SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Supreme Court revived a long-running debate Thursday when it reinstated a lawsuit over whether psychotherapists must tell authorities when patients report they are attracted to child pornography. Lower courts had tossed out the lawsuit by three therapists who argued that California's mandatory reporting law violates patient confidentiality and dissuades patients from revealing that they downloaded or electronically viewed child pornography. The dissenting justices said the therapists were unlikely to win the lawsuit. The majority was careful to note that the therapists had argued that the patients in the case do not present a serious risk of sexual contact with children. Those justices also concluded that patient privacy rights only apply to disclosures during voluntary psychotherapy sessions, not to actually possessing or viewing child porn, which remains illegal and reportable.

Source: International New York Times December 26, 2019 22:30 UTC