Actual Exploitation, Simulated Exploitation And A Tin Drum: A Comparative Analysis Of Child Pornography Law In The United States And Canada

Authors

Maurice "Mac" VerStandig

Abstract

The United States and Canada two of the world's foremost modern, liberalized societies regularly combat an awkward and painful tension between free speech rights and the wellbeing of minors. Though there generally exists a consensus that child pornography represents a certain dark realm of material outside the oft-amorphous protections afforded speech, the establishment of an acceptable working definition of this criminal fodder has proven contentiously difficult. This paper explores each nation's struggles with this tension, through the lens of legislative efforts, judicial responses, and the productions that seem to perennially blur the line between art and crime. It is ultimately this paper's contention that existing child pornography statutes would be wisely supplanted by the enforcement of other law already in existence.

Recommended Citation

Maurice "Mac" VerStandig, Actual Exploitation, Simulated Exploitation And A Tin Drum: A Comparative Analysis Of Child Pornography Law In The United States And Canada, 16 U. MIA Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 213 (2009)
Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umiclr/vol16/iss2/4