HARRISBURG -- Opponents of a proposed law to make "sexting" by teens a misdemeanor are urging state legislators to scrap the proposal or at least hold a hearing on the idea before taking a vote.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Juvenile Law Center, based in Philadelphia, said today they are opposed to House Bill 2189, which is due to be voted on by the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

The bill was designed as a move to go easier on teens who use cell phones to send nude or sexually explicit photos of themselves to friends, which sometimes wind up on the Internet. Under current law, prosecutors would have to consider such activity a felony, which can have serious legal consequences.

The new bill would make such activity a misdemeanor, with less serious punishments than a felony, legislative supporters said.

But ACLU legal director Vic Walczak and Law Center official Marsha Levick said the Legislature should not get involved in the issue of sexting. They said that while sexting is misguided and foolish, it shouldn't be listed as any category of crime, because doing so could hurt teens later in life as far as getting into college, getting scholarships, getting jobs or joining the military.

"A misdemeanor in the juvenile justice system still carries extremely harsh consequences," Mr. Walczak said.

He and Ms. Levick said parents and school and community officials should use education, family discipline, taking away the cell phone or other type of guidance to stop teens from sexting, not use the law enforcement system. If a person continues to "sext" another person against that person's wishes, there are stalking or harassment laws already on the books to deal with it, Mr. Walczak said.

ACLU legislative director Andrew Hoover said he is trying to get the Judiciary Committee to at least hold one hearing, to hear from experts on juvenile behavior about the dangers of the bill, before any action is taken on it.

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