Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com> writes:
Remember the Amateur Action BBS case from 1994, when Robert Thomas got convicted by a Federal court in Tennessee for distributing pornography on his BBS in California?
Yes, indeed. Some outraged citizen in Tennessee bitched that he carried nudist pictures of minors on the BBS. Those weren't illegal, but an enterprising federal agent then joined the BBS in an attempt to screw the Thomases. He sent them unsolicited child porn, used it as an excuse to raid their residence and seize all their equipment, and finally got a conviction over some bestiality pictures which were technically illegal in Tennessee, although such material could be found in local porn shops only a few blocks from the prosecutor's offices.
Well, he was also prosecuted in Utah for distributing pornography from the BBS (the Merc doesn't say if it was a state or federal prosecution, but it looks like state), and he just lost his appeal in Federal court.
After the feds finished giving the Thomases an anal reaming in Tennessee, they recalled that Utah was one of the few states conservative enough (along with Ohio, I believe) to include all nude depictions of minors in its child pornography statutes. They then arranged to have the Thomases dragged from Tennessee to Utah to be reamed again, this time by the Mormons.
One of his defense arguments was double jeopardy, and the court rejected that because the Utah court busted him for different pictures than the Tennessee court.
Right. Tennessee busted him for bestiality pics. Utah busted him for pictures of happy children playing outdoors au natural. Of course naked children were really the hidden agenda behind the Tennessee prosecution too, if the truth be known.
While distributing child pornography is reprehensible, it's still none of Utah's business;
The hardcore child porn business is reprehensible. The nude children playing tennis business less so, depending upon ones religious and political affiliation, of course.
the ACLU lawyer defending Thomas says there's no evidence that any Utah citizens actually downloaded any (except the police).
The appeals courts are going to play hardball with the Thomases until they repent and shut down their BBS, which no longer does business with the states of Utah, North Carolina, and Tennessee. "Continuing to engage in the enterprise" has been cited in a former appeals court ruling as a reason why the long prison sentences given the Thomases were supposedly justified. I believe it was George Wallace who commented that the United States was in reality run by "Thugs and Federal Judges." I tend to agree. -- Mike Duvos $ PGP 2.6 Public Key available $ mpd@netcom.com $ via Finger. $