Foley And The Law

Adam Liptak of the Times looks for the laws that might be enforced against Mark Foley:

Marjorie Heins, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and the founder of the Free Expression Policy Project, said that prosecutors almost certainly had the legal tools to pursue Mr. Foley if they were inclined to do so.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Ms. Heins said, “if someone could get him criminally under a number of state laws, whether they involve the Internet or not, that prohibit unlawful contact with minors.”

But legal experts cautioned that any case against Mr. Foley would involve difficult jurisdictional and constitutional questions. At least three jurisdictions may be implicated: Washington and Florida, where Mr. Foley worked; the federal system; and perhaps other states, as information about contacts with pages emerges.

Courts have taken varying positions about whether they have the power to hear cases involving communications originating in other states. And laws regulating speech on the Internet have often faced First Amendment challenges.

A Florida law makes it a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to transmit “material harmful to minors by electronic device.” The law defines the material broadly to include descriptions of “nudity, sexual conduct, or sexual excitement.” There is an exception for materials with serious literary, artistic, scientific and political value. The e-mail messages disclosed to date appear to fail that test, though they may have serious political value in a different sense.

And Mr. Foley is not the only person who could possibly face prosecution, Professor Berman said. “If there were people who knew about him or protected him,” he said, “some sort of complicity or conspiracy charge is certainly viable.”

I imagine that Proferssor Berman is fantasizing about a conspiracy involving the Republican House leadership. 

Missing from this story - a clear discussion of a Federal law which might cover Mr. Foley. Apparently, the relevant "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006" won't do because it can not be applied retroactively.

Instead of contacting the DoJ, maybe folks should contact Jeb Bush.

MORE:  David Johnston and Carl Hulse touch on the Federal issues here.

Comments

[clarice feldman]

How was your vacation? Can I you send me a "pic"? Possible violations of law? Only if Nifong or Fitz or Earle are named the special prosecutors.

[SunnyDay]

Well the morning-drive talk shows here are having a field day - laughing at the dems for their inconsistency, for using a gay republican in their poop slinging campaign.

They're all saying they're glad Foley resigned, but nobody thinks he broke any laws, and that if Foley were a Dem the story would be sooooooo different.

These guys are not republicans, either. They're constantly criticising Bush and the war.

Big discussions on age of consent, and how funny it will be if the investigation goes forward and "reaches out to touch" someone the dems did not intend it to touch. They're also building a "roster" of perverts and sleazeballs in congress, and all their escapades.

They say it's way to early for an "October surprise" - that this will die down by next week, and have no real effect on congressional elections.

[SlimGuy]

Clarice

I left the discussion shortly after you did last night.

The site info I have matches what is up on the site today, so there seems to be nothing I need to forward to you.

Did I get to the site to late? Was there something I missed?

[clarice feldman]

Someone confused a site with a very similar name to the one we are concerned with.
But thank you for your hard work. Someone else sent me last night complete screen grabs of SSP so if they do try to erase it, I have it.

[SlimGuy]

Perhaps late last night the same mistake was made that happend to Rick Moran today when he somehow crossed the stopsexpredator blog with the stopsexualpredator blog

[clarice feldman]

Yes. Same source, I think.

[SlimGuy]

Ok sounds good, will hold on to what I have as a double super secret probation backup LOL

[SlimGuy]

It occurred to me last night the the damaging IM's occurred in the timeframe of prior to the 04 elections.

If there were such moral outrage, why would some not have brought it up then to swing support to Kerry by undermining GW instead of throwing a hail marry for a midterm election.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

The best thing the GOP could do for Foley's Congressional seat is have Jeb Bush, who is eligible to run since he will be out of the Governor's office, take over and hold the seat. Then in 2 years, they can run a more permanent candidate while Jeb goes for the Senate or retires or sits back and waits for his turn at the presidency. But, Jeb is a shoe-in. The District went 68% Republican, so it will be pretty hard to lose to a Dem, no matter who steps in, IF Repubs don't stay home out of disgust.

[JM Hanes]

If the Republicans can't replace Foley's name on the ballot, there's a certain irony in thinking about the possibility of Foley actually getting reelected. I wonder if anyone has tallied up the number of convicted miscreants voted into office or back into office by Dems vs Reps.

[Terrye]

From everything I have heard it is unlikely that Foley broke a law. I guess we will find out.

[SlimGuy]

Sara

Your suggestion is a possibility, just sitting here envisioning the reaction of Pelosi et al

Can you say full fetal position!

[SlimGuy]

Personnaly I'd rather see Jeb take over as the head of FEMA, he has the credentials for it.

[SlimGuy]

JM

The can't change the ballot name, but the Reps can select another person who will be running for the seat without having their name on the ballot

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Looks like they've settled on Negron(sp?).

[JM Hanes]

SlimGuy:

Jeb would be great for FEMA (although I'm not sure FEMA would be great for Jeb:).

[sylvia]

Does anyone know the ages of the ex- pages that Foley dirty IM'd a few years ago? We all know by now it was not the same 16 year old page from the recent emails. So how old was this former guy - and also what state was he in? That would make all the difference in terms of legality.

[sylvia]

You know I need a timeline. I was trying to piece together all the info about who sent what, where and when from all the posts in all the segments, and I'm getting a headache!