Express Observation (NCFA vs. Donaldson on Open Records)

National Council for Adoption denounces Evan B. Donaldson's call for open adoption records in unyielding report Link

Express Observation (Title IX and 1983)

Recent Supreme Court ruling holds that Title IX doesn't preclude Section 1983 action in school gender discrimination COA Link

Express Observation (Federalize International Adoption)

A federal solution to our international adoption child trafficking mess? This article examines the issues Link

Express Observation (Pedo-Polanski Whitewash)

Great piece on Salon.com called Whitewashing Roman Polanski on why pedo-Polanski should not be given leniency Link

A New Frontier for Victims of Child Pornography

Lest anyone think that all I do is sit around and pontificate all day, our law firm has actual clients with some groundbreaking issues.


Yesterday, a federal judge in Bridgeport, Connecticut established a "new frontier" in favor of exploited children when he ordered a wealthy former Pfizer executive to pay about $200,000 to our client, a girl whose images the executive had obtained through the Internet from another collector of child pornography.


The ruling, the first of its kind in the country, comes against Alan Hesketh, a man who downloaded, viewed and traded child pornography, but had no actual contact with any of the victims.


Since October, Hesketh, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry and a law degree, has been serving a six-and-one-half year sentence after a guilty plea to the possession charge. Pfizer fired him following his arrest last March.


The issue of restitution, part of the sentence, arose after federal investigators identified the child victim from pornographic images taken years ago but recently recovered from Hesketh's home computer. The female victim, now 19, made a claim against Hesketh after the authorities notified her of his arrest and prosecution.


The U.S. attorney's office, which prosecuted Hesketh, said it took no position on restitution. But the office none-the-less filed a lengthy memo with Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton arguing in favor of restitution. Restitution is a payment typically imposed on convicts to compensate victims for suffering and for a variety of costs, including legal and counseling fees.


For more excellent coverage of this case visit:


The Hartford Courant


The Connecticut Post


Connecticut Law Tribune

Fox News Gives us our Street Creds

Now that this round of the Facebook debate is over, it's time to take our bows and acknowledge our creds, aptly supplied by none other than Fox News. According to FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter (who actually reads this blog):

"Companies get into trouble when they try to move that content beyond the four corners of their service -- that's what Facebook tried to do -- and use content for commercial exploits," said James R. Marsh, a lawyer who writes ChildLaw Blog, which first posted news of Facebook's TOS change late last month.


In the extreme, he said, "They can take little Susie's pictures on the beach to Playboy, who then has their own license for using it -- and you may not even know it. And then what? You're institutionalizing child pornography."

Winter's story, Terms of Enslavement: Web Sites' Outrageous Service Agreements, delves beyond the sensationalism to the mundane (which in this case is good), to show us just how lawyers-gone-wild are stealing our content, exploiting our images, and encumbering our rights. SHOCK OF THE DAY? MySpace has one of the best TOS. Check it out, keep reading, and sign on the dotted line. . . . and just remember, we wouldn't do anything with your content that you wouldn't want us too . . . honestly . . . trust us . . .

Facebook Fracas Finally for Real - NYT, Forbes, NPR joins Childlaw

Give us some props, you heard it here first. Facebook's controversial Terms of Use, revealed by ChildLaw on January 30th and discussed again on February 6, was headline news in today's New York Times, National Public Radio and Forbes, among many other media outlets.


Apparently a blog called The Consumerist is getting all the credit for breaking this story, but we all know better. Childlaw had them all scooped by two weeks, even picking up on the recent TOU change on February 4, 2009. Apparently now Facebook continues to own your content even after you've deleted your account, died and gone to Heaven (or Hell - you know who you are). So, gentle readers of this blog, enjoy all the above links, but then come back here to get the real scoop on what's up, as it happens, 24/7.

Express Observation (Teen Sex and Tech)

5.2 million teens guilty of child pornography? See my updated post on sexting and check out Sex and Tech at Link

Express Observation (Dutch Pedophile Party Approved)

Dutch pedophiles allowed to form political party hoping to legalize child pornography & sex with children & animals Link

Express Observation (Self-made Teen Porn Arrests)

Teens willingly producing their own porn charged 4 violating laws aimed at protecting chldren exploited by others Link

Express Observation (Law School Moral Relativism)

Law school lapses: 1st Harvard's Berkman-sellout, now Cornell Prof Colb defends religiously inspired child murder Link

Express Observation (Facebook Sells your Soul)

In respose to my blog Facebook expands its Terms of Use to cover your soul. The man is watching. See my comment at Link

Express Observation (Florida Reform School Justice)

FL gov't reform school survivors file lawsuit from savage sexual abuse & human rights violations in the 50s & 60s Link

Express Observation (MySpace's Pedophile Playground)

MySpace releases 90k names of registered sex offenders banned from site, Harvard still claims there's no problem Link

Express Observation (Florida Gay Adoption Ban)

FL Bar joins fight against state's ban on adoptions by gays with fed amicus brief before 3rd circuit COA Link