Photographing kids without parent consent: Should it be a crime?
New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that "would make it a third degree crime to photograph or videotape a child without his or her parent's consent." Bill A3297, which is currently before the state's Assembly Judiciary Committee, presents some problems and raises constitutional questions.
NO! Absolutely not. At the outset, this might seem like a sensible law to enact. If you have visions of pedophiles walking up to children to take their photograph, it may seem sensible but if you look a bit deeper into this you will see it makes no sense at all, it doesn't protect children, parents protect their child better than any law.
ReplyDeleteAs a professional photographer I am a little closer to this issue than most. I have seen in recent years how photography is being criminalized and you can be expected to be accosted and viewed with suspicion for merely carrying a camera around.
As a pro, I cannot sell an image if there are people in the scene, I need a model release for every person in the shot. As a journalist I can take images of anything or anybody if they are to be published in a newpaper, this falls under Freedom of the Press. Amateur photogs take images of everything but they are not used for publication.
Why you should be concerned is because if you take images of your own child on your compact or phone camera and there are other children in the background or they are with their friend, you could be arrested and get a criminal conviction, you would be breaking the law. No more pictures at birthday parties, picnics, outings or any event where there are children present. It's not just illegal, you are now a criminal and will do jail time. Take pictures at the beach and expect to get the death penalty.
This is ridiculous and entirely unnecessary. We are now looking at the world through a pedophilic lens, we wonder what a pedophile might think. We don't look at banks and wonder what a bank robber would think. Pedophiles don't take pictures in playgrounds, they could expect to be beaten up by parents or bystanders, they use the internet to find their sordid material.
Photographers are generally not perverts and don't deserve to be treated with suspicion for pursuing their hobby or profession. Parents and families should be able to take images without fear of a criminal convicion.
Without this law there are still enough mechanisms available to law enforcement to accost suspicious people. Perents are a childs best protection, we don't need silly laws that does nothing to protect children and will criminalize innocent parents. Imagine growing up and having no images of your childhood?