Schuette Legislation Combating Child Pornography Passes Michigan Senate

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette praised the Michigan Senate today for unanimously passing his legislation aimed at strengthening laws which protect Michigan families from child pornography.  The bills, which target those who would create or distribute child pornography, now head to the Michigan House of Representatives for consideration.

“When our child pornography laws were written in the 1990’s, the Internet was still in its infancy stage,” said Schuette.  “Today a child predator produces child pornography, and it can be over the entire world within a matter of minutes.  These bills are a commonsense step to helping victims realize their constitutional ‘…right to be treated with fairness and respect for their dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process.’

“Thank you to Senators Richardville, Casperson, Hansen, and Hildenbrand for introducing and advancing this important legislation to protect Michigan children.”

The following bills now head to the Michigan House of Representatives for consideration:

• SB 1209, introduced by Senator Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba), amends the code of Criminal Procedure to more effectively allow prosecutors to use evidence gathered in undercover police operations against child predators at sentencing.
• SB 1313, introduced by Senator Goeff Hansen (R-Hart), ensures children are not re-victimized through the legal process by restricting who has access to child pornography during the discovery phase of criminal trials.
• SB 1314, introduced by Senator Dave Hildenbrand (R-Lowell Township), strengthens Michigan’s laws against child pornography by expanding the definition of “produce” or “make” to specifically include the making of new copies.

Earlier this fall, Schuette’s Violent Offenders Fourth Felony legislation (VO-4), aimed at removing career violent criminals from Michigan’s streets, passed both chambers of the legislature with strong bipartisan support.  It was signed into law by Governor Snyder on October 1, 2012.