Eat my shorts: More on The Simpsons and Chris Illingworth cases
December 18, 2008 – 7:04 pm
Mark Pesce has written an excellent article over at his usual haunt, ABC Unleashed, titled Simpsons and sensibility. It’s a look at the Simpsons Porn case which made headlines last week (court document available here as a PDF). ABC took their time publishing it so a lot of what Mark says has been discussed elsewhere now, but nowhere near as clearly. Pesce writes:
…Has Judge Adams ever watched The Simpsons? The casual, almost reckless child abuse that occurs every time Homer strangles Bart is precisely the sort of “abuse” that judge Adams seeks quash. As near as I can tell, television brodcasters and everyone who watches any episode of The Simpsons where Homer throttles Bart (there are many, many such episodes, plus last year’s feature film) have violated Australia’s laws concerning the distribution and viewing of materials which depict child abuse.
And let’s be blunt: Homer does abuse Bart. There’s no other rationale for Homer’s behavior. It is child abuse. And any materials which depict child abuse in any way are wholly illegal under Australian law.
He also looks at the case of Christopher Illingworth, who today faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court charged with two counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material. And by child abuse material QLD police mean the famous video of a baby being swung around, circulated widely across YouTube and shown on news reports in the United States. Chris republished it on Liveleak.com.
Never mind that this video was freely available online, had been viewed by hundreds of thousands of individuals, or that it had been broadcast by American TV stations. None of that matters. Nor do police seem interested in the context of the video, reported to be a Russian circus family having fun with the baby. It is child abuse, and even watching the video is illegal in Australia.
Jeremy Gans, who teaches and researches in criminal justice law, also has a great article discussing both cases on his blog. Well worth reading.
10 Responses to “Eat my shorts: More on The Simpsons and Chris Illingworth cases”
This is scary stuff. (Harry Potter is another example — his family locking him in a cupboard, etc.)
By random on Dec 18, 2008
As the date of the conviction is known together with the place the original judgement it _may_ be possible to obtain a transcript of the hearing possibly outlining the circumstances that gave rise to the judgement at Parramatta Local Court (6 George Street Parramatta) on 26th. February 2008.
Here’s a URL for the local court
http://www.directory.nsw.gov.au/showorgunit.asp?id=%7B1589ECED-A7D9-47AF-B801-A99A3D797491%7D
There would be costs involved and the material might be subject to copyright and they would ask for reasons for the request (possibly “public interest in a controversial matter” or “legal research”.
I live nearby but don’t have the resources to pursue it, but I would imagine that a truly interested party resident in Sydney could do so.
I believe transcripts of the hearing are held in computer/electronic form for a period of three years.
Parramatta Local Court is a public court and unless it was a closed hearing the public would have been admitted to the court as is the case in most proceedings in the Local Court System in New South Wales.
Local courts are places that the media often frequent to obtain news.
Bob
By Bob Bain on Dec 19, 2008
Thanks allot, now The Simpsons is going to be banned from tv.
By Dan on Dec 19, 2008
What about shows like Family Guy and South Park? I’m very sure there are heaps more “child abuse” material than the Simpsons. Sooner or later anyone who even “watches” it will be criminally charged with “accessing” child abuse material and will have to serve ten years imprisonment. `:/
By Unhappy Teen on Dec 19, 2008
Is it just me or is it becoming increasingly harder to know what is legal and what isn’t? You can barely walk out your front door now without breaking some stupid law. What does the Government want from us all?
By James on Dec 19, 2008
“Is it just me or is it becoming increasingly harder to know what is legal and what isn’t? You can barely walk out your front door now without breaking some stupid law. What does the Government want from us all?”
You can’t do this and you can’t do that, can’t, can’t, can’t – they’re all a bunch of cant’s!
Read recently at a forum somewhere…
By ellinoz on Dec 20, 2008
What about Funniest Home Videos? We all have a good laugh at how stupid other people can be, but it is only a small step before it becomes “Faces of Death”. That is the nature of a successful moral panic, you’re afraid to even breath lest some cry “Ye be a Witch, Burn Ye”
By Stevian on Dec 20, 2008
this is seriously getting to the point where it’s beyond rediculous, i’m actually considering moving to another country, course even that is probably considered a crime nowadays, i’m sure some nob would find a way to class it as sedition or treason.
By blind_dead_mcjones on Dec 20, 2008