Reconsidering Mandatory Minimums for Young Adults in CSAM Cases - A Policy Argument for Restoring Judicial Discretion

Reconsidering Mandatory Minimums for Young Adults in CSAM Cases - A Policy Argument for Restoring Judicial Discretion

Across the country, policymakers are grappling with the challenge of applying laws written decades ago to a digital world that has transformed far faster than the legal system. Nowhere is this tension more visible than in the prosecution of child sexual abuse material offenses involving young adults.

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Cached, Convicted, Condemned: Why Sex Offender Registries and Mandatory Minimums Fail Youth
CSAM, Searches, Warrants, Fear Michelle Friedman CSAM, Searches, Warrants, Fear Michelle Friedman

Cached, Convicted, Condemned: Why Sex Offender Registries and Mandatory Minimums Fail Youth

The doorbell rang before dawn on August 16, 2022. It sounded like a newborn’s cry, sharp and impossible to ignore. I checked my phone: 6:00 a.m., the sky was still dark. When I looked out our windows, officers stood at the front door in vests and fully armed. A Department of Justice forensic truck sat in our driveway; at least five squad cars surrounded our house like an impending storm.

That morning everything changed.

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