CA: court revives psychotherapist challenge to law on patients who reveal child porn activity
The California Supreme Court revived a challenge by psychotherapists Thursday to a state law requiring them to notify the government about any patient who has viewed child pornography.
The law, passed in 2014, expanded statutes from the 1980s that required therapists to report to police or child welfare offices — or face loss of their licenses and criminal prosecution — when a patient has produced, distributed or duplicated images of juveniles engaged in sexual activity. The new law extended the requirement to patients who downloaded or viewed those images.
While viewing child pornography is a crime, under a state law not challenged in Thursday’s case, the therapists argued that mandatory reporting would invade their patients’ privacy and thwart efforts to counsel and treat them.
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So, if someone wants to change their life and find the tools to be someone who adds positively to society, they addres now blocked from seeking this kind of help.
My wife says (licensed mental health therapist) if you pair these issues as notional (didn’t really happen, or “what ifs”) then she can answer you without the need to report anything. After all, you didn’t say you actually did something.
“So, what of I were to have downloaded porn, what would be the tools to then help me help myself? “
Just when you thought it would be difficult to find work as a psychologist because you are on the registry, a Godsend like this pops up! This is a GREAT law that will benefit those already on the registry who have a master’s degree in psychology who can no longer practice as a psychologist because of the registry. PEER COUNSELING! This is a much safer alternative to going to an actual psychologist, a one way ticket into prison! Registered S/O across the country with a psychology degree: Pack your bags! There is gold in them thar hills!
It feels like these agencies are really desperate to stay relevant by scrapping at the bottom of the barrel for arrests and prosecutions.
I swear to God the law will stop at no grounds just to get an arrest when it comes to sex offenses. Why not simply arrest people simply because they have a mind? This country has literally become the thought police.
These laws destroy everyone.