OLYMPIA — Enough is enough. Child pornography is profoundly heinous enough in the first place, emphasized state Rep. Connie Ladenburg, “and our state shouldn’t sanction any further reproduction of this despicable material in court cases.”
The Tacoma legislator is prime-sponsoring a measure, House Bill 2177, aimed at protecting against any copying or creation of additional child pornography during the discovery process in a child-pornography trial. Ladenburg’s bill will receive a public hearing in the House Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 1:30 p.m.
“This bill is all about protecting kids,” said Ladenburg, who is the vice chair of the committee.
“As a parent of five children and grandparent of 10, my heart goes out to children who have been victims of child pornography. It is one of the worst crimes that is committed against children, and it has lasting, devastating effects,” she stated. “Having any of these terrible pictures copied yet again, and viewed by anyone yet again, is unacceptable.
“We cannot let children be harmed any more than they already have been. This bill protects children from further victimization in child-pornography cases,” Ladenburg said.
“Child pornography is contraband, just like illegal drugs, and we should treat it like contraband,” said Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist. “We don’t duplicate and distribute illegal drugs for trial, and prosecutors shouldn’t be required to duplicate and distribute child pornography for trial. This bill will stop this offensive practice.”
A Washington State Supreme Court decision five years ago, Washington v. Boyd, requires that the defense in such a case must be allowed access to photographs depicting children in sexually explicit conduct. Ladenburg’s bipartisan measure would write a specific Washington law stating that in child-pornography cases:
* The material can be examined by the defense, but it must remain in the actual custody of law enforcement or the courts.
* A mirrored hard drive can be made available for expert-examination by the defense if the court determines that such examination is justified.
* When it is no longer needed for the trial, the child pornography in question will be destroyed.
Sometimes during the discovery process in criminal cases today, the state is ordered to copy child pornography and even make more copies of it — “which certainly isn’t something that is done with any other illegal contraband,” Ladenburg said.
Federal law on the books since 2006 bars the duplication and distribution of child pornography during the fact-finding part of a federal trial. Courts have consistently upheld the constitutionality of the federal law, “and we have a moral, fundamental obligation to do everything in our power in our state to halt any repeated exploitation of children.”
The committee meeting will be held in House Hearing Room D on the first floor of the John L. O’Brien Building on the Capitol Campus here in Olympia.