The Curse of Mark Foley
In Cleveland's alt-weekly, the Scene, Kevin Hoffman scopes out the effects of that anti-sex predator law Mark Foley got on the book two months before… well, you know.
The new law is being challenged in the case of David Knellinger. He was a middle-aged financial analyst living in Richmond, Virginia, when federal agents raided his home and seized his hard drive. A federal indictment claims it contained 32 explicit movies of underage girls.
Initially, prosecutors agreed to provide defense lawyer Friedman with copies of the files. But with the passage of the Walsh Act, their posture changed. Computer experts would have to do their work not only on-site, but also under the watchful eye of law enforcement.
"I'm trying to discuss the case with the defense attorney or client, so it really hampers attorney-client privilege," Vassel says.
Left unsaid; no one more powerful than an alt-weekly reporter is going to challenge this law. No politician with less popularly than, say, FDR before court packing will stake his reputation on "being soft on sexual predators.