Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, left, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, center and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, laugh during a news conference at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, March 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
New York leaders have agreed to a bill that will again make viewing all child porn online illegal under state law, a measure needed because of a high court ruling that shocked the bill’s sponsor.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo and leaders of the Senate and Assembly on Sunday said they reached agreement on legislation making all viewing of child pornography online illegal. It is in response to a Court of Appeals ruling in May that said New York’s law was outdated, technologically, because it required a viewer to download or otherwise directly access child porn for it to be considered possession.
Today’s video streaming and other internet advances no longer require that action to, as the law defines it, “possess” child pornography.
“Today, just a month from the time that citizens of New York and our nation were shocked and offended by a loophole that prevented the appropriate prosecution of individuals who view child pornography, we have effectively changed the law,” said Sen. Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican.
“When it comes to protecting children, we can’t allow loopholes in the law,” said Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat.
The state law now more closely resembles the federal law. The federal law can be used when a federal agent is involved in the investigation.
The bill will now be ready for its expected passage in Assembly and Senate votes by the end of the legislative session on Thursday.
Cuomo said Sunday he will sign the law.
“Together with my colleagues in the Senate and Assembly, we are taking every precaution to ensure that our children are protected and that justice is served,” Cuomo said.
The court in making its ruling urged the Legislature to act. As recently as Friday, Golden was concerned the Assembly might not agree on a measure in time to be printed for the end of the session.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
