Do therapists have to report patients viewing child porn? It may change in California

A California law that makes it mandatory for therapists to report clients who have viewed or downloaded child pornography can be challenged in court, says a new ruling by the California Supreme Court.

In the 4-3 decision, the California Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a previous ruling that threw out the case, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The 2014 amendment to California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act requires therapists to report to the police anyone who “knowingly downloads, streams, or accesses” child porn through any digital or electronic media.

Therapists sued in February 2015 to block the law, saying the amendment would discourage people from seeking therapy.

The law would cause “patients to cease therapy, make them unlikely to disclose intimate details needed to provide effective therapy, or deter existing or potential patients with serious sexual disorders from obtaining therapy at all,” according to the lawsuit filed by two therapists and an alcohol and drug counselor.

They also argued that the amendment violates their patients’ “constitutional right to privacy” and “patient-psychotherapist privilege.”

The case was dismissed by the Los Angeles Superior Court, and then a California appeals court affirmed the decision in 2017, according to the American Bar Association.

“Our holding does not mean the reporting requirement is unconstitutional,” Justice Goodwin Liu wrote in the decision. “It means only that the burden shifts to the state to demonstrate a sufficient justification for the incursion on privacy as this case moves forward.”