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Noting the latest data showing reduced (but disparate) federal sentences for child porn downloaders

By Douglas A. Berman

This new Wall Street Journal article, which is headlined "Judges Trim Jail Time for Child Porn: Data Show Trend Toward Leniency for People Who View Images but Aren't Molesters," provides the latest main-stream media coverage of a leading federal sentencing story that regular readers know all about.  Here is an excerpt: More federal judges are showing leniency toward individuals who view child pornography but who aren't themselves molesters, according to recent data on prison sentences. Judges are looking skeptically at prosecutors' requests to give 15- to 25-year sentences for viewing sexual images of minors, handing down more sentences of five to 10 years, or in some cases probation. The movement has been gaining steam over the past two years even as the Justice Department has made child pornography and other child-exploitation prosecutions a top priority, leading to more than 2,300 cases last year, the highest figure since the department began tracking the statistic...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 20, 2010 (boomark / email).