is no discernible victim that the law seeks
to protect," "[t]he primary fail-safe against the absurd application of criminal
law is the wise employment of prosecutorial discretion, a quality that is
starkly absent in this case."'"''
Furthermore, data about prosecution rates for the related offense of
statutory rape reveals the hard-line response to teenage sexual activity
pursued by many prosecutors. A 1997 study by the American Bar
Association found that close to one-half of prosecutors surveyed report
"always" or "almost always" filing charges when receiving referrals of
statutory rape cases from law enforcement.'"^ In the Florida AH. and the
Washington State Ve^:(pni cases, for example, prosecutors sought charges
under statutes with the most severe penalties—"[i]nstead of using
prosecutorial discretion wisely and charging the teenagers with charges that
fit the crime, prosecutors used statutes that potentially would classify the
teenagers as sex offenders."'"'^ In odier instances, ambiguity over what
constitutes child pornography and the severe consequences associated with
the content may influence prosecutors to err on the side of seeking stringent
penalties. Although the Supreme Court held in Obsome v. Ohio that
"depictions of nudity, without more, constitute protected expression,"
lower courts found that images, even without nudity, can constitute child
pornography.'"^ Given the uncertainty about these definitions and the
inevitable leeway afforded judicial interpretations, "any teen who takes nude
or semi-nude pictures of herself is,- as a practical matter, in definite legal
jeopardy."'"' And when a zealous prosecutor proceeds with child
pornography charges and secures a conviction, the statutes typically proscribe
mandatory minimum sentences which restrict a judge's ability to exercise
leniency in sentencing.""
104. State ex. rel Z.C, 165 P.3d 1206,1212,1212 n.9 (Utah 2007).
105. Rigel Oliveri, Statutory Rape Law and Enforcement in the Wake of Welfare Reform, 52
STAN. L. REV. 463, 497 (2000) (citing SHARON G . ELSTEIN AND NOY DAVIS, SEXUAL
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ADULT MALES AND YOUNG TEEN GIRLS: EXPLORING THE
LEGAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSES 22 (American Bar Ass'n Center on Children and the Law
1997), available at http://-www.abanet.org/child/statutory-rape.pdf.).
106. Nix, supra note 7, at 189.
107. 495U.S. 103,112(1990).
108. Humbach, supra note 20, at 2 n.l6. See, e.g. United States v. Knox, 32 F.3d 733, 737
(3d Cir. 1994) (finding that "the federal child pornography statute, on its face, contains no
nudity . . . requirement").
109. Humbach, supra note 20, at 15 n. 115.
110. Smith, supra note 37, at 529.
A recent case litigated by die ACLU is a clear example of a prosecutor

taking extraordinarily harsh measures in response to sexting.'" After
discovering a string of sexting incidents at a local school, a Pennsylvania
district attorney threatened to charge three teenage girls with the production
of child pornography, felonies carrying prison time and mandatory sex-
offender registradon in Pennsylvania, unless their parents agreed to
probation terms including drug testing and a five-week, ten-hour education
program discussing "what it means to be a girl in today's society.""^ While
the district attorney offered the deal to avoid prosecution while still teaching
the girls a lesson, die parents refused the terms."^ With the support of the
ACLU, the parents sued for a temporary restraining order alleging violations
of their constitutional rights stemming from the district attorney's threatened
retaliation if they refused to allow their children to attend the educational
program."" At issue in the litigation are two photographs featuring the
teenagers, one showing two of the girls at the age of thirteen wearing white
opaque bras, and a second photo showing a girl outside the shower with a
towel below her chest, exposing her breasts."^ Among its arguments, the
ACLU Complaint contended that "unless the photographs were produced by
abusing or coercing the minors, which they were not, or they show the
minors engaged in sexual activity or lasciviously displaying the genitals, and
again they do not, the photos are expression protected by the First
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.""^ At a March 2009 hearing, the
district court found that there was a "reasonable likelihood" that die
plaintiffs would prevail in the argument that the photographs are not illegal
under Pennsylvania law, as "the images presented to the court do not appear
to qualify in any way as depictions of prohibited sexual acts.""^
On appeal, the Third Circuit affirmed the injunctive relief offered the
plaintiffs based on their retaliation claim, finding that the district attorney's
threats to pursue a child pornography prosecution after the parents and
teenagers exercised their protected rights not to participate in the educational
program was unconstitutional."^ Without addressing whether the sext
messages constituted legal child pornography, the appellate court found the
111. Zetter, supra note 7.

112. Miller v. Skumanick, 605 F. Supp. 2d 634, 638 (M.D. Pa. 2009); Zetter, supra note 7.
113. Zetter, supra note 7.
114. Miller v. MitcheH, No. 09-2144, 2010 WL 935776, at *1 (3rd Cir. Mar. 17, 2010);
Zetter, supra note 7.
115. Miller, 605 F. Supp. 2d at 639.
116. Complaint at ^1 54, Miller v. Skumanick, No. 09CV00540 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 25, 2009),
, 2009 WL 789513; Miller, 605 F. Supp. 2d at 639.
117. Miller, 605 F. Supp. 2d at 645-46.
118. Miller v. Mitchell, No. 09-2144, 2010 WL 935776, at *7 (3rd Cir. Mar. 17, 2010).
district attorney's actions were retaliatory based on his lack of probable cause
in pursuing the conviction."' It found "no indication from this record" that
the district attorney had evidence that the teenagers possessed or distributed
the images.'^" As one commentator summed up the decision: the court
recognized that in pursuing this sexting case, "a prosecutor had gone too far
in trying to enforce adult moral standards."'^'
B. LEGISLATIVE RESPONSES
In the absence of state laws specifically designed to address sexting, a
zealous prosecutor may always seek the most stringent charges possible,
including convicting under offenses that carry a sex-offender registration
requirement.^^^ In response to prosecutors' aggressive pursuit of child
pornography charges in sexting cases, state legislators across the country
have crafted a range of more tailored responses to sexting.'^^ Four states
passed new sexting laws in 2009, and at least fifteen other states have
introduced sexting legislation since 2009.'^"*
/. Enacted haws
a) Vermont
Vermont lawmakers' recent efforts to pass sexting legislation underscore
some of the highly divergent views in the debate. In the wake of several high-
profile sexting cases in the national media in which teens were charged with
child pornography offenses, the Vermont Senate took up the issue in early
2009, adopting an approach later criticized for "legalizing" sexting.'^^ The
Vermont Senate bill established an exemption for the production,
distribution, and possession of child pornography where the individuals
involved are between the ages of thirteen and nineteen, and "the child
119. iö'.,at*10.
120. Id
121. Tamar Lewin, Rithinking Sex Offender Laws for Teenage Texting, N.Y. TIMES, Mar. 20,
2010, at Al.
122. See Nix, supra note 7, at 187.
123. Information on state legislation is current as of March 15, 2010 and does not reflect
subsequent legislative developments occurring thereafter. Note that the following survey also
does not include those states which have passed or proposed laws to address the use of text
message services by sexual predators to contact children, which is a problem distinct from
sexting as discussed here. See supra note 16.
124. See National Conference of State Legislatures, 2009 Legislation Related to
"Sexting", http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=17756 (lasted visited Feb. 22, 2010);
National Conference of State Legislatures, 2010 Legislation Related to "Sexting",
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?TabId=19696 (lasted visited March 15, 2010).
125. Adam Silverman, Legali^ng Teen 'Sexting' Considered, BURLINGTON FREE PRESS, Apr.
12,2009, at COI.
knowingly and voluntarily and without threat or coercion, used an electronic

communication device to transmit an image of himself or herself to the
' Although the biU contained a provision expücitiy stating that prosecutors
caii pursue charges under the state's voyeurism statute,'^^ it came under fire
as some advocates publicly questioned whether the "proposal crosses the line
between legalizing a common practice among teens experimenting with
sexuality and protecting predators who target and exploit youngsters."'^^
Following the Senate bill's passage, the NCMEC expressed reservations
about the unintended consequences of immunizing genuine sex predators
from prosecution: "our concern is that decriminalizing sexting is a blanket
response that is too broad a problem not to be handled on a case-by-case
basis."'^' In response to criticism of his bill, the chairman of the Vermont
Senate Judiciary Committee wrote an editorial clarifying that the Senate was
not "condoning teenage sexting" and asserting its position: "The question is
do we want to treat the 20 percent of teens who participate in such behavior
as serious felons within our criminal justice system or should we treat it as
the societal problem that it is. . . . [W|e have chosen the latter."'^"
After the public outcry about the Senate's bill, which necessitated
lawmakers defending their approach on national television,'^' the Vermont
House of Representatives took a slighdy different tactic, creating a new
misdemeanor offense that explicitiy precludes prosecution under child
poi:nography statutes for sexting offenses. Its version of the sexting bul
creates a new offense where a minor "knowingly and voluntarily and without
threat or coercion use[s] a computer or electronic communication dévice to
transmit an indecent visual depiction of himself or herself to another person"
or the possession of such a transmitted depiction, with an exemption from
prosecution where "the person [takes] reasonable steps, whether successful
126. S. 125, Gen. Assem., 2009-2010 Reg. Sess. §§ 3-5 (Vt. 2009) (as passed by the
Seriate). The bill modifies VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 13, § 2822 (2009) (use of a child in a sexual
performance), VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 13,§ 2824 (2009) (promoting a recording of sexual
conduct), and VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 13, § 2827 (2009) (possession of child pornography).
127. S. 125 ("[t]his subsection shall not be construed to prohibit a prosecution under
secidon 2605 of this tide (voyeurism)").
128. Silverman, supra note 125, at COI.
129. Dave Gram, Teens Accused of 'Sexting' May Not Face Child Pom Charges in Vermont,
ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 14, 2009, http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/46587.
130. Richard Sears & Kevin MuUin, Not Condoning Teen Sexting', RUTLAND HERALD
Apr. 15,2009,
http://www.rutiandherald.com/article/20090415/OPINION02/904150333.
131. Posting of Terri Hallenbeck to Burlington Free Press vt.Buzz, http://bfp-
poltics.blogspot.com/2009/04/sexting-solution.html (Apr. 17, 2009, 4:51 PM).
or not, to destroy or eUminate the visual depicdon."'''^ The legisladon

SpecificaUy exempts minors from prosecudon under the states' chUd
pornography laws and any appUcable sex offender registradon requirements
and specifies that first-dme offenders be tried for deUnquency in family court
as juvenUes and referred to the state's juvenUe diversion program.'^^
Discussing his biU after its passage through the House, the Judiciary
Committee chairman explained the committee's interest in "mak[ing] it clear
that [sexting] is not something that's appropriate," in expanding state
attorneys' opdons "from doing absolutely nothing to using the new
provisions that we provided," and in keeping pardcipants "outside of the sex
offenders registry where they do not belong."'''''
In early May 2009, a joint conference committee resolved the differences
between the two bUls, largely adopting the House approach in the enacted
version.'^^ In September 2009, state prosecutors dropped the sexdng charges
against an eighteen-year-old boy who aUegedly directed two teenage girls to
videotape or photograph themselves performing sex acts and then send him
the material, infiuenced in part by the state legislature's acdon to reduce the
penaldes associated with sexting.''"'
b) Nebraska
WhUe avoiding the pitfaU of invoking pubUc cridcism about "legalizing
sexdng," Nebraska passed a law that takes a similarly lenient approach to
teenage sexdng by providing an affirmative defense under certain
circumstances.'^^ According to the state Attorney General, Jon Bruning,
Nebraska does not "want to treat chUdish behavior as criminal acdvity."'^^
Legisladve BUI 97, signed in May 2009, creates an affirmadve defense for the
possession of chUd pornography if: (a) the image portrays no person other
than the defendant;'"*' or (b) the defendant was less than nineteen, the image
132. S. 125, Gen. Assem., 2009-2010 Reg. Sess. § 3 (Vt. 2009) (as passed by die House).
133. Id
134. Bob Kinzel, House Approves Expanded Sex Offender Legislation, VT. PUB. RADIO, May
4, 2009, http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/84871/.
135. See Journal of the Senate, Gen. Assem. 2240 (Vt, May 9, 2009),
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2010/journal/SJ090509.pdf#page=l.
136. John Curran, Vermont Teen Gets Reduced Sentence in Sexting' Case, ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Sept. 3, 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32681970/ns/technology_and_science-
tech_and_gadgets/.
137. L.B. 97,101st Leg., 1st Sess. § 15(3) (Neb. 2009).
138. Paul Hammel, Bill Goes After Sexual Predators, Goes Easy on 'Sexters', OMAHA WORLD-
HERALD, Apr. 23, 2009.
139. L.B. 97, 101st Leg., 1st Sess. § 15(3)(a) (Neb. 2009). See also Pam Greenburg, States
Act to Address 'Sextin¿, NEWS FROM THE STATES, NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE
(Summer 2009), http://www.ncsl.org/defaultaspx?tabid=17822.
portrays only a teen older than fifteen and was "knowingly and voluntarily"
created and provided to the defendant by the teen in the image, and "the
defendant has not provided or made available the visual depiction to another
person except the child depicted who originally sent the visual depiction to
the defendant."'"*" However, if a person forwards an explicit text they receive
to a non-participant, then he or she would face liability for the fuU range of
child pornography charges available under state law.''*' In a move that may
have contributed to the political success of the Nebraska affirmative defense,
the drafters of the bul also included provisions strengthening penalties for
sex offenders' use of social networking cites and cell phones to exploit
children."*^ As the sponsor of the legislation described the bill's intent, it
sought "to protect children from sexual predators by strengthening penalties
and bringing Nebraska's laws up to date. As technology changes Internet
predators find new avenues to pursue their victims . . . . Nebraska's justice
system must keep pace.""''
c) Utah
Legislators in Utah also took early action to deal with the issue of teen
sexting, although their remedy reflects a more hea-vy-handed approach.
Reacting to public concern about a series of incidents in the state involving
nineteen teenagers taking nude pictures of themselves and then sending these
photos to their friends, the Utah legislature initiated efforts to lessen the
penalties associated with sexting in 2008.''*'* According to one lawmaker in
the state Senate, the legislation was prompted in part by parents interfering in
law enforcement investigations when they did not want their children
charged with felonies for sexting.''*^
Utah's biU, passed in March 2009, modifies the state's harmful-to-minors
statute'*'' to create a lesser misdemeanor offense for prosecutors to use in
pursuing sexting cases instead of charging teens with felonies.''*^ Although
140. L.B. 97,101st Leg., 1st Sess. § 15(3)(b) (Neb. 2009).

141. Hammel, supra note 138.
142. L.B. 97,101st Leg., 1st Sess. § 27 (Neb. 2009).
143. SCOTT LAUTENBAUGH, INTRODUCER'S STATEMENT OF INTENT, L . B . 97, 101 st
Leg., 1st Sess. (Neb., Mar. 11, 2009), http://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/
PDF/SI/LB97.pdf.
144. Linda Thomson, Felony Too Harsh for Nude Pics?, DESERET NEWS, Aug 5, 2008, at
B05.
145. Utah Lawmakers 'OK' Bill on Sexting, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Mar. 11, 2009,
http://-www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5823252 2009 (cidng a comment from State Senator
Gregory Bell).
146. UTAH CODE ANN. § 76-10-1206 (2009) (concerning "[d]ealing in material harmful
to a minor").
147. H.B. 14, Utah Leg., 2009 Gen. Sess. (Utah 2009).
the legislation maintains a sex offender registration requirement for those

convicted, it presents some effort at lightening penalties.'"^ Under the
amendment, teens under the age of sixteen face a lighter-weight class B
misdemeanor charge for sending pornographic materials, teens sixteen and
seventeen years old face a class A misdemeanor charge for sending
pornographic materials, and those eighteen years and older who solicit a
younger person to send pornographic or harmful material could be charged
with a third-degree felony.'"^ The law also assigns penalties of increasing
severity to offenders based on their age when they committed the offense.'^"
According to the drafters of the legislation, the bul refiects an effort to give
prosecutors more options, beyond felony charges, when youth of certain ages
sext, taking "into account an individual's age, maturity and level of
sophistication."'^'
Some criticize Utah's use of age distinctions to address the severity of the
sexting offense, as opposed to focusing on the actual conduct in an
inappropriate situation and fitting the punishment to the crime.'^^ Focusing
on age does not solve the problem created in assigning a disproportionately
harsh penalty to a sexting offense, and "[t]o statutorüy draw a une that
creates differences in punishment between two friends that engage in the
same behavior ignores the realities of teenage Hfe."'^'' Instead, the Utah law
might have considered demarcating the degrees of punishment based on
conduct and whether the activity was voluntary: "[A] better approach would
require the law to draw the une between consensual behavior and intentional
infliction of harm instead of focusing solely on age."'^"
d) North Dakota
Compared to the other three states taking action on sexting in 2009,
North Dakota took the most hard-line approach.'^^ Passed in August 2009,
the state's sexting law adds a new section to its obscenity law'^'' creating a
class B misdemeanor offense for a person who knowingly acquires and
distributes any image of a nude or partially denuded figure "created without
148. See Nix, supra note 7, at 190; Legislative Briefs, DESERET MORNING NEWS, Jan. 28,
2009, at A4.
149. H.B. 14, Utah Leg., 2009 Gen. Sess. (Utah 1009).
150. Id
151. Thomson, .fz^ôra note 144, at B05.
152. Nix, supra note 7, at 190.
153. / ¿ a t 192.
154. 7¿atl91.
155. Talia Buford, Bill Would Ease Penalty for 'Sexting', PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, Mar. 2,
2010 (comparing sexting laws passed in Vermont, Utah, Nebraska and North Dakota and
finding the North Dakota law the most severe in its assignment of penalties).
156. N.D. CENT. CODE § 12.1-27.1 (2009) (enacted).
the consent of the subject of the image."'" A more serious class A

misdemeanor applies where a person distributes or publishes a nude or
partially nude image "with the intent to cause emotional harm or humiliation
to any individual depicted" or where a person distributes or publishes the
image after receiving notice of a lack of consent from the individual depicted
or a parent or guardian of that individual."^
2. Some haws Under Consideration^^^
a) Ohio
Lawmakers in Ohio also recentiy introduced a bill to create more
reasonable penalties for sexting.'^" Importantiy, the proposal has the support
of Cynthia Logan, the mother of the Ohio teenager who committed suicide
after experiencing intense harassment from classmates who circulated a
naked photo of her, originally sent to her boyfriend, around her school."''
The Logan case generated considerable national press and contributed to the
uptick in media and legislative interest in sexting."'^ Under current Ohio child
pornography law, sexting teens could be charged with a second-degree felony
and classified as sex offenders for illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented
material or performance.""^ The new sexting offense, captured in a provision
to be added as Section 2907.324 to the state code, would punish teens who
create, exchange, receive, or possess nude materials with misdemeanors,
requiring time in juvenile detention centers and counseling or attendance at
educational programs, and removing the sex offender registration
requirement. Echoing the concerns voiced in other states, Ohio State
Representative Ronald Maag, the bill's sponsor, described the legislation's
intent as "givpng] prosecutors direction in how to deal with the matter"
157. H.R. 1186, 61st Leg. Assemb. Reg. Sess. (N.D. 2009). See also National Conference
of State Legislatures, 2009 Legislation Related to "Sexting", http://www.ncsl.org/
default.aspx?tabid= 17756 (lasted visited Feb. 22, 2010) (discussing the Nort:h Dakota
Chapter 133 passed Aug. 18, 2009).
158. Id
159. This Part surveys a range of the sexting laws that state legislatures considered in the
past year, but is not comprehensive. For a full, and regularly updated, summary of sexting
legislation under consideration in 2010, see National Conference of State Legislatures, 2010
Legislation Related to "Sexting", http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?TabId=19696 (lasted
visited March 15,2010).
160. H.B. 132,128th Gen. Assem., Reg. Sess. 2009-2010 (Ohio 2009).
161. See Amber EUis, Mother Speaks Out for 'Sexting' Bill, CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, Apr.
13,2009.
162. See supra notes 61-62.
• 163. Jennifer Baker, Ohio Bill Tackles' 'Sexting' Among Teens, CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, Mar.
26; 2009, http://news.cincinnati.com/artide/20090326/NEWS01 /303260045/Ohio-bill-
tackles-\-sexting\—among-teens.
164. H.B. 132.
without resorting to felony child pornography charges for "stupid" teen

behavior."'
b) Illinois
In Illinois, lawmakers recendy introduced an anti-sexting biU that takes an
approach distinct from other states. The proposed provision would not
charge the person who appears in the explicit photo, but would penalize
anyone who forwards the image.'^'' Specifically, the proposed legislation
creates a new misdemeanor for "a minor under 17 years of age to knowingly
disseminate any material that depicts nudity or other sexual conduct by
electronic transfer or capture of images of the person's self image or image
of another minor under 17 years of age."'^^ Furthermore, the Illinois
proposal creates a new felony where a person engages in sexting with
malicious intent:
It is unlawful for a minor under 17 years of age to knowingly
obtain an image in violation of [these provisions] and distribute the
image or images by means of uploading the nude image on an
Internet website with the intent to injure the reputation of the
other person or with the intent to cause emotional distress to the
other person and to maintain an Internet website or webpage
which is accessible to one or more third parties for a period of at
least 24 "^^
Notably, the new felony offense for using sexting as a means of harassment
does not carry a sex offender registration requirement. As Illinois State
Representative Darlene Senger, who introduced the bul, noted, "[t]he
consequences in this bill wül prevent teenagers from making the same
mistake twice, while ensuring that their name and picture does not end up on
the Illinois Sex Offender registry for the rest of their lives.""^'
c) New Jersey
Legislators in New Jersey have focused their efforts on rehabilitative
approaches to sexting emphasizing juvenile adjudication and education. New
Jersey Senate Bill 2926, introduced June 15, 2009, "[c]reates diversionary
165. Justin McClelland, Sexting' Legislation Proposed to Protect Teens, OXFORD PRESS, Apr.
14, 2009, http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/oxford-news/sexting-legislation-proposed-to-
protect-teens-76510.html.
166. H.B. 4583, 96th Gen. Assem., Reg. Sess. 2009-2010 p . 2009).
167. 7¿§ll-27(a).
168. 7í/. §ll-27(c).
169. Press Release, Office of 111. State Representative Darlene Senger, Rep. Senger
Introduces Bill to Prevent Children From Sexting (July 1, 2009), http://www.senger.ilhouse
gop.org/?p=230.
program for juvenUes who are criminaUy charged for 'sexting' or posting
sexual images."'™ Those teens who have not been previously adjudicated
delinquent for a criminal offense or convicted of a criminal offense under
state law and "were not aware that their acdons could constitute and did not
have the intent to commit a criminal offense," quaUfy for a state Attorney
General-created comprehensive education program designed to provide
teenagers with informadon about
the legal consequences of and penalties for sexting or posting
sexual pictures online, including the applicable federal and State
statutes; the non-legal consequences of sexting or posting such
pictures, including, but not limited to, the effect on relationships,
loss of educational and employment opportunities, and being
barred or removed from school programs and extracurricular
activities; how the unique characteristics of cyberspace and the
Internet can produce long-term and unforeseen consequences for
sexting and posting such photographs; and the connection between
bullying and cyber-buHying and juveniles sexting or posting sexual
images. ^'
Another legisladve proposal introduced in New Jersey, Senate Bul 2925,

would require schools and ceU phone retaUers to create educadon programs
that warn youths about the potential harm accompanying sexting.''^
FoUowing the pattern in other states, in which a local sexdng incident
prompts legisladve acdon, legislators introduced the biU after local authorities
charged a teenager with a child pornography felony for posting about thirty
photos of herself on MySpace.'^Âccording to the sponsor, the legislation's
focus on educadon is necessary as, "[y]oung people, especiaUy teen girls, need
to understand that sending inappropriate pictures is not only potendaUy
iUegal, but can leave an indeUble mark on them sociaUy and educationaUy."'^"*
A third proposal introduced in New Jersey also adopts an educadon-oriented
approach. Senate BUI 2923 requires school districts to disseminate
170. S.B. 2926, 213th Leg. (N.J. 2009).

171. Id
172. S.B. 2925, 213di Leg. (N.J. 2009). See Nadonal Conference of State Legislatures,
2009 Legisladon Related to "Sexdng", http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=17756
(lasted visited Feb. 22, 2010).
173. See Andrea Billups, School Districts Paint Dark Picture of 'Sexting' Danger, WASH. TIMES,
July 23, 2009, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/23/school-districts-hope-
students-get-the-picture-abo//print/. The chUd pornography charges lodged against the teen
were eventually reduced to probadon and mandatory counseling. Id.
174. Id
information annually to students and parents or guardians about the risks

involved in electronically distributing sexually explicit images."'
d) Indiana and Virginia
In a more cautious move, several states initiated studies on the issue in
2009. The Indiana legislature adopted legislation in Apru 2009 to direct the
state's sentencing policy study committee to explore the sexting issue.'^^ The
legislature's resolution urged the sentencing policy committee to review:
(1) the use of cellular telephones to send explicit photographs and
video ("sexting"), especially by children;
(2) the psychology of sexuality and sexual development;
(3) the psychology of sexual deviants and deviancy; and
(4) the mental development of children and young adults and how
this affects the ability to make certain judgments; as these issues
apply to sex offenses covered by Indiana statutes
and then to "consider revisions to these statutes based on the results of its
study.""'
Virginia legislators expressed a similar discomfort with prosecuting
teenagers under child pornography laws for sending nude images of
themselves though a computer or cell phone. The Virginia General Assembly
accordingly requested that the state crime commission study the sexting issue
and offer legislative recommendations for the 2010 session.'^^ Such a
recommendation gives legislators more time to study a nascent issue before
proposing the right remedy for an offense not under consideration when
state anti-child pornography statutes were crafted. As the Co-Chair of the
Crime Commission, Senator Kenneth StoUe noted, "I don't know any
member of the General Assembly who a year ago knew what sexting was. I
think the concern is we actually have behavior that has not been
contemplated by the statutes or by the General Assembly."'^'
As explored, supra., close to one-fifth of states undertook legislative action
on sexting in the last year—a strong testament to the public attention
focused on this issue. These responses range in focus from providing
175. S.B. 2923, 213th Leg. (NJ. 2009). See Nadonal Conference of State Legislatures,
2009 Legisladon Related to "Sexdng", http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid= 17756
(lasted visited Feb. 22, 2010).
176. S. Res., 116th Gen. Assem., 1st Sess. (Ind. 2009).
177. U.
178. Andrew K. Block, A Back and A Look Forward: Leffslative and Regulatory Highlights for
2008 and 2009 and a Discussion of Juvenile Transfer, 44 U. RICH. L. REV. 53, 60 (2009).
179. Olympia Meóla, Officials Consider Minors' 'Sexting': They Fear Changing Virginia's Laws
Might Protect Pedophiles, RICH. TiMES-DlSPATCH, May 20, 2009, at AOl.
prosecutors with more lenient offenses for charging sexters, to authorizing

more study of the issue, to proposing new educational resources for students
and parents to learn more about the potential harms of sexting. At the same
time, the vast majority of states ignored the uptick in sexting, leaving
prosecutors in those states with few tools to discipline teenage offenders
except woefully inadequate child pornography statutes. Part III examines the
policy issues that states must balance in order to prudendy address the
sexting issue.
III. POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

Developing a response to teenage sexting that discourages the behavior
while appropriately responding to the magnitude of the harms is challenging.
To date, the incidence of state prosecutors pursuing child pornography
charges against sexting teens suggests that a balanced response is too often
abandoned in favor of harsh and inflexible policies disproportionate to the
harms at issue. Such responses may also disregard important public policy
issues implicated in sexting cases.
A. BALANCING THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND SEXTING HARMS
Child pornography, which subjects children to unimaginable harm in the
creation of the images, differs markedly from sexting, where the images
reflect consensual, and likely legal, activity.'^" Although state prosecutors
pursue chud pornography charges against sexting teens, some legal scholars
question whether the Supreme Court decisions excluding chud pornography
from First Amendment protection, mainly to prevent youth from being
victims of sexual abuse in the production of explicit materials, apply to
images produced voluntarily by teens without exploitation.'^'
For good reason, child pornography is categorically denied protection
under the First Amendment. New York v. Ferher established that regardless of
the obscenity analysis, sexually explicit images of children lie outside the
protections of the First Amendment.'^^ The Court grounded this exclusion in
the need to prevent the "sexual exploitation and abuse of children" that
180. Whether the underlying activity is legal wiU depend on the nature of the activity, the
ages of the participants, and the jurisdiction, and applicable statutory rape law, in which the
activity is taking place. Of course, this policy issue is not applicable in sexting instances that
involve coercion.
181. Humbach, supra note 20, at 5 ("It is a question, therefore, whether the categorical
exclusion can be suitably understood to include materials produced under entirely different
circumstances, where the originally motivating harms may be absent and the brunt of
suppression can savage the lives and future prospects of the very people whom the laws are
supposed to protect.").
182. 458 U.S. 747, 757 (1982).
occurs in the production of the materials—a "government objective of

surpassing importance."'^'' The images themselves are "intrinsically related"
to the sexual abuse of the child and constitute a "permanent record" of the
exploitation.'^"* Ferber did not clearly limit the categorical exclusion of First
Amendment protection to child pornography that perpetuates the harms of
child exploitation, finding that a statute could fall within the unprotected
category that "does not threaten the harms sought to be combated by the
State."'^^ The Court later modified this analysis in Ashcroft v. Free Speech
Coalition}^^ In Ashcroft, the Court considered whether Ferber applied to
"virtual child pornography," or "sexually explicit images that appear to depict
minors but were produced without using any real children," in considering
the constitutionality of a federal statute criminalizing such materials.'^^ In
establishing full protection under the First Amendment for virtual
pornography, the Court's analysis "seems to presuppose that the unprotected
category is not merely justified but also shaped on the particular harms that
motivated its creation."'^^ Finding that the ban on virtual pornography
"prohibits speech that records no crime and creates no victims by its
production,"'^' the Court arguably clarified that the Ferber ban on child
pornography applies in instances where there is a close link between the
suppressed speech and imminent criminal activity underlying that speech.'^"
In the case of sexting, the harms underlying the speech denied
constitutional protection in Ferber, which focused on the "exploitation" of
children,"' differ sigtiificantly from teens' self-produced pornography.
Although there is much to learn about the psychological effects of voluntary
sexting on teens, "there is no reason to think they are similar in nature or
degree to the outrageously exploitative and abusive harms relied on in
Ferber."^'^^ Besides the primary exploitation of those children appearing in
child pornography, missing in sexting cases, Ferber also recognized that "the
183. Id
184. Id. at 759. For more discussion of the legal basis for the prohibition of child
pornography and its inapplicability to instances of self-produced child pornography, see
Smith, supra note 37, at 516—21.
185. Ferber, 458 U.S. at 766, 773 (flnding that the application of the challenged statute to
educational, medical, or artistic works unlikely accounts for "more than a tiny fraction of the
materials within the statute's reach").
186. 535 U.S. 234 (2002); Humbach, supra note 20, at 19-22.
187. .<4.r/;iTO//,535U.S. at241,239.
189. Ashcrvfr, 535 U.S. at 250.
190. See Humbach, supra note 20, at 21.
191. New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 753 (1982) (stating tiiat the "single question" in
the case concerned "the abuse of children who are made to engage in sexual conduct for
commercial purposes").
materials produced are a permanent record of the children's participation and

the harm to the child is exacerbated by their circulation."'^^ Though this
harm may apply in sexting cases where the images exchanged between teens
circulate outside the intended audience with a "haunting" effect on the
participants, the lack of sexual exploitation in sexting factually distinguishes
the degree of this harm from the regulatory interest of "surpassing
importance" central to Ferber.^^'^ Proponents of prosecuting youth who self-
produce pornography under child pornography statutes also argue that a
youth's self-produced pornography harms other children because the new
images enlarge the market for child pornography and may be used by
offenders to groom new victims.''^ However, in analyzing the
constitutionality of state efforts to suppress speech in Ashcroft, the Court
rejected a similar harm argument about virtual child pornography causing
future acts of molestation by pedophiles, concluding that such harm was too
indirect: the "mere tendency of speech to encourage unlawful acts is not a
sufficient reason for banning it."''^ Where there is no crime underlying
sexting, prosecutions of teenagers under child pornography laws essentially
criminalize "the acts of recording, documenting and communicating—in
effect making crimes out of essentially pure expression."'^^ Further, Ashcroft
suggests that "statutes that suppress speech will ordinarüy have to be justified
by a purpose to prevent acts that are not merely harmful, but are harmful
enough to be crimes."'^^
Ultimately, it is unlikely that courts wiU treat sexting images differentiy
than other sexually explicit images of minors, given the state's interest, as
articulated in the Florida and Washington juvenile cases involving e-mails
and videotapes,''^ in preventing the production and dissemination of any
images of minors engaged in explicit activity. However, reviewing the
Supreme Court's previously articulated rationales for criminalizing child
pornography, mainly preventing the exploitation of youth, suggests caution
in categorically excluding sexting from First Amendment protection. Though
evidence may emerge showing that sexting exploits teens, and those harms
warrant a denial of protection under the First Amendment, this topic has yet
193. Ferner, 458 U.S. at 759.

194. Id at 757; Humbach, supra note 20, at 24.
195. Leary, supra note 43, at 13-19.
196. ^j-ÄiTö/, 535 U.S. at 234 (2002).
197. Humbach, j-/^rö note 20, at 26.
198. Id at 28.
199. See A.H. v. State, 949 So. 2d 234 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007); State v. Vezzoni, No.
22361-2-III, 2005 WL 980588 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).
to be studied.^"" MeanwhUe, it is important to note that the chUd protecdon

objective underlying the criminaUzadon of chUd pornography may not justify
the regulation of sexting.
B. RECOGNIZING T E E N PRIVACY
A second poUcy interest worth examining concerns the privacy values

impUcated in sexting and teenagers' rights to autonomy. WhUe the
government certainly restricts minors' personal Uberties more than adults',
American jurisprudence recognizes that teens have some rights of privacy
and decisional autonomy; Supreme Court decisions about contraception and
state laws addressing minors' access to medical services refiect these rights.^"'
GeneraUy speaking, the extent to which states protect minors' privacy
rights in their sexual activity varies widely and depends largely on the age of
the participants. For example, in B.B. v. State^^^ described supra Part II, the
Florida Supreme Court found that a minor has a legitimate expectation of
privacy in intimate personal activities and that the state faUed to meet its
burden of proving that a statute criminaUzing consensual sex between two
sixteen-year-olds furthered a compelUng state interest through the least
intrusive means (the appUcable test in Florida) .^"^ In contrast to laws that
might prohibit adults from engaging in sexual activity with minors, which
impUcate the state's interest in preventing the sexual exploitation of chUdren,
the Florida Supreme Court found that the state's interest was grounded in
"reasons of health and quaUty of Ufe."^°'' This state interest did not justify
imposing criminal sanctions on minors engaging in consensual sex.^"^ Other
200. Humbach, supra note 20, at 24; cf. id. at 2 n. 16 (discussing how the illegal nature of
child pornography inherendy prevents scholars from empirical research in the area of
sexdng, including exploring the quandty of teenage sexdng that actually legally consdtutes
child pornography).
201. Oliveri, supra note 105, at 486-87.
202. 659So.2d 256 (Fla. 1995).
203. Id. at 259; Marilyn G. Hakim, Privacy Rights of Minors Re: Sexual Intercourse, 18 J. JUV.
L. 316,317-18(1997).
204. 659 So. 2d at 259.
205. Id Compare State ex. rel Z.C, 165 P.3d 1206, 1212 (Utah 2007) (overturning the
sexual abuse of minor convicdons of a thirteen year old girl and twelve year old boy who had
consensual sex, finding "no discernible vicdm the law seeks to protect"), with ].A.S. v. State,
705 So. 2d 1381, 1386 (Fla. 1998) (finding a compelling state interest in prohibidng
consensual sexual acdvity between two fifteen-year-old boys and two twelve-year-old girls,
and affirming statutory rape convicdons). Some scholars have attributed these sorts of
differing outcomes to courts' recognidon of exploitadon in instances where the "minor
vicdm was quite young or if the age disparity was significant, the danger of sexual
exploitadon would rise to a level that supported adjudicadng the older minor delinquent."
Gregory R. Beck, J.A.S. v. State: Striking a Balance Betiveen a Minors'Right of Privacy and Florida's
Interest in Prvtecting Minor's Adolescent Development, 23 NOVA L. REV. 479, 497 (1998).
states have reached opposing conclusions about the privacy rights of a minor
to engage in consensual sexual activity -with another minor. In In re TA.J., a
California appellate court upheld the misdemeanor conviction of a sixteen-
year-old boy accused of having sex with a fourteen-year-old girl, rejecting the
youth's argument that he could not be charged under a statute intended to
protect him.^"^ In that case, the court found that "despite the fact that minors
have privacy rights under California's constitution—and regardless of the
fact that many minors are sexually active—minors in California do not have a
constitutionally protected right of privacy to engage in sexual intercourse."^"'
Of course, no court has found that minors have a privacy right to engage
in sex with adults,^°^ nor that teens have a general privacy right in sexual
activity on par with adults.^"' But where the minors engaging in consensual
sexual activity are close in age, reformed statutory rape laws either
decriminalize such activity or dramatically lower the penalties.^'" More
generally, statutory rape laws have fallen into disuse with the recognition of
the increased level of sexual activity among teenagers and more permissive
societal attitudes toward sex.^"
,' This trend toward the recognition of some teenage right to privacy in
instances of consensual sexual activity between participants of similar age
warrants caution against assigning severe penalties in the typical sexting case.
Although courts addressing the issue of minors self-producing pornography
have universally found the state's interest in combating child pornography to
trump any privacy right of teens, there may be reason to revisit this
conclusion as researchers learn more about the effects of sexting and its
distinctions from child pornography. As the dissent recognized in A.H.,
where two sixteen-year-olds memorialized legal sexual activity in the context
of a relationship and intended to keep the photographs private, a teens' right
to privacy arguably should trump any state interest in preventing exploitation
under some circumstances.^'^ In the rare instance where criminal sanctions
206. 73 Cal. Rptr. 2d 331, 339 (Ct. App. 1998) (holding that "a minor does not have a
legidmate expectadon of privacy to engage in consensual sexual acdvity with another
minor"); see Oliveri, supra note 105, at 487.
207. Oliveri, .r/^rö note 105, at 487.
208. /¿at488.
209. Id. at 486 (noting that "minors are subject to more restricdve state control than
adults").
210. Smidi, supra note 37, at 528; Oliveri, supra note 105, at 467.
211. See OHveri, supra note 105, at 467-68. But see id. at 474-75 (nodng that this trend
has been counterbalanced by acdons in some states to raise the age of consent, enhance
penaldes for certain kinds of statutory rape, such as adult males' sexual involvement with
teenage girls, and generally increase enforcement of exisdng laws).
212. See A.H, 949 So. 2d at 239-41 (Padovano, J., dissendng) (finding diat the
defendant teenager "stands accused of nothing more than taking photographs of herself and
are warranted to address teens' recording of sexual encounters, statutory rape

laws are more likely than child pornography statutes to provide an
appropriate punishment.^'^
C. ENSURING PROPORTIONALITY IN PUNISHMENT
A flnal policy consideration in determining the appropriate response to

sexting concerns the need for proportionality. Assigning sex felony charges
to teens that produce and distribute provocative images of themselves
disproportionately vilifies the underlying behavior, which in many instances
is legal sexual activity at least partially protected by state constitutional rights
to privacy.
A fundamental principle underlying the American criminal justice system
is the notion of moral blameworthiness as the' critical determinaiit of
punishment, including the determination of who may be criminally punished
and how much punishment convicted offenders should -receive. In other
words, "[t]o be justified, criminal punishment should be proportional to the
blameworthiness of the defendant's offense; those who are convicted should
be punished in accordance with their degree of fault."^'"
Legislators enacted child pornography laws authorizing severe penalties
for producers and distributors to address the "unspeakable harm" caused to
children in the creation of these images.^'^ This harm of conventional chud
pornography is compounded by the young age of most victims and the
anxiety they experience from having such horrific abuse permanentiy
captured in images that might emerge at anytime.^'^By design, these "severe
and inflexible" laws authorize sentences up to forty years and often utilize
mandatory minimums to limit the extent to which judges can exercise
leniency.^'^ A felony conviction alone is a serious crime that makes it difficult
for released individuals to participate in civu society, including finding work,
voting, receiving a clearance for security jobs, serving as a juror, holding
public office, possessing a firearm, or receiving licensure in certain
professions.^'^ Furthermore, under the Sex Offender Registration and
Notification Act (SORNA) in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety
Act of 2006, states are required to impose registration requirements on
her boyfriend" and that she "did not attempt to exploit anyone or to embarrass anyone.. .her
expectation of privacy in the photographs was reasonable").
213. Smith, .f/Zjora note 37, at 528. ' ' , ''
214. /(/. at 508 n.6.
215. 7«'. at 516.
216. / ¿ a t 516-17.
217. 7ât529. , ' •
" 218. Muscari, j-Äjöra note 12.
anyone fourteen years of age' or older who is convicted of a child

pornography offense.^''
Simply put, the state's vaHd interest in preventing the production and
distribution of sexually explicit images of minors does not justify using the
bluntness of child pornography statutes to address sexting. Given available
data on the scope of teen sexting and applicable laws covering the
production, possession, and distribution of child pornography, one scholar
estimates that "as many as 40-50% or more of otherwise law-abiding
American teenagers are already felony sex offenders under current law,"^^°
raising significant public policy concerns about the broadly sweeping
consequences of using child pornography statutes to discipline sexting.^^'
Statistically, most teens involved in sexting incidents are likely older
minors. The median age at which U.S. teenagers become sexually active is
16.9 for boys and 17.4 for girls.^^^ Punishing sexting minors who could legally
marry in many states under harsh statutes designed to punish sexual
predators may not be an efficient use of state resources. In the words of one
former federal cybercrimes prosecutor, using child pornography laws to
prosecute sexting offenses "turns the whole statute on its head."^^^
Furthermore, even where tninors are prosecuted in juvenile courts,
conviction for chud pornography offenses is invariably accotnpanied by a sex
offender registration requirement.^^'* The stigmatization, as well as the
practical constraints imposed on registered sex offenders in terms of where
they can legally live and work, would create an almost unbearable burden for
any teenager.^^^ Given the public nature of online registration databases, and
the community notification systems that exist in many states, a sexting
219. The Act defines "convicted" to include those:

adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for that offense, but only if the
offender is 14 years of age or older at the time of the offense and the
offense adjudicated was comparable to or more severe than aggravated
sexual abuse . . . or was an attempt or conspiracy to commit such an
offense.
42 U.S.C. § 16911(8) (2006). See also 42 U.S.C. § 16913 (2006) (detailing registry requirements
for convicted sex offenders).
221. See National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, supra note 59 (stating that "a
blanket policy of charging all youth with juvenile or criminal violations will [not] remedy the
problem of sexting").
222. KAISER FAMILY FOUND., supra note 50, at 1. See also Smith, supra note 37, at 524.
223. Zetter, supra note 54 (quoting Mark Rasch).
224. See supra note 219 and accompanying text.
225. Smith, supra note 37, at 538-39 ( "[As] sex offender registries have taken off, states
and local governments have been engaged in an unseemly race to the bottom, trying, in
effect, to outdo each other with increasingly draconian residency restrictions aimed at
registered sex offenders.").
teenager convicted of child pornography may be ostracized by classmates.

In some cases, the ensuing harassment and bullying at school might
exacerbate the conditions that prompted the sexting in the first instance.^^^
Authorities must also consider the permanence of child pornography
charges, as sex offender registration will tarnish a youth's record for Ufe.^^^
IV. ELEMENTS OF A MODEL LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE

A survey of the approaches to sexting taken to date by state legislators
and a review of the relevant policy issues at stake suggest the need for a
cautious response. Although states developing new legislation must tailor it
to existing statutes addressing the exchange of sexually explicit materials, the
following elements should be considered in new legislative proposals.
A. CONSIDERATIONS IN ADDRESSING TYPICAL SEXTING INCIDENTS
Most importantiy, directing sexting teenagers to juvenile court, and

exempting convicted teens from sex-offender registration statutes, wiU gives
juvenile adjudicators the fiexibility they need to craft appropriate penalties.
Particularly in the case of first-time offenders, where the conduct at issue
most likely represents a youthful indiscretion rather than exploitation,
adjudicating sexting teens in juvenile court provides the most appropriate
response to the injury. The mainstream critninal justice system, and penalties
created for serious sex offenses, is far too blunt an instrument to resolve a
problem that refiects modern teenage Ufe more than a cyber-crime
The juvenile court system may offer further opportunity for more
rehabilitative, rather than punitive, responses to sexting. For example, in
Montgomery County, Ohio, the local prosecutor and juvenile court created a
Prosecutor's Juvenile Diversion Program, under which local juveniles
charged with sexting are screened to determine eligibility for diversion from
traditional juvenile court proceedings.^^" Factors considered in making these
determinations include:
226. See Smith, supra note 37, at 536-37.

227. As part of registration, teens' names, pictures, and offenses of conviction will be
available online, making it "difficult to see how minors returning to school after a conviction
in juvenile court can even begin to reintegrate into school when students are gossiping and
teaming them about the sexually explicit.. . pictures they made." Id. at 536—37.
228. See Mathis & Aisner, supra note 69, at Al (describing the considerations of
Michigan authorities in charging a fourteen-year-old girl involved in a sexting incident with a
child pornography offense, which carries a strict sex-offender registration requirement in the
state).
229. See Lithwick, supra note 55.
230. Heck, supra note 22, at 29.
whether the juvenile has any prior sexual offenses, whether any
' type of force or illicit substances were used to secure the photos,
whether the juvenile has been involved in this particular.
I diversionary program previously, or if there is strong opposition by
the victim or law enforcement to the juvenile being involved in a
diversionary program.^^'
The diversion program requires juveniles to complete a minimum of six
months of supervision, reUnquish their ceU phones, perform community
service, and complete an educational component focused on responsible use
of the Internet and communications technologies, the legal ramifications of
their conduct, and age-appropriate sexual boundaries.^^^ Upon successfial
completion of the program, any pending charges against the juvenile are
dropped or dismissed.^^^ The Ohio program addresses the first-time offender
involved in sexting—the teenager who does not reaUze the UlegaUty of his or
her actions—and who is "unUkely to re-offend after being educated on the
legal ramifications and the possible long term affects on the victim."^'''* The
program recognizes, as the founding attorney notes, that "in some cases,
charging a juvenUe with a felony and labeUng them a sexual offender when
their actions were clearly a result of poor judgment and ignorance of the law
seems harsh for first-time offenders" and the notion that this activity is "best
addressed by education and parental involvement."^^^
Further, in instances where local prosecutors want to pursue criminal
charges, crafting penalties outside of sex offense statutes is critical to
ayoiding mandatory sex-offender registration requirements wUdly
disproportionate to sexting harms. CompUance with the Adam Walsh Act,
and receipt of the federal funding attached to the law, requires states to
mandate that convicted sex offenders enroU in state registries.^^^ In Virginia,
jùvenUe and domestic relations court judges retain discretion over whether to
require juvenUes adjudicated deUnquent to register as sex offenders, but
"[tjhis discretion continues to be at odds with the requirements of the Adam
Walsh Act."^^^ In deciding whether to charge sexting teenagers with offenses
carrying registration requirements, states should also consider the significant
costs associated with mandating registration for an increasingly large pool of
231. Id
232. Id • •
233. Id • •
234. Id
235. Id •
236. Michael F. CaldweU et al.. An Examination of the Sex Offender Registration and
Notifrcation Act as Applied to Juveniles: Evaluating the Ability to Predict Sexual Recidivism, 14
PSYCHOL. PUB. POL'Y & L. 89, 89-90 (2008).
237. ieeBlock, j-«>rflnotel78, at61.
offenders, including those juveniles convicted of sexting crimes. Strong

empirical evidence-further supports the argument for leniency, as juveniles
sex offenders rarely re-offend.^^^ This suggests that however serious the
injury one might attribute to sexting, recidivism concerns should not bolster
harsh punishment regimes.
Besides avoiding the consequences of sex-offender registration, creating
new offenses that specifically target sexting wiU enable legislators to avoid the
public perception that offenders are going unpunished or that new laws
create loopholes for exploitation. The backlash experienced by the Vermont
legislature in creating an exemption to sexting under the state's child
pornography statutes may instruct other states.^^' While media reports create
the impression that most Americans share the belief that sexting teenagers
should not receive the same treatment as sex offenders, popular opinions are
far from uniform.^'*" Creating a tailored offense to adjudicate first-time
offenders as delinquent in juvenile court of a misdemeanor may help avoid
controversy. Criticism that a sexting misdemeanor will somehow allow
serious sexual exploitation to go unpunished—that, as Virginia Delegate
David Albo has cautioned, you "change the law and create a loophole for
child molesters"^'*'—can also be blunted by narrowly defining the crime at
issue. For example, crafting the offense to recognize the age difference
between participants can help to distinguish those offenses more likely to
reflect exploitation than the far more innocent variety of similarly-aged
teenagers voluntarily sharing images between co-participants. An age spread
of more than three years more likely reflects the presence of coercion, taking
the offense outside the realm of the more conventional sexting discussed in
this Note.
State authorities could also go a long way in lessening the likelihood that
teenagers committing youthful indiscretions wül be treated as felony sex
offenders by encouraging prosecutors to exercise reasonable discretion in
bringing cases. The appropriate mechanism for communicating this message
may vary by state, but a clear policy statement from an Attorney General is
likely to be influential in disciplining the zealous prosecutor bent on pursuing
the most hard-line penalties against sexting teens.
238. Id. ("In Virginia, for example, the department of Juvenile Jusdce] DJJ has
reported that between the fiscal years 2002 and 2006, 513 juvenue sex offenders were
released from DJJ faciUdes. By the conclusion of the 2007 fiscal year, only thirteen of those
who were released had been convicted of a new sex offense." (internal citadons omitted)).
239. See supra Secdon II.B.l.a).
240. For example, consider the outcry about Vermont's attempt to "legalize" sexdng. See
.f«/)ra notes 128-129.
241. Meola, j-w/ranote 179, at Al.
Finally, any effective poHcy response must also involve an education

component directed towards teenagers, parents, and educators. While social
science research on sexting is quite nascent, anecdotal evidence suggests that
most teenagers charged with criminal offenses in sexting cases did not
foresee the consequences. Efforts to incorporate sexting resources into
existing Internet and technology safety programs are already underway. For
example, schools now crack down on sexting by banning the behavior in
codes of conducts, with punishments ranging from mandatory conferences
with parents and administrators to new community-based workshops to
educate students, parents, and teachers about the dangers of sharing personal
information onUne.^"^ Other schools follow the advice of Internet safety
experts and require parents and students to sign a contract agreeing to certain
conditions regarding the use of cell phones or other personal digital devices
on campus, in an effort to ensure that students are aware that sexting is illegal
and that their use of technology complies with school disciplinary codes.^"''
Although impulsive reactions like banning teenagers' access to cell phones
might provide the easiest short-term solution, they wül likely do nothing to
address the underlying cause of the behavior.^""
Other government-funded programs and non-profit organizations are
focused on addressing the deficit of knowledge about the risks involved in
sexting.^"^ As one model, the New South Wales government in Australia
recendy launched an educational campaign to warn children about the
"lifetime consequences" of sexting and posting images on social networking
sites, including distributing a fact sheet encouraging parents to talk to their
children and monitor their children's online profiles for illegal i
242. The Houston Independent School District has implemented a ban, in its district
code, on "using a cell phone or other personal communication device to send text or e-mail
messages or possessing text or e-mail messages containing images reasonably interpreted as
indecent or sexually suggestive while at school or at a school-related function." Billups, supra
note 173.
243. See WiLLARD, supra note 56, at 188 (describing a "checklist" of issues that should be
addressed in an agreement between schools and parents concerning students' use of cell
phones on campus).
244. In the instance where the teen producer of pornography is a target of
cyberbullying, confiscation of what has become a lifeline for modern adolescents may
further socially isolate die victim. See HiNDUJA & PATCHIN, supra note 31, at 173.
245. See, e.g., ConnectSafely.org, Tips to Prevent Texting, http://www.connect
safely.org/pdfs/sexting_tips.pdf (last visited Jan. 24, 2009) ("If a sexting photo arrives on
your phone, first, do not send it to anyone else (that could be considered distribution of
child pornography). Second: Talk to a parent or trusted adult. TeO them the full story so they
know how to support you. And don't freak out if that adult decides to talk with the parents
of others involved—that could be the best way to keep all of you from getting into serious
trouble.").
246. Parents Urged to Stop Kids' 'Sexting', ASIAN NEWS INT'L, May 3, 2009.
While this Note focuses almost exclusively on legal responses to sexting,

education and school community-based solutions are arguably the best
means of deterring sexting and avoiding any possibility of harmfid effects.
B. CONSIDERATIONS IN ADDRESSING INCIDENTS OF SEXTING AND
CYBERBULLYING
When sexting morphs into online harassment, the range of remedies
already used to address cyberbullying cases provides a variety of options for
dealing with adolescent offenders.
For starters, school administrators can address the behavior through
disciplinary actions designed to address cyberbullying or, depending on die
seriousness of the offense, work with local autiiorities to utilize cyberbullying
laws specifically crafted to combat online harassment and aggression.
Though a school's intervention is litnited in some respects by First
Amendment restrictions on the extent to which school officials can discipline
students for harassing speech that does not involve school resources or
occurs off-campus, unless it "materially and substantially" disrupts learning,
interferes with school discipline, threatens otiier students or infringes on civu
rights,^"'' sextbuUying is less likely to raise this limitation. Although not all
sexting involves images that legally qualify as child pornography, the legal
issues inherent in the transmission of images of nude or partially nude
minors, content that is not subject to First Amendment protection, likely
provide school officials with sufficient grounds for intervention. An effective
policy will include graduated consequences and remedial actions to ensure
responses proportional to the severity of the offense.^"^ Taking actions like
establishing an anonymous reporting system to enable students to come
forward without fear of repercussion from other students, which has proved
useful in uncovering cyberbullying incidents, could also prove important to
limiting the distribution of sextbuUying messages.^'*^
In the most serious instances of teenagers using sexting as a tool to
intentionally harass others, considering, criminal sanctions may be
appropriate.^^" Authorities, at least in most states, could use the statutory
247. See HiNDUJA & 'PArCHn<i,supra note 31, at 116-17 (discussing Tinker v. Des Moines
Independent Community School Distinct, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), tiie seminal Supreme Court case
establishing limitations on school interference with students' First Amendment rights).
248. / ¿ a t 122-23.
249. Id at 123 (discussing the utility of an anonymous reporting system for
cyberbullying incidents).
250. likely, the possibility of criminal liability will provide the grounds for a school's
disciplinary action. See id. at 122.
scheme covering online harassment to address sextbuUying.^^' Forty-five

states have laws tiiat explicidy label certain electronic forms of
communications as cyberharassment, with some states including
cyberharassment offenses under general harassment statutes and others
enacting independent laws for cyberbuUying.^^^ At least seventeen states have
passed specific cyberbullying laws tiiat generally include one or more of die
following elements: require school districts to include cyberbullying in school
anti-bullying policies; criminalize or provide specific penalties for
cyberbullying; authorize administrators to take action when off-campus
actions affect on-campus discipline; require schools to develop new reporting
and disciplinary procedures in cyberbullying cases; and mandate that school
districts create and implement Internet safety curricula.^"
State legislatures that have not adopted new laws addressing
cyberbullying in a comprehensive manner should address the issue.
Otherwise, faced with public pressure to take action, prosecutors may turn to
laws ill-suited to address the immediate offense.^^" In the case of Jesse
Logan's suicide, where sexting was used as tool of intentional harassment,
Logan's mother consulted with six lawyers in an ultimately unsuccessful
effort to find legal recourse for her daughter's death; each one told her that
prosecuting the involved teens for child pornography distribution was the
only applicable law.^^^
In some instances, sextbuUying victims may also find redress through
civu tort suits for privacy violations^^^ or the infliction of emotional
251. Sarah Jameson, Cyberharassment: Striking a Balance Between Free Speech and Privacy, 17
CoiilMLAW CONSPECTUS 231, 259 (2008). In Hght of the lack of a consistent definition'for
cyberbullying across state laws, Jameson argues for a baseline federal statute addressing
cyberharassment. Id. at 259-60.
252. /i/. at 258-59.
253. HiNDUJA & PATCHIN, supra note 31, at 119 (reviewing laws proposed or passed as
of March 2008). 0 r r f
254. For example, in a tragic cyberbullying case in Missouri, in the absence of a state
statute addressing online harassment (which has been subsequentiy enacted), prosecutors
used die federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030 (2006), to
prosecute Lori Drew, a mother involved in a bizarre MySpace hoax to elicit information
from a teenage girl, Megan Meier. See Missouri Begins Prosecuting Under Cyberbullying Law
ASSOCIATED PRESS, Dec. 20, 2008, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,470629,00.html!
Drew's conviction under the CFAA was later overturned for being unconstitutionally vague,
aldiough die decision is eligible for appeal. Rebecca Cathcart, Conviction Is Tossed Out in
MySpace Suicide Case, N.Y. TIMES, July 3, 2009, at A14.
255. Celizic, supra note 61.
256. In the privacy realm, the most applicable tort to sexting incidents involving the
wide dissemination of images is likely public disclosure of private facts, which establishes
liability for the unconsented public disclosure of a private detail of another's person's life, "if
the matter publicized is of a kind diat (a) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person,
and (b) is not of legitimate concern to the public." RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTs'
distress.^" Often, the simple initiation of.legal action against an offender wUl
stop the maUcious behavior.^^^ Damages might include pain and suffering,
costs of counseUng for the youth victim, and losses related to lowered school
performance or school avoidance. However, pursuing a tort action against a
sexting aggressor would Ukely involve several chaUenges, especiaUy
identifying the parties at fault when text messages are widely transmitted and
individual transmitters might not possess die requisite intent for UabUity. It
may take just a few weU-pubUcized cases where the parents of sextbuUies are
held financiaUy responsible for die harm caused by dieir chUdren to
encourage greater education and supervision regarding teens' use of ceU
V. CONCLUSION
WhUe recent poUs and high-profile stories raised the decibel of the pubUc
conversation about sexting, the scope and depth of the issue is stUl relatively
unknown. Whether sexting represents merely the latest teen fad or a lasting
expression of teen sexuaUty engrained in popular culture remains to be seen.
As state legislators work to address the issue, tiiis Note offers a framework
for developing a more balanced response appropriate to the injuries at stake
and the underlying poUcy issues impUcated by the behavior. WhUe legal
precedent and zealous prosecutors may support the use of chUd pornography
statutes in addressing sexting crimes, such a harsh and infiexible response
wül rarely, if ever, represent a proportionate remedy to the harm at hand.
§ 652D (1977). The tort is limited in scope by die great breadth of its newsworthiness
excepdon, which carves out from liability anydiing occurring in public or which could be
considered of social value. Josh Blackman, Omniveillance, Google, Privacy in Public, and the Right
to Your Digital Identity: A Tortfor Recording and Disseminating an Individual's Image over the Internet,
49 SANTA CLARA L. REV. .313, 378-79 (2009) (arguing that the breaddi of the
newsworthiness means that die "tort can no longer be an effecdve tool for protecdng
individual privacy") (quodng Jacqueline R. Rolfs, The Florida Star v. B.J.F.: The Beginning of the
Endforthe Tort of Public Disclosure, 1990 WiS. L. REV. 1107, 1128)). Unless the nudity captured
in the text message occurred in public, however, a message containing an image of a minor,
who is not legally able to offer consent, is unlikely to qualify for any defenses under the tort.
As sext images could be placed online for further disseminadon to a potendaUy limidess
audience, the disclosure harms addressed through die public disclosure of private facts make
the tort pardcularly applicable to sexdng.
257. Under an intendonal inflicdon of emodonal distress theory, a plaindff would have
to show that the defendant intendonally or recklessly took extreme and outrageous acdon
that caused him or her severe emodonal distress. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 46
(1965). While the tort encompasses acdon taken widi reckless disregard to the possibility of
causing distress, so the plaindff does not necessarily have to show intent, it may be difficult
to establish that the sexdng itself consdtuted "extreme and outrageous" conduct.
258. HlNDUJA & PATCHIN, supra note 31, at 178.
259. See WiLLARD, supra note 56, at 94-95.
Lawmakers looking to address die sexting phenomenon should focus,

instead, on crafting a new misdemeanor outside of child pornography
statutes that narrowly addresses die behavior at issue and provides for
ju-venile adjudication. In instances where sexting escalates to die realm of
"sextbullying," school officials and educators should utilize cyberbullying
resources, including newly developed laws specifically designed to address
online harassment. In the meantime, controlling knee-jerk reactions to issues
like sexting and focusing on sensible solutions will help keep everyone out of
trouble.
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STEMMING SEXTING:

SENSIBLE LEGAL APPROACHES TO TEENAGERS'

© 2010 Elizabeth C. Eraker.

widespread nature of this phenomenon: search engine queries of "sexting"

phones "report sending a sexually suggestive nude or nearly-nude photo or video of

Although sexting has been described as the modern equivalent of

I. DEFINING THE SEXTING PHENOMENON

Legislation Related to "Sexting", http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=17756 (lasted

According to the NCPTUP survey, 31% of teenagers between the

services or social networks.^^ For example, earlier diis year, a fourteen-year-

Much remains to be learned about the motivations underlying teenage

35. LENHART, supra note 4, at 12.

teenager gave a common explanation of how she started sexting at her

although they may not fully understand the particular long-term

B. THE CONVERGENCE OF SEXTING AND CYBERBULLYING

The detrimental effects of sexting greatly compound when teenagers use

IL LEGAL RESPONSES TO SEXTING

Across the country, the discredon of local prosecutors drives a range of

prosecutor involved downplayed the likelihood that a minor without a

95. /Ö: at*l.

the conviction of a thirteen-year-old boy for having consensual sex with a

A recent case litigated by die ACLU is a clear example of a prosecutor

111. Zetter, supra note 7.

knowingly and voluntarily and without threat or coercion, used an electronic

or not, to destroy or eUminate the visual depicdon."'''^ The legisladon

140. L.B. 97,101st Leg., 1st Sess. § 15(3)(b) (Neb. 2009).

the legislation maintains a sex offender registration requirement for those

the consent of the subject of the image."'" A more serious class A

without resorting to felony child pornography charges for "stupid" teen

Another legisladve proposal introduced in New Jersey, Senate Bul 2925,

170. S.B. 2926, 213th Leg. (N.J. 2009).

information annually to students and parents or guardians about the risks

prosecutors with more lenient offenses for charging sexters, to authorizing

III. POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

occurs in the production of the materials—a "government objective of

materials produced are a permanent record of the children's participation and

193. Ferner, 458 U.S. at 759.

to be studied.^"" MeanwhUe, it is important to note that the chUd protecdon

A second poUcy interest worth examining concerns the privacy values

are warranted to address teens' recording of sexual encounters, statutory rape

A flnal policy consideration in determining the appropriate response to

anyone fourteen years of age' or older who is convicted of a child

219. The Act defines "convicted" to include those:

teenager convicted of child pornography may be ostracized by classmates.

IV. ELEMENTS OF A MODEL LEGISLATIVE RESPONSE

Most importantiy, directing sexting teenagers to juvenile court, and

226. See Smith, supra note 37, at 536-37.

offenders, including those juveniles convicted of sexting crimes. Strong

Finally, any effective poHcy response must also involve an education

While this Note focuses almost exclusively on legal responses to sexting,

scheme covering online harassment to address sextbuUying.^^' Forty-five

Lawmakers looking to address die sexting phenomenon should focus,

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