A Town, Its Teens, and a Practice Called ‘Sexting’

Let’s talk about sexting. As we’ve mentioned before (click here and here), sexting is the practice of sending nude or semi-nude pictures of ones self or others via cell phone. It’s one thing, we suppose, if adults do it, but what’s got parents, students, school administrators, the ACLU and district attorneys riled up is that minors are getting into the act as well. The issue for prosecutors then becomes: should one charge “sexters” with serious crimes, like possession of child pornography, or handle such episodes in a less draconian manner.

The issue is nicely framed in a WSJ story today by Law Blog colleague Dionne Searcey, who shines the spotlight on a sexting kerfuffle that took place in a small Pennsylvania town called Tunkhannock.

Read the rest of this post on the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog