In what might be the first official correspondence between a Virginia Attorney General and a State Delegate to use the word "sexting," AG Ken Cuccinelli issued a four-page opinion to clarify a few points for a bill authored by Albemarle County Delegate Rob Bell.
The bill is an attempt to close what Bell characterizes as a legal loophole by treating lewd or threatening text messages as comparable phone calls, a Class One misdemeanor according to the Code of Virginia. In his opinion, Cuccinelli says teachers may use a standard of "reasonable suspicion" when considering whether a student might be violating state or school laws with a cell phone.
And as Rosalind Helderman points out, Cuccinelli opines about sexting. Specifically, teachers who confiscate cell phones and discover materials that constitute child pornography may not share those materials with other school employees; rather, the materials should promptly be turned over to law enforcement.
Click here for Cuccinelli’s opinion, and here for C-VILLE’s recent story on Bell’s bill.