Family Photos.. What to do?

[hemdale]

I read the artical at this link a few days ago
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2003-04-17/feature2.html/1/index.html

And I would like to invite folks here to brainstorm what we can do to change the witch hunting mentality we have in America today. I admit that this is such a complicated problem that I don't know where to start. And no a digital camera is not the solution.

Hemdale

[hemdale]

I read the artical at this link a few days ago
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2003-04-17/feature2.html/1/index.html

And I would like to invite folks here to brainstorm what we can do to change the witch hunting mentality we have in America today. I admit that this is such a complicated problem that I don't know where to start. And no a digital camera is not the solution.

Hemdale

[missouriboy]

I too just finished this article, and am once again reminded how deplorable and disgusting this situation is. There is probably already someone doing what you suggest, and the best way for us to help is to contribute to them, if we don't have any particular expertise ourselves.

Who might be doing this? The Naturist Education Foundation (NEF, within TNS) possibly, or some other similar organization, maybe? Does anyone here know?

Yes, law enforcement agencies countrywide are in dire need of some common-sense guidelines about family privacy, and ordinary nudism, being totally disconnected from child pornography and/or child abuse of any kind.

[TXK NUDE]

I agree that something should be done. I just read the articel to my wife, who knows a lot about social services, and even she was amazed at the behavior of the CPS and police! I think that if TNS, AANR, or any other major nudist organization that has a political lobby for nude recreation, should also have one for educating law enforcement about nudism, and what is acceptable/unacceptable about nudity. It's time our police and protective services learned the truth about the naked body!

[fred950]

m-b, you are right, that was disgusting. Since when (at least in the USA) do we have a presumption of guilt and the accused required to prove innocence? Shoot first, ask questions later seems to be the norm in family "services" all over,not just in Texas. But it's to "protect" the childern donncha know. God protect us from the experts.

[nudeM]

All comments so far about Child Protective Services (CPS) have been right on. Personally, I believe CPS is the communist arm of the Government that uses the children to further their agendas. As my wife puts it, "The agency is here to protect the children, but who protects the children from CPS)? True, there are some instances that the agency is there at the right time, but over all, they have caused nothing but hatred and family breakups. We have been involved with them for the past three years (the cases I will not mention), and each and every time when there is a court appearance, the stories change to benefit their case. Heaven forbid, if they only knew my wife and I like to go nude when the kids are away.

Sorry, but I had to vent. Hopefully hw won't read this post, for she could write and entire novel about the abuses of CPS and their bold tactics they use. /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

[Dude in Nor Cal]

My "big issue" isn't clothes freedom but the drug war. It's amazing how closely related the two are in this case. The "big brother" syndrome works whether you take naked pictures of your kids or smoke a joint on your couch. My advice to everyone who read this article and was as appalled as me is: don't buy into the snitch culture! If you see your neighbor do something that's illeal but he isn't hurting anyone else, let it slide. If you're on a jury and you're asked to convict someone of a victimless crime, acquit.
Real kiddie porn is not a victimless crime of course, and getting your kids taken away because you took nude pics of them is about as dumb as losing your kids because you smoke pot. If we want to resist the big brother who watches our pictures, then we also need to watch out for the big brother who arrests us for doing drugs because it's the SAME BIG BROTHER!! If you don't agree with this woman being punished the way she was, then it is your duty to oppose the drug war and any other invasion of personal freedoms- otherwise you will lose the freedoms you want (like the freedom to take naked pics of your kids) not just the freedom you don't (like the freedom to smoke a joint).

[Nude in MT]

Just this weekend I was viewing childhood photos with my girlfriend. I was totally surprised at how many nude photos there were of me and my brother. Especially given that my memory as far back as I can think is that my mother is very uptight about nudity. I guess that just applies to after puberty.

The whole thing was quite a positive experience really. Mom was slightly embarrassed, commenting about how times have changed and those photos could cause great legal trouble. My girlfriend was very positive about the whole issue. She did not respond with any kind of shock or embarrassment and did not turn those pages faster or slower than any other.

So, I think that might serve to guide how I approach the subject of nudism with my family (and especially my girlfriend). It is back to those innocent days when the body was not something bad to be hidden.

I totally agree that the witch hunt mentality has gone quite overboard. Will they come after nudist families next? After all, parent and child nude together has to be as harmful as a photo of a 15 month old escaping from the bathtub wearing nothing but a derby cap.

[hw]

In reference to what nudeM said.....I usually refer to CPS as CPMS! This agency has no one to answer to! They lie, to cover up what they are doing. And it seems to be their main goal is to tear families apart! Don't get me started.... this is one horror story you don't want to hear! /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

[hemdale]

And that is much of the problem, the CPS and the police make money and create jobs through the business of investigating these cases.

The average american thinks were there's smoke there might be fire and better to be safe then sorry later on.

This is the problem that needs to be brain stormed. How to pass laws that will protect parents and children? How to to do an end run around the the lobbyist for the CPS, police, and conservative right?

All of this needs to be done while still protecting children from abuse. Many are the days that I wish I could have had someone intervene to protect myself and brothers and sisters from my mother who believed that corporal punishment was the only way to correct a child's behavior. She never would have gotten away with it today.

Hemdale

[nordictoad]

Here is the letter that I wrote to the Editor of the Paper.

I have just read the article about the couple that was charged with child pronography because they took a picture of the Mother Breast feeding her child. What is going on here? How is the greatest and most important bond between a Mother and Child Pornography? The law enforcement and Child protection agencies need to get a clue as to what is, and more importantly IS NOT, Child Abuse! Once again Big Brother steps in to Control OUR lives. Did we not just invade Iraq because of the "Opressive Regrime" that controled the lives of their citizens? Have we all forgotten the Bill of Rights? How is Breast feeding a Child wrong. And the BIG question, Why have the children STILL not returned to their parents? Sounds to me like a Government out of control and Opressing their citizens.

Thank you for shedding the light on the Abuse of the Children, and Parents. The abuse by the Government that is!!

I would encourage EVERYONE to stand up, YELL, and Shed the light on this BULL****!!

[Jochanaan]

Who doesn't have nude photos of themselves as babies? There is a beautiful, fun picture in our family's own album of me, less than a year old, in the tub with my two sisters, age 7 and 9. What does that have in common with, say, a shot of three teenagers performing oral sex? (Sorry if I offend anyone, but this is no occasion to pull verbal punches.) Far from being traumatized, I treasure that memento of a simpler, freer time in my life.

[floridanudeman]

does anybody remeber a naked girl rode herhorse in the park to win madonna tickets i thought she should have won it was the best idea anyone had.the policearrested her and because sha was in a park she could get 6months in jail thats how i got involved i don't believe people should be arrested for being nude this is not always sexual if more people saw people naked they would relize that nobody is perfect and bodies are ok big small tall short

[Cookie Monster]

To begin with let me just state for the record I totally agree with what has been said so far in this post.
Having said that, there are two sides to every story. Have the pics that are in question been seen by anyone other than the police and all those involved? Perhaps there is more to this story than we are being told. Its just a thought.
and before you begin bashing on me its like I said before I agree with the posters in this post. Ok having said that Bash away. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[nudegary]

It the CPS and the Texas law enforcement believe that all nude pictures of small children are pornographic, it won't be long before they arrest everybody. I Wonder how many of their parents have nude pictures of them? Perhaps they may even try to go after the INA for posting pictures of children on their web site. I beleive as the rest of you that the Texas authorities have gone way to far and should return the children imediately.

[Naturist Mark]

I guess Barbara and George H. W. Bush are lucky the Texas CPS didn't go after them:

SF Gate (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/06/04/national1858EDT0719.DTL)

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Revenge served up by the Bush brothers went something like this Monday: You show them mine and I'll show them yours.

President Bush had scored big laughs at a nationally televised dinner in April by showing a naked photo of brother Jeb as a toddler. On Monday, at a rally with his older brother, Jeb Bush, the Florida governor, said Floridians don't go in for such pranks.

"We don't deal in retribution because people think it's too cheeky," Jeb Bush said.

With that, the president's own baby photo flashed on a large screen. It showed him asleep on his stomach with his bare bottom facing the camera.

Taking the stage, Bush ignored his photo but did proceed to steal a bit of his brother's thunder.

Gov. Bush has not yet said whether he'll run for a second term next year, but the president suggested the decision was made when he paused for emphasis in calling his younger brother "the current governor and the future governor."

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Trailscout]

I am puzzled as to why a digital camera would not be an acceptable alternative. Low resolution? It is new technology, but is constantly improving. In the back of AANR's magazine and in the Naturist Society Mag. are ads for companies that develop photos for naturists.

I agree that it a terrible wrong to prosecute people who send in film for development that depicts platonic nudity of people of any age.

Gee, should I go to jail for possessing nude pictures of myself taken when I was a baby? They might as well prosecute me to be fair about it!

[Bob S.]

Trail, I am going to assume that when Hemdale said that "a digital camera is not the solution" he was saying that would not solve the problem with overzealous, ultraconservative, perverted CPS agents. They are the problem, not photography.

If anyone reads the comic, "Non-Sequitur," there is a character called "Obvious Man." I think we need him to bash common sense into the CPS agents and the DA. What does it say about a person when he or she sees a naked child and automatically assumes sex? Perverse mind?

Bob S.

[Nude in the North]

The Mentality of most people is to view the naked body as a sex opject.
This is something most clothed people teach their kids from day one.
How come When were 3 or 4 our Penis is something we use to pee with. But when were in our teens everyone forgets that that is it's main purpose and turns it into a "SEX ORGAN"??

Peverse minds can make the most innocent things into something dirty.

Steve

[Frank R]

While I agree with most of what has been said, you all appear to be missing the real issue. The Gestapo did not cause the Nazi's to come into power, they were a result of the Nazi's coming into power. CPS did not cause this era of witch hunting for so called abuse of children. CPS came about and into this state because of the government's desire to control all aspects of our lives. Are there many real instances of child abuse? Of course there are and I have no objection to children being protected from beatings, being burned or starved. The key is that our fearless Demopublican - Repubcrat leaders use a real problem and then expand the scope of the solution to expand the power of the government. The key is not stopping CPS. The key is stopping the expanding reach and scope of government. It makes little difference if we are talking about stopping witch hunts for drug users, nudist, suspected child abusers or whatever. The answer to each and everyone is to reduce the size and reach of government at all levels.

[shãybare]

I certainly agree with alot that has been said here, especially about the government gaining control over peoples lives. The article, however, does not say that the family were nudists. It sounds to me that they were not. Of course, that is my assumption.
Buying a digital camera would assume they had a computer and they had the money to buy one. I didn't get a computer until last year and still don't own a digital camera. (Some of us you have to drag into the 21st century)
If they were not nudists, they would not of known about places to send their pics to be developed. I, personally, take mine to Walmart and have never had a problem except at the One-Hour counter where they said they had teens working and they had rather I just use the regular drop box. No problem.
The article said they lived in a "modest" home. Modest could mean an older home, a cheap home or a run-down shack.
GET TO THE POINT, SHAYBARE!
OK, I forgot the point but this has kept me busy and out of trouble for a few minutes.

Forever Nude,
Shaybare /infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

[Nate Dekan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by naturistmark1:
I guess Barbara and George H. W. Bush are lucky the Texas CPS didn't go after them <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>[/QUOTE]

No; they are one of the most powerful and richest families in the US (let alone Texas) there could be real abuse going on and CPS wouldn't DARE to touch them!

CPS goes largely after families like this one we are talking about, to quote from the article... "Lafuente says he has been willing to concede that the photos show behavior that some people of a conservative nature might consider inappropriate, such as a mother bathing with her 4-year-old, or being topless around the kids. Yet those hardly rise to the level of sexual abuse. The family lives together in one room, making privacy difficult, but that does not mean Mercado and Fernandez are not loving parents, he says."

In other words poor families with no power who are unlikely to be able to defend themselves, it makes me sick!

Nate

[stevenf64]

unfortunately in MA its a self propetulating industry. the bigger the case load the more they make, therefore they go after stuff that is harmless. the bad side is that they dont want the work so when they find a difficult problem they tend to look the other way. they just had a big case where 4 people had been molesting kids put in their foster care for years. it was proved that it was reported, people lost their jobs but that didnt help the kids.

[Trailscout]

While I agree with the premise that the size and scope of government needs to be reduced at the local, state and federal levels, as long as there is child abuse and as long as governments are charged with preventing child abuse, there is the possibility of mistaking harmless family nudity for perversion. The only way to curtail these travesties of justice due to ignorance is to keep slapping lawsuits on these governmental agencies until they get the message.

Who will sue? Not the poor little immigrant family. Civil liberties groups and perhaps even the Naturist Action Committee will have to get involved. So what if the family is not a card-carrying nudist family? They were jailed for household nudity, breast-feeding a toddler and lovingly capturing their private moments on film. Sounds like a nudist issue to me.

If we nudists don't come to the aid of non-nudists who practice household nudity, who will defend us when the government comes to arrest us?

[Nate Dekan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Trailscout:
If we nudists don't come to the aid of non-nudists who practice household nudity, who will defend us when the government comes to arrest us? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That is an excellent post with an excellent question.

Not even counting household nudists who never go nude outside the house (of which there could easily be millions) there are many times more people that go to nude beaches or skinny dipping in the woods, then are members of TNS and AANR combined. DO TNS and AANR represent these people as well, or just members?

Nate

[tarsus]

having just read this article,i am sickened.
i have i small idea of what this person is going through. some years ago i told a young girl she could no longer babysit as she did not abide my my rules. as a result the c.s. showed up on a regular basis. this did not stop till i moved from the complex. why am i telling this?
as a warning, big brother is watching-not with cameras in every home.---not yet, but by people who hold grudges for real or perceived acts against them.and just plain trouble makers.
although my marriage was on the rocks and would have ended anyway this caused so much bitterness
between us.you see i hired that girl.
be careful people please. they are watching and reading.

[Falcon46]

I agree that this case was not about pictures of a mother breast-feeding her child, but another symptom of a deeper systemic issue within many courts. That issue being that if you have the money, you can get away with murder… if you don’t… you can’t even have a picture taken of yourself breast-feeding your child (which in my opinion is one of the most wholesome, beautiful acts between mother and child). I suppose we should all turn ourselves in to the authorities for watching the same thing on National Geographic Explorer… No doubt the CPS thought the baby was having a sexual experience /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif What a pathetic thought... sorry.

To further my point (and others in this thread), if this mother had been part of an affluent family, CPS, nor anyone else would have touched this case. They know they wouldn’t have “won” and would not have given it a second thought. And in that sense, it wasn’t about the offense, right or wrong, or even remotely about protecting the child, it was simply about the DA and CPS putting another “win” notch on their belts for their own personal motivations.

And lets not forget about the defense attorneys that barter one case away for a favorable ruling on another. It used to be a good system until money became the key motivator. OK, OK… sorry for getting off topic.

We’ve all seen shows on TV like American Justice and similar court programs. I think a real hit of a show would be one documenting cases such as this, showing how unjust the pursuit of justice can be sometimes. It would serve as one hell of a platform to let DA’s and CPS workers know that THEY too are being watched.
“American Injustice – 8:00PM Eastern, 7:00PM Central”
…gads, I love this idea!!! If there’s a producer out there interested, call me!

…climbing down off the soapbox, for now… “next”

[NcfootballCV]

This is horrible. Who cares if a child was suckling his mother's breast. I can see the problem if a person my age (15) was suckling his/her mother's breast, but not with a 1 or 4 year old.

[bananabunch]

Please read Judith Levine's 'Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children From Sex'.

The points that Levine raises in her exploration of just how paranoid the US (and elsewhere) has become regarding sex (or even the simple presumption of sex) is particularly relevant to this story. The idea that some kind of sexual predator is lurking behind every corner and that sex is some big bad, evil, scary monster itself has created a climate where simple nakedness (sexual or not) is viewed as some kind of attack or threat.

Do yourself (and Levine!) a favour and add this book to your activist bookshelf!

Update: She lost custody of the older child because of this mess! Here is the latest from the same Dallas paper.
*************************

Letters from the issue of Thursday, May 1, 2003


Breast Is Best
Editor's note: What follows is a sampling of the more than 150 letters and e-mails the Dallas Observer received from all over the world in response to Thomas Korosec's April 17 story, "1-Hour Arrest," and an April 24 follow-up in Buzz. All but one letter criticized the actions of local authorities in charging Peruvian immigrants Jacqueline Mercado and Johnny Fernandez with felony "sexual performance of a child" after they had developed a snapshot of their 1-year-old son suckling at his topless mother's breast. Child Protective Services also removed the children from Mercado and Fernandez's home. Many of those who wrote offered to help the family financially or assist in some way in their defense. When the Observer inquired about the case, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office moved quickly to drop the charges, which District Attorney Bill Hill deemed "weak." CPS has also returned the 1-year-old child to his parents. The other boy, however, has not been returned and is living with his natural father. Korosec's reports can be viewed in the archive section of www.dallasobserver.com. (http://www.dallasobserver.com.)

Horrifying: Thank you for writing the story on Jacqueline Mercado. I am so horrified and disgusted, I can hardly type! There's a community of breast-feeding mothers who are on the case. We're checking with the lawyers to see what we can do to help this poor family. Hopefully the children will be returned right away.

As the mother of a 10-month-old who won't be weaning anytime soon, it scares the hell out of me that some jackass could take my baby from me for doing something so ordinary! I'm surprised they didn't cite "national security." It works to relieve us of so many other rights!

Eileen Dashiell
Via e-mail

Careless CPS: When I read this article, it was clear to me that yes, here is a clear-cut case of child abuse--but not on the part of the hapless parents.

It is child abuse to tear young children away from their loved ones. Ample psychological studies on the nature of early bonding and attachment support this. The trauma from these months will take years to resolve, and it will leave a scar.

This kind of removal is tantamount to major and damaging surgery; justified in some cases, yes, but applied far too carelessly and cavalierly by CPS and the people who call them in. It is as if women were subjected to a radical mastectomy whenever a lump was discovered in the breast--for whatever reason, benign or not.

Perhaps if it were possible to prosecute the individuals who set this machine in motion so carelessly, we would see fewer of these horrendous cases where children are traumatized because of the short-sightedness of certain officials.

Karen Broyles
New Orleans

The real sickos: I honestly don't recall when I've seen such prime examples of bureaucratic stupidity. Perhaps common sense should be a requirement for employment at both CPS and the Richardson Police Department. And Dr. Robert Antonetti has no excuse--but of course, he's licensed by the state of Texas. It really looks as though the sickos in this case are all working for the state.

I really hope someone will take Ms. Mercado and Mr. Fernandez in hand and sue the state of Texas for them. They'll have a much better case than the state of Texas did.

Robert M. Tilendis
Chicago

Takes the cake: Well, talk about only in America. This about takes the cake in abuse of authority. Not only of one authority but of an entire train of authorities feeding off one another's ego.

In Australia there would not be one family that doesn't have a number of photos of theirs and the next-door neighbor kids playing nude under the sprinkler in the front yard, or in the bath with Mum or Dad. Our daughter will throw the kids in with me or my wife when we are showering and think nothing of it. Neither do we. Neither would anyone else in Australia.

Breast-feeding in public is very common everywhere, even in crowded shopping centers in Australia. Most women don't bother to cover up, and I suppose it depends on the size of the areola just how much of it is seen. Some are tiny, some are quite large. So what? It's only skin that is a little redder or browner than the rest. It's not pornographic.

The comment that the woman was touching her breast? Well, it IS her breast! The older boy was touching his genital area. So what? They are at the same height as his hands and dangle. I don't know of any child of either sex who has not stood mindlessly pulling on their genitals and sucking their thumb. This doesn't mean that they are being sexual--just normal kids with no thought of anything sexual.

I have shown this article to a number of people, and they are all of the same opinion as I am--that the only ones who need to undergo psychiatric assessment are the technician, the police, the staff of CPS and the lawyers who are pushing the case. I am sure they would all be found wanting. But somehow I would even doubt that outcome in America. I watch Oprah, Ricki and Jerry Springer and watch the news from America on SBS. So I have a reasonable view of American life. Not good, I'm afraid.

John Barr
Queensland, Australia

I surrender: I surely hope this has been resolved in the family's favor, as otherwise I might as well submit myself to the gestapo, since I, too, have pictures of my children nude as they were growing up.

Jerry Woomer
Vacaville, California

Moment of awe: I was outraged by this story. What has this country become when parents can't cuddle with their children or document their childhood? To nurture your child at your breast is an honor; to view your wife and child is a moment of awe. People engaged in child pornography are sick. People who beat their children are sick. It's time we stop letting the few dictate the needs of the greater. It's time to let parents show their children love and affection. It's time to let parents reprimand their children and provide clear-cut boundaries. It's time we stop being afraid of our children. Of touching our children. The legal system is forcing us to breed sociopaths. Look through your own photo albums, and you'll see many of the same photos of your childhood. Are you a pervert?

Carolyn Custer

Las VegasRacial motive: Thank you for writing this article. I am a breast-feeding mother of a 2-year-old and am appalled at the treatment the family received. The racism underlying the police's actions is appalling.

Donna Schakelaar
Darwin, Australia

Abuse of power: I am shocked at the idiocy of the Mercado/Fernandez case. Don't the police in Texas have anything better to do than chase breast-feeding mothers? They should spend their time going after gangsters, drug pushers, rapists, muggers, murderers and thieves.

Such cowardly behavior on the part of law enforcement, and the incompetence of a judiciary that failed to immediately correct the wrong, is so repulsive to me as an American that I can hardly express my outrage.

I certainly hope these good people can sue not only the local jurisdiction but the state and officers individually as well. This heinous abuse of power is the reason our founders insisted on the Bill of Rights, and a good example of why no security promised by the government at any level is ever worth even the smallest compromise with these rights.

As for the great state of Texas, this event has brought shame to you and tarnished your outstanding tradition as freedom-loving, courageous and brave people. I urge all true Texans, including President Bush, to demand the immediate return of these innocent children to their loving parents, and then I urge all Texans to codify the rights of parents and nullify the authority that was abused by the police officers in this trespass against the dignity of honorable people.

Leonard J. Umina
El Dorado Hills, California

Makes me ill: I am sick to my stomach after reading the article about the Peruvian family arrested because of photos of their baby breast-feeding. The American Pediatric Association recommends breast-feeding for at least one year, and then however long it is still mutually beneficial to mother and baby. There are sound reasons for that, too numerous for me to list here. But making women feel ashamed and afraid to do so is the real crime here. As a mother of two wonderful children--both of whom were breast-fed--I am shocked and pained by what has happened to this family. That people in positions of protecting society would see something as perfect as feeding a baby the way nature intended as pornographic and sexual makes me ill and ANGRY!!

Pam Diamond
Raleigh, North Carolina

[jbh]

Cyndiann, I think there's a very important factor missing in this story and discussion; I don't _know_ if this is the case, and someone should check on it.

In some states photolab operators are _required by law_ to notify the authorities if certain subject matter appears on film they've been given to process. The appropriate authorities would then of course be expected to investigate.

I think that's likely what occured here; the lab operator complied with law _imposed by politicians put into office by the voters._

If that's not the case, that's what tort lawyers are for.

As for the authorities, the voters either approve of and want that sort of government or they'll get rid of them. We've managed it in Florida every now and then.

My opinion on the incident? I don't type those words in polite company.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jbh:
Cyndiann, I think there's a very important factor missing in this story and discussion; I don't _know_ if this is the case, and someone should check on it.

In some states photolab operators are _required by law_ to notify the authorities if certain subject matter appears on film they've been given to process. The appropriate authorities would then of course be expected to investigate.

I think that's likely what occured here; the lab operator complied with law _imposed by politicians put into office by the voters._

If that's not the case, that's what tort lawyers are for.

As for the authorities, the voters either approve of and want that sort of government or they'll get rid of them. We've managed it in Florida every now and then.

My opinion on the incident? I don't type those words in polite company. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I don't think a picture of a child breastfeeding is something that needs reporting. This is where things go haywire... people misinterpret what they see and get involved because their personal opinion is that something nasty is going on when it isn't.

[jbh]

> I don't think a picture of a child breastfeeding is something that needs reporting.

I certainly agree with you.

I've read somewhere or other, either in photography forums or in photo (business) news mags that what often occurs in a state where reporting of "suspect" photography is required is that lab personnel tend to report just about everything, no matter how obviously innocent. The reason isn't simply to obey the law, but to avoid any potential liability that could arise from failure to report.

[just_sailing]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hemdale:
I read the artical at this link a few days ago
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2003-04-17/feature2.html/1/index.html

And I would like to invite folks here to brainstorm what we can do to change the witch hunting mentality we have in America today. I admit that this is such a complicated problem that I don't know where to start. And no a digital camera is not the solution.

Hemdale <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I live in the metroplex area where Richardson is located, so not only have I had the opportunity to read the article, I have also heard the police dept. interviewed on the radio. What was most interesting were the women who called the radio stations during the show that interviewed the police to protest this action. One mentioned that male police officers have no area of expertise or experience on determining the correctness of breast feeding. and of course Child Protective Services will get involved with something like this.

I wish we could use this situation as a opportunity to get all the policing agencies to act first with common sense.

[Stuffed Tiger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hemdale:
...snip...
And I would like to invite folks here to brainstorm what we can do to change the witch hunting mentality we have in America today ...snip... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>We must secure legal recognition of each person's exclusive rights to their own body. This right is inherent in the Constitution of the United States of America and cannot be abridged (with limited exceptions for public health, defense and the like).

Under this right, optional clothing and behavior can be regulated against but not another person's body. You see, breast feeding is not an optional behavior, anymore than breathing. Everyone recognizes that people have a right to breathe, but why? They have the right to breathe because they have *all* the rights to their own body.

For the same reason, a mother has a right to provide milk and her child has the right to feed - because only they have the rights to their own bodies. Abridgement is precluded. The authorities are not being *kind* in allowing this. It is their RIGHT.

This same basic right precludes any part of one person's body being declared obscene or offensive by another. Otherwise, the difference between us and the Taliban is just a matter of which parts are declared obscene, and the witch hunts will only get worse.

The many supporters of derivatives of this right are organized for a particular issue: breast feeding or nudism or prevention of child abuse and so on. We need to recognize these all center on the individuals rights to their own bodies and join together to support that recognition.

[just_sailing]

I don't remember if it was mentioned in the article referenced at the beginning of this message thread, but was memtioned on the radio shows, was that even though the child was 1 year old - he had already stopped breast feeding. It was said that the mother wanted to 'capture the memory' with the picture.

I don't know if the police knew this immediately or if it came out during the investigation later.

[NotBob13]

What I find this just plain stupid. On top of everything else, doesn't the CPS have anything better to do. My daughter was sexually molested by her Mom's Dad. Her physician found bruising, and called the cops. We had to wait to the next day and take my daughter to the CPS doctors (a three hour drive) so they couldn't find the bruises. The CPS did nothing, except counter My daughter's physician's testamony. The Bastard is still walking free, just because the CPS woundn't get off thier asses, and then wouldn't accept the testamony of a pediatrician and two police officers as to the condition of my daughter.
I believe the CPS just didn't want to get involved.