DENVER—A federal appeals court in Denver is considering challenges to the federal law on child pornography after defendants argued that it’s impossible to prove how they got the images.
Possession of child pornography is a crime, but federal prosecutors are required to prove that the image of child pornography traveled across state lines. Attorneys for defendants from Colorado and Oklahoma told judges from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday that the government has not proved that the actual files they downloaded from the Internet had crossed state lines.
The Denver Post says () the cases could unsettle the foundations of federal law on child pornography.
In the two cases before the appellate court, the defendants argued that the original images may have been produced in other states, but the defendants contended there was no proof the individual files stored on their computers came from out of state.
Attorney Kathleen Lord, who represents Colorado defendant Kenneth Sturm, said cases could still be pursued on the state level if proving federal jurisdiction is not possible.
“This is not decriminalizing the possession of child pornography,” she said.
Government attorney Judy Smith said it’s the content of the file that matters, not the files themselves.
“Applying physical concepts in a digital world does not make sense,” Smith told the appeals court.
A ruling is not expected for several months.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
