Fla. Man Who Posted Military Photos On Internet Is Released From Jail

[DoYouEverWonder]

December 30, 2005

LAKELAND, Fla. -- An appeals court has ordered the release of an alleged Internet pornographer who was arrested after he posted grisly photos U.S. soldiers took in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal did not state in its brief order Thursday why Chris Wilson should be released, but said a written opinion would follow. He left jail a few hours later.

Wilson, 28, was arrested on obscenity charges in October for operating a Web site which sparked national attention for giving soldiers free access to pornography in exchange for posting pictures from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

His attorney has suggested the government arrested Wilson for posting naked photos as a way to stop him for posting the war photos, saying that few alleged Web pornographers are charged with obscenity.

Polk County prosecutors requested in November that Wilson's $151,000 bail be revoked because his Web site continued to operate.

After reviewing 30 pictures and three videos from Wilson's site, Circuit Judge J. Dale Durrance revoked Wilson's bail earlier this month, finding there was probable cause to think the pictures were obscene.

The judge ordered that Wilson, a former Eagle Lake police officer, be held without bail until his trial.

http://www.local6.com/news/5735691/detail.html

[purduejake]

1. Wait?

Web pornography is now illegal? If this is true, we will see a revolution!

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. No, it was just an excuse to put him jail

for posting war pics from Iraq.

[Doremus]

3. Wow, I didn't know they put that guy in jail.

So they used the trumped up charge of pornography and threw him in jail --without bail-- for TWO MONTHS?

It's pornographic all right -- downright obscene that the neocon fascists can do this and get away with it. Hell, they don't need offshore gulags when they have the f'ing American court system that's only too happy to oblige their every wish.

Pretty damn scary. People better start waking up is all I can say.

[mongo]

5. In most states

The way the laws are written, you can be arrested for selling a copy of Playboy.

It would be up to a jury to decide if it was "obscene" and therefore illegal to sell in your community.

An expensive process for both sides.

[HuffleClaw]

4. iirc, this was the one

that was commented on by a high muckymuck republican, after the 'grisly photos' became news. THEN he was charged. so it wouldn't take much for the defence to prove a political prosecution.

[TexasLawyer]

6. Interesting site

for visual images of the war (photos, videos-- REAL pornography) and for a very mixed bag of comments posted by visitors to the site.

You can get a link to the site by visiting http://www.freechris.org/index.php/about-chris/

Once there, check out things like Video: Iraqi Children Throw Rocks At U.S. Troops