Jörg Tauss (born 5 July 1953) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

politician and former member of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD). He was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. From 2000 to 2009, Tauss was the spokesperson of the Education and Research workgroup of the SPD in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

. He also served within that time as regional party general secretary for

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. On 6 March 2009, his home and offices in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

were raided by the LKAs of both Berlin and Baden-Württemberg in a search for

child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...

which he had allegedly obtained on his mobile phone. Although he claimed that the raid and investigation were politically motivated, he resigned from all government posts on 7 March, and was stripped of his

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...

on the same day. Prosecutors began the investigation after they had obtained access to phone numbers and addresses found on the mobile phone of a Bremerhaven man who was suspected of participation in a child pornography ring. He stated on 11 March that he had purchased the material only for investigation purposes pertinent to his office. He reports that his research suggests that child pornography is typically distributed by

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and traditional mail, so that blocking websites is ineffective. On 20 June 2009, Tauss announced he was leaving the SPD for the

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...

in protest against that party's support of legislation that would block child pornography websites, which he said would set up a technical infrastructure of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

without judicial review. On 1 July, Tauss appealed against the law because of formal reasons at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. On 8 September 2009, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and the next day he was formally charged. In May 2010 he got a suspended prison sentence of 15 months. The judge concluded that he had been active in the online child pornography scene for private reasons rather than out of political motives relating to his parliamentary work. However, the judge did not think his motivation had necessarily been sexual, it could have been sheer curiosity. 'This is a judgement which I cannot live with and do not want to live with,' Tauss said after the trial. He plans to appeal the verdict.

References

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Solidaritaet mit Jörg Tauss
– A German website that defends Tauss {{DEFAULTSORT:Tauss, Jorg 1953 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg Politicians from Stuttgart Members of Chaos Computer Club German politicians convicted of crimes Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany

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