Quotes & Comments

You will find me on the registered sex offender list, next to people who have raped children, molested kids.
—Philip Alpert, a 19-year-old from Orlando, Fla., who was charged with a felony for “sexting:” e-mailing a naked photo of his underage girlfriend to her family and friends last year.

There are few polite words that I feel accurately describe Alpert’s behavior.
Can you imagine a boyfriend or girlfriend e-mailing naked pictures of you to the world just because the two of you had an argument?
Alpert deserves punishment; he needs to be taught a lesson in privacy, discretion and not being an immature, vindictive young man.
However, Alpert’s punishment does not fit the crime. Because his girlfriend was 16 at the time, the pictures are classified as child pornography.
This is one of those cases where the letter of the law overshadows the spirit. These sex offender laws are designed to punish people who commit sexual crimes against others, no matter their age.
These laws are not designed to punish stupid teenagers who share racy photos of themselves via phones or the Internet. Did you know that streaking also counts as a sexual offense?
When did it become OK to lump stupid kids and streakers in with rapists and child pornographers? Have we become so polarized as a culture that we can’t accept anything moderate?
There’s a word for this type of law enforcement: zero tolerance. While it may reassure people that law enforcement has a hard line stance on sexual crimes, it leaves little room for even-handed enforcement and punishment.
Look at zero tolerance enforcement of guns and drugs in schools. Kids are getting expelled for having gun-shaped key chains and taking cold medicine in school. Do we have to get John Stossel in here?
It would be my gut reaction to throw the heaviest book possible at this kid, too. But the reason we have so many laws and a trial-by-peers is to prevent Draconian punishments such as Alpert’s.
I hope that Alpert has learned his lesson. If not, he’s got about 40 more years until he’s off the sex offender registry.

—Brian Diefenbach
Copy Editor

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=5682

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Apr 13 2009. Filed under Opinion, Quotes & Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com