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Myspace “Outrage Indictment” Perverts Justice

briancuban.com — Who does not feel sorry for the family of Megan Meir? I certainly do but.....

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  • linkjuice, on 05/17/2008, -36/+34Definitely a “legal lynch mob”! Two wrongs don’t make it right…
    • wissler, on 05/17/2008, -3/+6And while the lynch mob cheers the corrupt legal system this time, the next time it will be one of them in prison on trumped up charges.
      • KiraDnote, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4If you tell someone the world would be better of without them, do you actually expect them to kill themselves? I don't think so.
    • dman24752, on 05/17/2008, -2/+5I disagree. I'm not sure about the validity of the outrage indictment, but I would think there are at least legal remedies in civil law. I would also think that the mother would be guilty of such crimes as contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Also, if the mother (or by proxy her daughter) specifically told the girl to kill herself and she did, I believe that would be a crime as well. I'm certainly not a legal expert, but the family of the girl deserves some kind of justice and I think that it probably can be attained through current law.
      • malakite33, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Do you not play online games? People who are good tell people who suck to "Go kill yourself" constantly. I would HATE to be charged with ANYTHING from some emo ***** who sucks at games and life to then kill himself over that and me to get charged with something. Since WHEN is typing words online to ANYONE a crime? I feel bad for the family but this girl could have ignored the woman and if she didn't have al kinds of other bad ***** going on in her life then she would have been fine. I was made fun of a lot growing up but my family life was good and my parents loved me so I never even thought to kill myself. I'm not sure where all the internet users and diggers who are notorious for making fun of people get off on calling for this type of "justice" for online words typed on a computer to a girl who could have ignored them but was unfortunately inundated with a life so ***** it wasn't worth living to her. Think about the repercussions of what you are saying. If scientologists start killing themselves because we have been harassing them and calling them "Xenu alien freak lovers" then according to diggers logic we'd all be guilty of murder.
        • babar77, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3There's a major difference between anonymous people online telling other anonymous people online that they suck over a single incident or one fit of rage and a very personal and deliberately planned out harassment of someone else to push them over the edge.

          Laws repeatedly make this distinction between crimes of passion and pre-meditated crimes. You get the death penalty for pre-meditating murder a lot of states, where as you might only be facing 20 years for a murder committed as a crime of passion.

          In this instance, the random gamer is a crime of passion - but if that gamer then start stalking and repeatedly harassing the same person it turns into pre-meditation. This is a VERY common distinction in criminal law.
    • KiraDnote, on 05/17/2008, -1/+6If the prosecution is successful in this case, it will turn millions of people into criminals for mis-respresenting themselves when signing up for various internet services. I think it's time the government stopped making people criminals for ordinary behavior.
    • biotch, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4I disagree too ...
      The mother had malicious intent to do harm to a minor. She should have known better. I dont think she meant for the girl to hang herself, but she certainly meant to do harm. She should be punished for that, And all the people with fake profiles would not be made into criminals by punishing her. There are tons of fake profiles out there but it is another thing entirely when someone in the position of being an adult uses that fraudulent identity to intentionally do harm to a youngster.
      • malakite33, on 05/17/2008, -3/+3There is no way you could have known the mothers intent. When I kill a noob online in a game and say "Go kill yourself *****" and he does, am I then guilty of a crime? If we call a scientologist "***** up Xenu loving douche bag" and that makes him depressed enough to go kill himself, should everyone who ever made fun of them go to jail? Sorry, I cannot agree with diggers on this one.
        • gh0st3000, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Telling someone to kill themselves while trash talking is quite different than continually doing it to a girl whom you know full well suffers from depression and takes meds for it. In the game, it's almost expected and everyone knows you're not serious, but to do it when they aren't prepared and are impressionable is different.
    • babar77, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I completely disagree for one simple reason. Most people - even the author of this article - agrees that laws should and will appear that handles this type of crime. I would assume that most people agree that what this mother did was morally reprehensible. If that is the case - then a statue should be created to handle this situation.

      I believe this is a case where the perversion is in the system because it most obviously does not allow for justice The system is not perfect, and we should all be striving to make it perfect.

      Was it a legal lynch mob that took down Al Capone with tax evasion laws because they couldn't stick him with murder?
  • rpi22, on 05/17/2008, -6/+82Myspace and perverts in the same sentence?! NEVER!!!!
  • mydigga, on 05/17/2008, -31/+15I would say the fact that she has to live with this tragedy the rest of her life, coupled with the good old media lynching, she is already serving her time. Ultimately, Megan Meir's parents are just as responsible as Lori Drew. As adults we are responsible for protecting children. That said, ladies in the audience... if I ever caught you doing this to one of my children, or anyone else's... I will punch you in the eye.
    • rasbill, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5not really, she might get alot of ***** online and on the news, but you or i wouldnt recognize her in the street so whats it matter
    • Myonosken, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2You could say the same of any crime. Fact is, I don't really think this bitch actually feels sorry.
  • davecskul, on 05/17/2008, -46/+36Why is this even important? The world is falling apart while mass media exploits stupid people type news stories. Fact of the matter is Meagan's home life and family must have been weak and not very good all along. How many times have anyone of you been flamed or told to kill yourself on line? Did you do it? Media today is like a study of the hillbilly culture while the super elite running around stuffing it in us and in every hole might I add. What is more important? A sad broken woman whose family was destroyed when her undereducated and low self esteem laden daughter committed suicide over MySpace or millions of people dead in Iraq and many more to come all over the world? Wake up people!
    • bcuban, on 05/17/2008, -6/+18I would hate to think that the death of any person is judged or diminished by the circumstances in which it occurs. Untimely Death in any manner is only one thing... bad!
      • cdcr28, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1Get off of my digg you ***** moralfag.

        /bcuban
        *thank you new comment feature that allows me to purge my digg of ***** like this
    • smotpoker, on 05/17/2008, -5/+24This *grown woman* did not simply tell her to die but impersonated a boy of the same sex, seduced her and *then* told her to kill herself amongst other things. She did so with malice and spite and it was her intent from the beginning to harm her.

      Personally I feel this particular case is worse than many "horror stories" where adults end up having sex with minors and such. In most of those cases the motivating factor is personal gratification and little or no harm is perceived or inflicted by the offending adult. Even if the girl hadn't committed suicide, she could have been scarred for life

      This story and Iraq are both symptomatic of the same problem - a culture of cynicism, vindictiveness and disregard of human life/well-being. Perhaps these sort of introspective stories could help influence our future perspectives
      • apothekari, on 05/17/2008, -4/+3I agree with you smotpoker, and most of the people in the same general area as your points but, Every once in a while a person does a combination of something so outlandishly reckless and stupid that the community at large picks up torches and pitchforks and tit for tat writ large occurs,more lives are ruined and then the swing back occurs.
        It's a vicious cycle of stupidity and vengance.
      • centerblack, on 05/17/2008, -0/+51) the other mom sent her a message saying the world would be better off without her. she didn't say KILL YOURSELF
        2) The girl had just told her mom about the mean messages, and then got into an argument with her mom over the language she used when replying to them.
        3) After the argument she ran upstairs to her room
        4) 20 minutes later her parents checked on her, she had hung herself in the closet, she was unable to be revived.

        Unless you have a rope with a noose or know how to tie one, how the ***** are you going to hang yourself in the closet? Obviously this girl had already considered this idea- the argument combined with her questionable mental state probably lead her to make one of the most irrational and illogical choices possible.

        Of course, the other mom has mental health issues as well. Specifically I'd say she has some control issues and is overprotective. Her daughter probably has issues too- what teen wants to make a myspace account with their mom?
        • centerblack, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I found the police report. She used a belt.
          http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/11 ...
        • KiraDnote, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Killing yourself isn't necessarily irrational. Plenty of kids realize at some point that their fondest dreams are not going to come true. And when they are unable to reconcile reality with what they want, they kill themselves to avoid a lifetime of suffering.
        • centerblack, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Kira, sarcasm?

          If not then I'll just say this:
          No one is gonna give it to you, you have to take it.


          I saw her today at a reception
          A glass of wine in her hand
          I knew she would meet her connection
          At her feet was her footloose man

          No, you can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          And if you try sometime you find
          You get what you need

          I saw her today at the reception
          A glass of wine in her hand
          I knew she was gonna meet her connection
          At her feet was her footloose man

          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          But if you try sometimes you might find
          You get what you need

          Oh yeah, hey hey hey, oh...

          And I went down to the demonstration
          To get my fair share of abuse
          Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration
          If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"
          Sing it to me now...

          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          But if you try sometimes well you just might find
          You get what you need
          Oh baby, yeah, yeah!

          I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
          To get your prescription filled
          I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
          And man, did he look pretty ill
          We decided that we would have a soda
          My favorite flavor, cherry red
          I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
          Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"
          I said to him

          You can't always get what you want, no!
          You can't always get what you want (tell ya baby)
          You can't always get what you want (no)
          But if you try sometimes you just might find
          You get what you need
          Oh yes! Woo!

          You get what you need--yeah, oh baby!
          Oh yeah!

          I saw her today at the reception
          In her glass was a bleeding man
          She was practiced at the art of deception
          Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands

          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          But if you try sometimes you just might find
          You just might find
          You get what you need

          You can't always get what you want (no, no baby)
          You can't always get what you want
          You can't always get what you want
          But if you try sometimes you just might find
          You just might find
          You get what you need, ah yes...
    • gryphon50, on 05/17/2008, -3/+6many 13 yr. olds are very vulnerable, naive, etc. I don't think it necessarily means that she would not have turned into a perfectly normal adult. But she does not have that chance because this sadistic, manipulative woman drove her over the edge.
    • duckyinc, on 05/17/2008, -10/+6I agree people are outraged too much.. save the outrage when more than 1 person actually dies?
      • freebsdmike, on 05/17/2008, -1/+9So it's okay to kill someone whether it be directly or indirectly as long as it's just 1 person? Your statement doesn't even make sense.
        • Liability, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4She didn't kill the girl, the girl killed herself. The parents naturally look for someone else to blame.
        • freebsdmike, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4You're correct she didn't kill the girl, the girl killed herself. Her actions cause the girl to commit suicide. Her action were malicious and with the intent of causing the girl to commit suicide. For that reason she should be held responsible for her death.
        • duckyinc, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Yes for example tons of people died (20k+) in china because of poor standards.. lets be outraged at that but wait lets rage more about a girl who killed herself..
    • jugglingjon, on 05/17/2008, -4/+4I resent the argument that just because there are more important things going on in the world, that everything else somehow becomes trivial. If you need a grander reason to look into this story, how about the fact that it addresses the issue of anonymity of online and how its abuse extends beyond perverts; this highlights the many ways which a person can use the internet abusively, and my opinion, fraudulently.

      I'm glad that myspace is named in the lawsuit, because while it may be found that no laws were broken, myspace certainly failed at protecting their users yet again; maybe this will get enough attention for them to not just talk about, but enact real reforms.
      • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4MySpace is not responsible for the protection/parenting of it's users.
        They're provided immunity under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

        I for one DO NOT welcome your desired nanny-state overlords.

        • Liability, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3I agree with djdole 110%

          That would be like blaming the phone company because someone called you and said something mean.

        • jugglingjon, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1The world is not divided up into big brother overlords and total anarchy, there's room in between for a framework that prevents people from masquerading under false identities.

          I don't want tracking chips plugged into my head and everything I read to be censored either, but it would be nice to have some confidence in the identities of people online. Even a voluntary program, at the user level, certifying a person's identity, and the option to restrict your communications to people with that same certification, would be an improvement.
    • copypasta, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3In the words of Stalin: "The death of one is a tragedy. The death of millions is just a statistic."
    • cdcr28, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Yeah dude I agree. Have you seen how hot Megan Meier's mom was? I bet she always like criticized her daughters appearance, lots of hot moms do that when they have fat children.

      Oh and to answer your question about why it's important; it's going to be used by sharks in the media to get ratings and by sharks in washington to get legislation through. ***** moralfags.
    • JointVenture, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1The world is falling apart? Oh no, wheres my duct tape!
  • truthmatters, on 05/17/2008, -27/+157Any bullying that results in the suicide of a child should be treated as a criminal act. These sociopaths that hide behind a computer and socially and psychologically destroy a child, need to be treated as criminals that have recklessly endangered the life of a child. Any adult that bullies a child to the point of suicide should not be tolerated in a civilized society. With teen suicide on the rise since 2004, I think bullying and depression are important societal issues that needs to be addressed.
    http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5635a2. ...
    • bcuban, on 05/17/2008, -3/+12I agree 100 percent with everything you said. There just needs to be appropriate legislation to fit this breed of cyber bully crimes. I think over the next 10 years you will see new legislation to deal with this and close the gaps exposed by this case
      • truthmatters, on 05/17/2008, -4/+7Maybe an "outrage indictment" is what's needed to speed up legislation, or fill in the gaps before legislation is passed.
      • icantseeyou, on 05/17/2008, -2/+10Until legislation is passed the lynch mob should be stopped. Hopefully a judge will dispose of this. There is a reason we have multiple branches of government. (although in this administration one might wonder)
      • macweirdo42, on 05/17/2008, -0/+10I just can't help but feel there must be something to cover this. I mean, what if this hadn't been through the Internet? If this woman were harassing this girl in real life, I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me there are laws that would apply there, and in my opinion, the fact that she used the Internet does not change situation.
    • MajorOutage, on 05/17/2008, -4/+10I agree that bullying should be a crime, but the severity of the crime should be judged by the acts of the bullies, not just because the victim commited suicide over it.

      One person may take alot of abuse and be able to shrug it off. The next will snap after hearing the word "fat". You can't simply say that because one took it harder, that the bullies in the latter case are more guilty of bullying than the former.
      • akatsuki, on 05/17/2008, -3/+3Look up the eggshell skull rule and you will see why she should be tried for the suicide.
        • nextyoyoma, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3That only applies if the actions she took were actually illegal. If you say to someone "I believe you are a terrible person," then they die of shock, no reasonable jury would hold you liable for their death, because you committed no crime by calling them that. As bcuban said, however, there needs to be appropriate legislation to deal with these situations...that said, would depraved indifference not come into play here?
        • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3The eggshell skull rule does not apply to emotions.
          You can not legislate emotions.
    • SirFoxx, on 05/17/2008, -17/+15Oh come the ***** on. If someone is so thin skinned that they can't take someone picking on them, then ***** them. The world's a rough place, wear a cup. Nobody force that girl to kill herself. She was weak. The mother that bullied her is sick but she committed no crime. The 2 guys who shot up Columbine were weak too. I don't care how much ***** they got from others, they killed because they were weak.
      • CobaltBlue, on 05/17/2008, -4/+12Social Darwinism FTW.
      • sugarazor, on 05/17/2008, -4/+4She was a child... the same children we protect because they are not mature enough to make certain decisions for themselves. That would be like saying "***** em" because a 40 year old male convinced a 12 year old girl to have sex with him.

        Hey, the world is a rough place, right? It's totally okay to manipulate and abuse weak children!
        • Eezyville, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5You are right it is our job to protect our children. Now where were Megan's parents?
        • sugarazor, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2From the original story, her parents closely monitored her internet activity and they were aware of the situation with "Josh." The girl killed herself in her room while her family was eating dinner.

          The only solution they really could have done was keep her off the internet altogether, and that's not solving a problem either, that's just sheltering your kid. Granted, the girl obviously had deeper issues than just bullies, it was how she handled it. But an adult manipulating and destroying an emotionally fragile person is similar to throwing a match on someone covered in gasoline.
        • hmunkey, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1If my sister's parents saw that on her Myspace, they would have deleted the account and talked to her.
        • sugarazor, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1How do you know that's not what they did? But once it's already been said to a person that they should kill themselves, the damage has been done. All the parental speeches in the world sometimes just can't help a person who is mentally unstable. They knew she had a problem, they had taken her to therapy. These aren't some parents that used the internet as a babysitter.
    • Cerebron, on 05/17/2008, -10/+5Nobody forced her to use the internet. If you feel threatened, go look at some pictures of kittens. Nobody forced her up against the wall and beat her up. I guess some people have never been bullied right and they get confused.
    • digsuxx, on 05/17/2008, -7/+9The internet wasn't created to host your 13 year olds social life.
      The real crime is from the parents, who were likely neglectful narcissists. They didn't care about their child enough to know the internet wasn't what she needed. Who wants to bet the parents failed to put this broken child in therapy any time before this tragedy?
      • bronxelf, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4Actually, she had been in therapy for most of her young life. She'd been on medication for depression for the previous five years. In this case, the parents were not unaware of how fragile their child was. They knew. They had been trying to treat her for years and it was only in the months prior to the suicide that they had been seeing good results.

    • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -4/+9There's a little road-bump in your desire to create a nanny-state to legislate bullying.
      It's called the First Amendment to the Constitution.
      Namely, Freedom of speech.

      You can say tell me "You should *****-off and die!" till you're blue in the face. And while I may not like it (and may choose on my own to end my own life for whatever reason be it hurt feelings or emotional instability), it would be your constitutional right to say so.
      • macweirdo42, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3I disagree - I think this falls under the "Shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded theater" category. If done properly, emotional bullying is no different than physical bullying.
        • Acolyte357, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Defamation? Nope
          Causing panic? Nope
          Incitement to crime? Nope
          Looks like it's still Freedom of speech. I don't care what you "think", apparently you would like a big-brother state to watch over the people to "make" everyone get along.
          Emotional bullying is very different than physical bullying if you can't see that you might have a bigger problem than the dead girl.
          Ohh and ***** off and die.
    • Eezyville, on 05/17/2008, -5/+3If you want to protect your children then get them off the ***** internet.Why would you place you children in an environment where it is mostly pornography in the first goddamn place?! Either get them off the internet or be a ***** parent and stop relying on the government to be the parents.
      • Nephrastar, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Sheltering children from something that they can easily access nowadays is never going to work. They're going to figure it out on their own and go behind their parent's back more often than not, and end up either injured or killed because said kid was wanting to meet someone from the internet that actually turned out to be a pedophile.

        If you want to protect your kids, putting the computer in a public place and installing parental control software on it is a good idea for the most part until they hit 18 or they've proven to be responsible enough not to go on some kind of suicide mission.
        • Eezyville, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3You're right about that.

          Parents need to monitor they're kids and communicate with them.
    • dstz, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4It's exactly something we French would do. I mean, we like being wussy: forbidding people to be "publicize exaggerated thinness", forbidding people to say this or that because it could hurt one's feelings. Real ***** up. I'm glad to see that the upcoming generation of Americans is just as wussy. Let's put in prison people who tell nasty things to others... ALL suicides will send at least a few persons in jail. That'll be great.
    • Nephrastar, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3Agreed. Most of the teenagers are already mentally/psychologically ***** already, there's no need for some jackasses to make it any worse. I support general *****, but if someone is making another commit suicide for their own amusement, that's just going a step too far.
    • toasterweasel, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3Here's a page of interest with the Drew's phone number and address. This is real close to my home. http://www.lawrenceconnor.com/lori_drew.html
    • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -6/+1Any bullying that results in ANY suicide should be treated as a crime.
    • AlaskaLoneWolf, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2Where were the parents? I would be a little more concerned with the internet usage of my child, and take some responsibility for being apathetic, that, at least to me, is where the crime occured. Parents that don't look after the safety of, or bother to talk to, their children.
  • wynja, on 05/17/2008, -26/+64Buried for not understanding justice. The simple fact that this woman did not break any laws should show you that there is a giant loophole in the justice system. The justice system has traditionally been the last branch of government to catch up with modernization. If this woman had done this in person, then she would be liable for harassment at the very least. The case proves that activities on the internet should be addressed more closely by legislators across the country to insure that incidents like this do not occur without repercussions.
    • bcuban, on 05/17/2008, -14/+9You should be buried for being a complete moron, do you have any kind of education at all? I have been practicing law 20 years and that qualifies as one of the most ignorant, idiotic statements I have ever seen in print.
      • icantseeyou, on 05/17/2008, -9/+10I agree. I am also a lawyer and have been at it since 1992. And you can't change the facts like "if she had done". Well she didn't, did she?

        Maybe legislation should be passed. But in my world right now this is just wrong. The entire incident from the beginning has been wrong and now they are just making it worse.

        Have we seen a rash of these types of cases? No. Until we do why tie up legislators and courts. You're attitude is knee-jerk.
        • burketo, on 05/17/2008, -1/+5"you can't change the facts like "if she had done". Well she didn't, did she?"

          i think that was his point... that if she had done the same thing through the medium of face to face, phone calls, text messages, sending letters etc. it would count but she chooses the medium of social networking sites and it doesn't count.... seems unjust because why should her chosen medium decide whether what she did was a crime? i'm no lawyer and infact i'm not even american so i have differant laws but it certainly raises what i would consider to be a legitimate concern.

          maybe you should clarify why you consider that to be wrong in your world.
      • Typhoon2009, on 05/17/2008, -0/+8Don't have to be a lawyer to recognize that it's ***** up when a college kid who was smoking weed gets as much time as a murderer (or, worse, gets put in the same area of a jail as murderers and rapists). That it's ***** up when a home intruder gets shot, then sues the home owner for injuries and wins. That it's screwed up that plain old murder isn't as bad as murdering someone out of 'hate.'
      • publiclurker, on 05/17/2008, -3/+3The fact that you have been practicing law for 20 years only goes to prove that you have no concept of the word Justice.
      • jameskong15, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2From your immediate appeal to ad hominem, I can tell you indeed have been “practicing law” for 20 years.
        • SpencerMc, on 05/17/2008, -3/+1I think it's rather clear that he is the guy that wrote the article. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
        • jameskong15, on 05/25/2008, -0/+1Wow he wrote an article on the internets, ohes noes, that gives him free reign on personal attacks while attempting to make his point. oh, no it doesn't, it makes him a ***** jackass.
      • wynja, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1Right, would you like to clarify what exactly your babbling about? It's obvious you've been practicing law for 20 years as you were able to write a complete paragraph without a single point in it. Good job. I'm sure your law career has taken you far.
    • JimiSlew, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2Not break any law? So if I pretend to be someone else to gain access to your computer that is ok?

      Why stop there? What about that recent case on digg where a woman's boyfriend's brother snuck into her bed and had sex with her. She though it was her boyfriend. It wasn't. That's cool right? What's the difference?
      • wynja, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2She didn't pretend to be someone else and gain access to anyone computer. Also, there was no physical contact as in the case of the man posing as his brother to sleep with his brothers gf. Have you even read this story?
    • SirZac, on 05/17/2008, -4/+2Lynching someone above and beyond our legal system is wrong too. Isn't that crossing a line too. By eroding that woman's rights you are doing to the same to all American's. The "war on terrorism" has already done enough damage, let's not lower ourselves to debase others.
      • Liability, on 05/17/2008, -3/+1I believe that there is a gray area of interaction where justice falls into the hands of individuals and not into the hands of the system.
      • wynja, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1What are you people talking about? I am simply suggesting that online harassment needs to be addressed by our legislator, so this sort of crime does not go unpunished.
    • SpencerMc, on 05/17/2008, -3/+4Excerpt from the US Constitution, Article 1 Section 9: “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”.
      Excerpt from the US Constitution, Article 1, Section 10: “No State shall … pass any … ex post facto Law…”.

      If you throw out the constitution in the name of your perceived ideal of "justice", then you are no better than a certain president that receives a lot of bad publicity around these parts.
      • wynja, on 05/19/2008, -1/+1You perceived concept of the Constitution is flawed. We crossed that line decades ago, or has everyone forgotten that Kevin Mitnick spent 4 and a half years in jail before there where laws against the crime he had committed? Also, in the days of the Constitution people believed in individual forms of justice. In 1776, the father of the girl that committed suicide would have taken his justice to the streets and simply lynched this woman.
    • CrazyDave303, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3So why is this woman not charges for harassment in the same way if she did it in person?(Ignoring the obvious fact it's a lot harder for a adult woman to pretend to be a 13 year old boy in real life) Is there no harassment laws?

      I don't think in their area is type of off hand indirect bullying is illegal, no matter what the final out come is.
      • wynja, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1That's exactly what she's being charged with now, harassment and causing emotional distress. FFS people, RTFA.
  • dcmusicfusion, on 05/17/2008, -9/+6Not sure I agree, but dugg anyway for unique perspective..
  • LewP, on 05/17/2008, -15/+16I think this whole case is a tragedy. That said, I don't think we should invite government (legislation) into every teeny weeny unfortunate occurance today. I wonder how people think sometimes. I agree with the previous poster, knee-jerk reactions is like over-steering a vehicle on the interstate. I fear the over-compensation of legislation in such cases to correct over-legislation to begin with. Hope that made sense.
    • aspec, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2I think it goes beyond an "unfortunate occurrence". That same argument could have, at one time, been made for drunk driving. Simply stated, it's more than likely happening all the time, or at least more often than you think. And in order to keep "unfortunate occurrences" from happening whenever some sociopathic mother thinks it's time to get revenge on their daughter's ex-best friend, it's necessary to evaluate these "unfortunate occurrences" as they happen.
    • Linzee82, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1The only legislation that can be added/changed is the current harassment laws. If they don't already cover communications via the internet, then we should add that. That's all we can or should do. Anything else is infringing on our rights.
  • smotpoker, on 05/17/2008, -3/+25It seems to me like *something* in this case would be considered illegal. Can't a parent be charged with child abuse for how they speak to/yell at them because of emotional harm? Wouldn't this be similar? How about disorderly conduct or obscene behavior or something? Charge her with all of 'em, max out the sentences and run them consecutively.

    She should also lose her kid until she gets some sort of counseling and/or parenting classes, IMO. She should not be a parent if she is raising her kid to treat others like that and participating to such a large and negative degree in their social life.
    • Acolyte357, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1What law was broken?
      and no, if I tell a kid to ***** off and die in person I can't be charged with anything.
  • UltramegaOK, on 05/17/2008, -10/+34Lori Drew is the lowest form of life in the universe.
    • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -1/+5There ARE lower forms of life out there.
      Literally - Primates, fish, molds, paramecium etc.
      Metaphorically - People who actually commit the physical crimes such as murder, rape, murder-rape, rape-murder. etcetera.
  • DesertDude, on 05/17/2008, -8/+97LOL @ American "justice". Touch a 13-year-old girl's arm, you get arrested. Oppress her psychologically enough to drive her to suicide, you get off.
    • gcnaddict, on 05/17/2008, -1/+23hope the pun wasn't intended.
    • foltaggio, on 07/11/2008, -8/+7[citation needed]
    • Snokage, on 05/17/2008, -4/+7im my case, i get off twice.
    • 4degrees, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4no one ever heard "sticks and stones...." how come her parents did nothing to raise an emotionally confident kid?
      • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -3/+2Way to oversimplify the issue and completely ignore ALL THE FACTORS in the case. Gee how do these mainstream joes get on the Internet?
  • homesickalien, on 05/17/2008, -10/+21I'll take perverted justice over no justice at all.
    • dynelol, on 05/17/2008, -6/+3This is why you're worthless. I'm disgusted with this "we gotta get someone in trouble before we can feel better" thing this country is doing. This is a tragedy. A girl killed herself when she didn't have to. The girl was stupid. Her belief that the internet is serious business is what killed her. The world is full of mean people.
      • CrazyDave303, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I'm kinda in the same boat, but they way I think about it is push a head with the case just to harm the lady with the legal procedure, knowing full well none of the charges will really stick.

        Trust me, going to court and being on trial is harsh on people, even if they are full acquitted by the end of it all.
  • Gioleb, on 05/17/2008, -13/+3Somebody post his myspace!
    ...Oh, wait...
  • aarik111, on 05/17/2008, -56/+30I don't feel sorry for someone weak enough to kill themselves over online words. It seems like this girl should be in the running for the Darwin awards.
    http://www.darwinawards.com/
    • Typhoon2009, on 05/17/2008, -10/+11Idiot.
    • tribecom, on 05/17/2008, -9/+7I really hope you have to deal with depression either with yourself or someone you care about some day ... and remember this post you made.
      • recoilfx, on 05/17/2008, -5/+5But depression in the first world country? Come on, there are far greater crap that goes on the world.
        I am not saying that there is never a reason to be depressed, but there should never be any reason to be "terminally" depressed.

        It's tragic that the girl commits suicide, what's even more tragic that the culture perpetuates depression. The society should have taught kids early on shrugging off pain is a great and necessary skill to learn. Look up the chinese phrase, 'eat bitter'.

        I was depressed during high school, and you know what I learned? I didn't need to, I was my own worst enemy. Had I not made it, oh well, I probably wouldn't be any help to the society anyhow.
        • dynelol, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1People don't respond to logic. They respond to emotions. This situation is a prime example of that.
        • trollhunter, on 05/19/2008, -1/+0"but there should never be any reason to be "terminally" depressed."

          That's why chronic depression is regarded as a disease. There is no reason to sneeze repeatedly but if you have a flu or allergy it's hard to stop until the disease has gone.

          Shrugging off social anxiety would be a terrific lesson for everyone - you have a great point there.
      • richardpryor, on 05/17/2008, -3/+3Shut the ***** up! I had depression for 4 years and you wanna know what got me out of it?

        The realization that words are just words and that I, a human being able to create life, am much bigger than meaningless things like that.

        Don't you dare try to say things like that, because you have no idea what you are talking about.
      • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Yes HE'LL have to deal with it, and yes his family may be effected by his emotional state too.
        But society shouldn't have to come to a screeching halt and tip-toe around him for fear of lawsuits or legislation.
    • TKOtheKDR, on 05/17/2008, -6/+8I feel bad for the family, but the girl did it to herself. The that other ***** of a mother is clearly ***** crazy, but she never physically forced the other "little snowflake" to do anything.

      • frazw, on 05/17/2008, -3/+1She was the mother of the girl's friend. She likely knew that Megan suffered from depression and whether trying to force this outcome or not she must have had an idea that it was a possibility. What she did is still inexplicably evil.
        • dynelol, on 05/17/2008, -1/+5We know that. She still shouldn't be jailed, though.
        • frazw, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1I wasn't saying she should be jailed. I'm disputing the "she never physically forced" comment. There are other types of force than physical and I don't necessarily see much difference in the level of evilness.
          Justice would be not to offer her protection from harassment herself, so long as it is only verbal harassment she receives.
    • thedrue, on 05/17/2008, -5/+12I agree. Internet "bullying" is the easiest thing in the world to ignore... delete myspace, or make a new one, so many options. Although it is a sad story Someone would have to be incredibly mentally unstable for this to even matter a little. Lori Drew does need to be examined however, but you can never say she caused the girls death.
      • badger500, on 05/17/2008, -3/+0I think you'd be surprised to find out how *UN*incredibly mentally unstable *many* teenagers are. Their brains and bodies are changing quickly yet they don't have the basis of maturity (brain-wise or experience-wise), our culture does not ground them very well at all anymore, and girls in particular have a tough time feeling good about themselves with all the crap imagery and ideas in our culture.
        Suicide is up there in leading causes of death in teens.
        • Linzee82, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2So we need better parents. When I became depressed and felt ugly, my mom saw the change in me and talked to me about it. She told me how kids did it to her when she was young. I've always seen her as a beautiful, successful woman, so it opened my eyes that school sucks and the fun begins afterwards. I learned to shrug it off and if things felt overwhelming, I always had her shoulder to cry on.

          Maybe Megan's mom couldn't have seen a change considering Megan's previous conditions, but she chould have been more observant. She could have monitored her daughter's online activity but she didn't. There is no one to blame in this. EVERYONE could have done something different. Lori is guilty of harassment and hacking. That's it.
    • fredJdukes, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3Seconded
    • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2I just had it with all the idiots talking about Darwin and evolution and natural selection. It's cliched, drop it already.
  • NaziHatinChimp, on 05/17/2008, -9/+8I'll get over it.
  • Chassit, on 05/17/2008, -31/+20As sad as this is, there is truly nobody to blame besides Megan Meir. She chose suicide. It was her decision alone.
    • u8eR, on 05/17/2008, -7/+12No, it was not her decision her alone. She was a depressed kid who was being instigated and harassed by a demented adult. If you want to blame somebody, blame the "adult."
      • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -5/+4No. it WAS her decision alone.
        Yes, the adult may have had a hand in putting her in the emotional state that led to HER DECISION to handle her emotional distraught by committing suicide, but the adult didn't choose suicide FOR her.
        Just as (even though they have a hand in putting them in their mental state) bartenders and alcohol manufacturers can't be held accountable for the actions of any rampaging alcoholic who AFTER drinking, beat their kids and mows down a crowd of children with a car.
        • Liability, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3This could be construed as harassment or negligent endangerment but certainly not murder.
        • apmtt, on 05/17/2008, -3/+1The difference is that alcohol manufacturers don't actually intend to cause any harm, where as in this case it's different.
    • Twenty, on 05/17/2008, -3/+6While normally I would agree with you on the issue of suicide, this is clearly a different matter in which it was not entirely her own decision. She was in a mentally unstable state in the first place.
      • IanPR, on 05/17/2008, -4/+2So that means it would either be because of this woman, or something else. Either way, it was destined to happen.
        • BelatedHero, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Destined to happen? WTF is wrong with you?
      • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -4/+2"clearly a different matter in which it was not entirely her own decision."

        No it STILL was ENTIRELY her own decision.
        She COULD have just eaten herself into oblivion like thousands of other depressed people around the world.
        She also could have chosen to steal her parent's gun and start shooting.
        She could have also chosen to whore herself out to the football team in order to feel loved.
        Or she could have chosen to shrug it off.
        But she choose suicide.

        Sad, yes. Definately.
        But what's REALLY sad is that had she chosen ANY of those other decisions I doubt anyone would he out to lynch Lori Drew.
        • BelatedHero, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3You are seriously a ***** moron.
    • sugarazor, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3She was a child! In the eyes of the law, children are not always responsible for poor decisions - look at any statutory rape case.
    • gh0st3000, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Well obviously she had to decide to commit suicide, if someone else decides it it's not suicide, it's murder. Just because Megan is the one who actually chose to kill herself doesn't mean Lori Drew shouldn't be held accountable in some part for instigating the situation.
    • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1So I can taunt people to death and bear no blame? YAY!
      • Acolyte357, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1taunt people to death? if you are able to kill anyone by just taunting them then yes you have my full backing.
  • Simonft, on 05/17/2008, -3/+11Thank you for this completely unbiased article.
  • bobbles, on 05/17/2008, -16/+51Can someone explain to me how bullying over the internet actually works? I mean... if you are reading it.. you can just close the window.. right?
    • romistrub, on 05/17/2008, -2/+11It's a psychological thing. People like to be liked, and knowing that you're not liked is usually a good reason to divert attention to whatever doesn't like you, and try to "fix" it. It sucks, but that's how people think.
    • soccernamlak, on 05/17/2008, -1/+15I don't know....those webcam girls make fun of me all the time and when I try closing out of one window, 50 more windows pop up :(
    • plague, on 05/17/2008, -2/+9I was wondering the same thing. Can't you block people on myspace, or set your profile to private? It sucks this happened, but the girl could have taken steps to keep the harassment from happening.
    • CaptainHarlock, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Remember the warning "you can't unsee something on the Internet"?
    • aelias, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3If LOLCATS have taught us anything, it's that "What has been seen cannot be unseen!"
      • girlflesh, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1If TUBGIRL/GOATSE/2GIRLS1CUP have taught us anything it's that "What has been seen cannot be unseen!"

        (Fixed that for you.)
    • CrazyDave303, on 05/17/2008, -2/+5One thing to say that for a guy in his mid 20's and it's an other thing for a girl that's 13.
      • Linzee82, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3When I was 13, I was smart enough to think about that. Maybe I'm the next Einstein??
        • CrazyDave303, on 05/18/2008, -1/+1Even if it was just a product of intelligence, the average range for IQ spread in a junior high school class (unless my math is wrong) is 85 to 115. You go talk to some one 30 points of IQ lower then yourself, trust me you'll feel frustrated as all hell. You'll feel like an Einstein.

          Then throw on top of that with development difference with emotions, and just think in the frame of the mind of a crazy woman.
    • dualboy24, on 05/17/2008, -1/+9Its not as if this Josh character just started messaging her one day with insults and being a general jerk. The Josh user contacted her over the period of a month with compliments and proceeded to make himself someone important in this 13 year old girls life. Added to that the fact that she had been treated poorly at school most of her life, did not have many close friends, and then having someone especially a boy her age contact her with affection and compliments really did sweep her off her feet.

      Then suddenly one day, one of the brightest things she had in her life started to be mean and insulting and generally evil towards her. It really would have crushed someone of that age, and in that situation. Its a tragedy, what happened and its also disgusting that an adult perpetrated it without any thought to the emotions of a young child.
      • Linzee82, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1So that makes her guilty of harassment. That's all. It's still a trajedy, but we can't start prosecuting people for what they say. Do that and we can throw out the entire Constitution.
    • Echo18, on 05/17/2008, -1/+0Of course someone who is mentally/emotionally stable could easily block the creep. But I think we're forgetting just how self-conscious 13 year old girls can be. If you have no friends, problems with depression and body-image (not to mention everything else 13 year old girls go through)... and someone comes along to tell you you're pretty you're going to hold onto that person for dear life. Once the attachment is formed and the person begins treating you terribly it's hard to break away.

      Being an adult (or closer to it than this girl was at least, I'm assuming, since I don't actually know how old you are) completely removed from the situation, it's easy to say "just block". Being an emotionally distraught self-conscious 13 year old with no friends, that's something entirely different.
    • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Look up what happened before posting.
    • BOFH2, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1ask mrbabyman
  • Typhoon2009, on 05/17/2008, -13/+5Sometimes the rules have to be bent to get to real justice...
    • bcuban, on 05/17/2008, -0/+8I absolutely understand that feeling but that is not justice, that is revenge
      • dynelol, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1People love revenge and they hate when concepts like right and wrong get in the way. They shrug those concepts right off. Why? because what happened was wrong! lol
    • Acolyte357, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1No they ***** don't!
  • Princeamor, on 05/17/2008, -17/+12wow.. I guess some girls can't take rejection! Most guys have to go through a lot more rejection than this all of their life!
    • byrdgang, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2I am glad I haven't had to experience rejection at all...maybe it's because I played it safe all my life. :)
    • trollhunter, on 05/19/2008, -1/+0Speak for yourself, mate! lol
  • scy1192, on 05/17/2008, -10/+4she has become an hero
    • dynelol, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1she let her STRESS RISE TO THE TOP! and BECAME. AN. HERO! (with x's for eyes!)
  • LittleDas, on 05/17/2008, -11/+18It's not justice if we have to make up new rules just to punish one person. What this woman did was morally outrageous but quite frankly, not illegal. If you're concerned about the crime of harassing children over the internet until they commit suicide then write to your local congressman and tell them you support such a law. If you're just concerned with one act by one person then go ahead and keep saying this woman needs to be thrown in jail. Just remember that that won't be justice, It'll be vengence, and society cannot be built on vengence.
    • NotedFuturist, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Harassment over the Internet IS illegal.
  • franksalvo, on 05/17/2008, -3/+8Ummm. . . that woman needs to go to trial. There may be more merit to this case than we can assume. Isn't this fraud? Fraud perpetrated against a minor? I'd like to see where this goes.
    • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3While fraud is "intentional deception resulting in injury to another person", the only injury that was caused by their communication was emotional. And anyone with a teen can tell you that minors being already in a hormonal imbalanced state can be 'emotional injured' by pretty much ANYTHING.

      Legislating emotions can not and SHOULD NOT be even attempted.
      • visability, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1good thing the only harm caused was 'emotional' and not suicide
        • Acolyte357, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Mind explaining how anyone could cause suicide to someone else?
  • Rokokoko, on 05/17/2008, -2/+7Justice, in a lot of cases, has absolutely nothing to do with the law.

    While it might correct from a legal standpoint to let this woman go it would certainly be far from just.
    • bcuban, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5you are absolutely right and that is the very fabric of justice! The fact that sometimes bad people walk....
    • tribecom, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Justice may not be served, but I'm OK with retribution in this case ... and having to spend every penny they have on a defense works for me.
    • Liability, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2I agree, this is the type of situation that should probably be handled in the middle of the night with a baseball bat.
  • zmigliozzi, on 05/17/2008, -6/+12That's why MySpace implemented a blocked list.
    • 1337Kitty, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1She thought that this "boy" was her friend, however. She's not going to randomly block someone she sees as a friend.
    • 4degrees, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1amen to that.
    • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Again, another person who speaks without knowing what happened. Look it up.
    • thestranger, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Yes cause lords knows, even as an adult you have never continued a relationship with someone who has been toxic. Not to mention, "he" was nice to her up until the day or so before, and was ambiguous and vague about his criticism and the last messages were the young girl's attempt to understand his sudden 180 towards her.
  • digitallysick, on 05/17/2008, -7/+20Lets think about the columbine kids, they got picked up, and came back and shot up the place, they are labeled "murders" but, if they had instead killed themselves for being picked on, would the jocks get charged with murder? or conspiracy ?
    Its a double standard
    Someone picks on you, you shoot them, you = murder
    Someone picks on you, and you kill yourself then they are the murder???
    • Mswldflwr, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6I don't tolerate any bullying of the strong over the weak in any case. But may I remind you that in this particular case we are talking about an ADULT bullying a child over a several-month period, which said adult knew the family and knew the child had emotional difficulties. That puts it in a bit of a different light, don't you think?
      • 4degrees, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2ya, adults are never known to act childish. plus with this nanny state why not act like a child? the government treats its citizens like children, why be so surprised when they act like them?
  • metajoe, on 05/17/2008, -13/+1I'd tap that ass, but by now it's probably all bones.
  • dan222555, on 05/17/2008, -9/+15The woman deserves to be behind bars. How she gets there is just a formality.
    • djdole, on 05/17/2008, -6/+1No thank you. I may not speak for all tax-payers, but I for one do not want to be paying the bill for this lady's incarceration.
      Especially not if she's incarcerated as a non rational, emotional knee-jerk reaction.
      • dan222555, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5It's a "non rational, emotional knee-jerk reaction" to think a woman who harassed a young girl and drove her to suicide belongs in jail? The outrage is justified. And wanting this sick woman in jail is justified. Prosecutors should do everything in their power to make sure she gets there.
        • BelatedHero, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Thank you. Finally somebody with a rational argument.
      • Hewbie, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4she deleted that my-space account, tired to cover her tracks if she done nothing wrong why try to hide?
      • NotedFuturist, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2You want $$ and rationalization?
        HERE: there is one less future taxpayer, and all of the little taxpayers she may have one day had due to the harassment and conspiracy of this criminal.

        She should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
        She broke several laws, with bad intentions.
  • dstz, on 05/17/2008, -10/+14What about that hoe who dumped your friend in the worst manner, the one who killed himself just after? could we indict him/her as well? I'm pretty sure that for every suicide you will find a responsible if you look hard enough.
    • dstz, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1I also wonder, what is worst: lying in a myspace profile, or being a fantastic dick with someone depressive? which one is the criminal part? anyway in both cases it will lead to a whole lot in indictments everyday of the year. Or it was just a question of lynching that person so that the good people can sleep sound, having corrected a wrong by another.
    • Snokage, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2you bring up a strong point, not sure why this suicide is receiving more attention then any other one. besides if they charge this woman with something and it sticks, its a slippery slope.
    • sugarazor, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6That's two adults making decisions. If the "hoe" that you're talking about sought out to destroy this person, then maybe. Simple heartbreak is not the same as an adult intentionally trying to ruin a child's life and then telling her to commit suicide.
  • reed311, on 05/17/2008, -9/+15Suicide isn't the result of just one event, but the result of severe depression caused by many factors. Did that woman push the girl over the edge? Yes, probably. But she was not the only one to blame in this case. The parents are also responsible for allowing the girl to access the site and not getting her help when they admitted that they knew she was suffering from depression.

    It was a series of unfortunate events which caused her suicide. What the woman did was unethical, but I don't believe that it was illegal. If what she did was illegal, then we must start investigating each and every suicide and see who was the main factor in the person ending their life. If a woman cheats on her husband and then divorces him and he kills himself. Then, by this logic, she must also be charged.
    • jameskong15, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Unfortunately you’re missing or intentionally leaving out the key elements that would make your slippery slope idea invalid. The ADULT woman INTENTIONALLY set out to emotionally berate this MINOR in such a fashion that directly contributed to the suicide; including suggesting that the world would be better without her.
  • Fallout911, on 05/17/2008, -9/+1For the lulz?
  • methos75, on 05/17/2008, -11/+5I agree with Reed, every suicide has a catalyst, do we now go after all of them. If a girl sends a soldier in aIraq a dear John letter and he offs himself, do we now persucute her? What about the guy with Finicial issues that decides killing himself is best, is the boss that fired him now a Murderer? This was a knee jerk decision that has now opened up one hell of an Pandor's Box.
    • Bronnster, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1agree
    • NotedFuturist, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1It was an ADULT intentionally harming a CHILD. That is the key difference here.
    • visability, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1you seem to forget that this is an adult intentionally harassing and manipulating a mentally unstable 13 year old girl, its not even in the same league as the situations you mentioned
  • kurtwinter, on 05/17/2008, -7/+10The piece of ***** that wrote this article is about as stupid as you can get. Just because the piece of ***** who encouraged a child to suicide didn't break any laws, doesn't make it any less wrong. Just as smoking a joint is harmless but illegal, helping someone to suicide is legal, but the worst form of wrong.
    • Snokage, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2assisting someone commit suicide is illegal....is it not? but being the reason someone commits suicide is not illegal, you can't control what people do with their lives. if i were commit suicide and in my "note" i blamed you, should you be put on the stand?
    • bitterbug, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1@kurtwinter

      You realize that you called Cuban a piece of *****, then agreed completely with his article. He does indeed say that it's morally reprehensible and a terrible thing, but that there is NO LAW in place to deal with it, so twisting other laws to try and make a case is wrong as well. He goes on to say that eventually there will be laws that deal with situations such as this, but as it stands it's also morally wrong for prosecutors to pervert the legal system to throw someone in prison.
  • ralphodog, on 05/17/2008, -3/+10Good thing all of Digg's internet lawyers are here to judge the merits of an indictment, or rather, a blogger's opinion of such in lieu of the actual indictment.
  • Bronnster, on 05/17/2008, -6/+5Too many factors in all this. the negative ones out weigh the positive ones though. I agree with reed311's comment here.
    I also see more fodder for those that are wanting to invade and control the last known free speech median we have. They will justify the reasoning for control through fear mongering, to tell us the internet needs censorship because parents can not do it as well as government control can. This is a Pandora's box. The argument may be, 'let the jury decide' but jury tampering does exist and has succeeded. Here is yet another event that does point out the seriousness of Depression and Agoraphobia as well. Metaphorically speaking; This case is an infected band-aid used for a broken arm.
  • methos75, on 05/17/2008, -5/+3Here is what I do not get, the girl's mom freely admitted thay her daughter lied about her age to get a Myspace account, but that she thought it was fine since she in her own words "closely monitored" the account. She confesses that she knew that Megan was also sending mean messages, which common sense would imply also means she knew of the messages that her daughter was receiving. As the mother of a child already known to be emotional distrught, why the hell isn't she also being persucuted in the legal system? It is fairly obivous from her own words that she knew what was going on and failed to protect her child as a parent should of, that makes her also cupable in Megan's suicide IMO.
  • MagikPoo, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Found the police report on the smoking gun.

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/11 ...
  • Hetman, on 05/17/2008, -1/+7There needs to be some type of law about impersonating a minor online. I do not know how you would enforce it. But there just does not seem like there is a good reason why any adult would be posing as a minor. The only problem is when you get to people like catch a predator that is when it gets weird.
    • rossisdead, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2That would be a waste of time and money. There's nothing inherently wrong with impersonating a minor online, even if it's considered odd in plenty of situations.
    • candre23, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3We have more than enough absurd, unenforceable cyber laws on the books already. Even if there was a law, do you really think the sort of person who would pretend to be a teenage boy to torment a teenage girl online would change their mind and not do it JUST because there is a law? You can't outlaw stupid.
  • PamalaLauren, on 05/17/2008, -2/+10I think this woman deserves all she gets. I doubt she'll get convicted but she'll be financially drained and that's good enough for me. Next time maybe she'll think about harassing teenagers on the web, huh? What a immature dumbass and to think she's a mother.
  • MikeFallopian, on 05/17/2008, -7/+6Great, so now we have the option of either subverting the justice system to satisfy moral outrage, or spending millions of dollars and hundreds of legislative man-hours to ensure that this one, precise, statistically unlikely occurrence is never repeated. Look, it's a tragic case and Lori Drew is a disgusting waste of air, but come on. This girl had deeper issues than someone playing a cruel prank on her. The solution to every problem isn't to throw more people in jail.
    • jaxcs, on 05/17/2008, -3/+3In this case it is.
      • candre23, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2You can't make laws against pretending to be somebody else and calling other people names on the internet. How many people on Digg are using their real name and have never made fun of a stupid comment?

        Look, if you're just going to jail people who haven't technically broken any laws just because they're assholes, why have laws in the first place?
        • jaxcs, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1For starters, it would help if you got the facts right. The girl didn't write a stupid comment on a public forum, she started a myspace page. You would have to look to find her. The older woman, didn't just make a screen name. she pretended to be a boy about the girls age and lavished compliments on the girl. Then she inexplicably turned on the girl. Why did she turn on the girl? To cause her anguish probably, to cause her death maybe. These are significant departures from the typical digg comment where one person calls another an idiot. Why a grown woman went to such lengths is beyond me.

          The person I responded to didn't argue from the perspective of rule of law, he just argued that jail wasn't an adequate response. To which, I respond of course it is. Maybe the family won't be able to secure a criminal penalty, but I hope they are able to secure a civil penalty. That older woman deserves nothing but ridicule for the remainder of her days. Typical of people who know they are overwhelmingly guilty but refuse to make meaningful recompense, she tells the family that they "should just get over it", putting the burden of recovery on the family. Despicable.
  • sychodelix, on 05/17/2008, -1/+11The whole issue with the case is this was a child and not an adult that this happened to. If it was an adult, likely there would be nothing that could be done. But since she was a child, and the aggressor is an "adult". Anytime an adult causes emotional damage to a child it is criminal, especially when it results in the child's suicide. This should be no different and the adult should have been arrested immediately, whether it was done over the internet, phone line, or in person.
  • MoFoKeR, on 05/17/2008, -5/+6Wait no more bully activities in the tubes? Are you guys sure you want to be censored.What would the Internets be without the occasional demeaning of a person.I agree the adult was wrong but to be sent to jail for typing.Some people should not be allowed to be on connected if your thin skinned and or mentally unstable .That would be the parents judgment and she should have been more closely watched.One more time dad and mom dropped the ball.But to say since the parents dropped the ball lets legislate for their lack of parenting.I can see it now when you call someone a noob or bitch would be considered cyber bulling enough to get your gaming account banned and or get sent to jail.Think about it people its a ***** slope downwards.
    • sugarazor, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Yeah, oh my God, people might have to be civil on the internet. The dream would die and online gaming would dry up.
    • pitlord, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Are you seriously so pathetic that you cannot imagine living life without the ability to anonymously bully people online?
      -_-
      That is just sad.
  • CaptainHarlock, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7"Certainly a moral crime but no legal one hence Ms. Drew apparently would continue on her life path not encumbered by the steel bars so many wanted but only her conscience."
    I can't stand it when people think that others have a conscience like themselves. Ms. Drew could easily go on through life without a single thought of what she did. She probably doesn't have a conscience since she did what she did.
  • cambob76, on 05/17/2008, -3/+14Some of you don't seem to understand that she pretended to be a young boy and started a relationship with the girl. That's a little more than bullying. The girl thought she had a new friend until they decided to let her have it. Blocking the person doesn't really apply in this case.
    • MoFoKeR, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2So you're saying in those situations the "block" button fails to work.
      • BelatedHero, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4We're talking about a kid here. A young girl being psychologically deceived and damaged emotionally by a supposed adult.
      • dualboy24, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4Yes the block button fails in this kind of case. A young girls emotions can not be fixed so easily.
    • candre23, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2If she killed herself because her imaginary internet boyfriend dumped her, just think what would have happened if she was dumped in real life!
      Life is not the Special Olympics. Not everybody is a winner and some people just aren't cut out to play.
  • Weaselski, on 05/17/2008, -1/+6i appreciate a different perspective. however, these are computer crimes she has been charged w/ and which now there is probable cause to believe she committed. if she did violate these laws, then it is fair game, "outrage indictment" or not. this is how our system works.
    • MoFoKeR, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1She made a fake myspace profile.They get made everyday for any reason.
      "accessing protected computers without authorization to get information" I doubt this dumb lady was a skilled hacker.
      • Weaselski, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1you don't have to be a hacker to do what she is being charged w/, you just have to do what is proscribed. yeah, lots of people do lots of things everyday that they don't realize are illegal. and nothing ever happens. but if it leads to something like what she did, then it catches someone's attention and they get a spanking. computer crimes can cover some seemingly innocuous activity. and you will see more people prosecuted for things like this in the future, whether or not what they do ends in tragedy.
  • SoxFanNH, on 05/17/2008, -7/+9I just don't see how this drove her to suicide... Ya it was wrong but come on, how often is this the end result of being bullied. Seems like everyone involved in the case has major issues.
  • SirZac, on 05/17/2008, -4/+3It's just tragic... Just tragic...
  • scabbers, on 05/17/2008, -5/+5God forbid that the people should get any justice. Laws are only workable by consent.
    • jerrycurley, on 05/17/2008, -5/+1The point is that it ISN'T justice when a woman that did not cause hte girl's death get punished.

      She didn't make the girl kill herself. Absolutely HORRIBLE parenting did.
    • Weaselski, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1she's not being charged w/ homicide... and there is always a tenuous connection at best between one person's acts and another person's ultimate choice to end there life. they are just busting her for the crimes she did commit
  • aelias, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4If this results in fewer fat chicks posting pictures of random skinny chicks in their profile, then justice was served.
  • fissionvsfusion, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2I find it most interesting that the writer of this article was able to get this far in life without ever learning how to use a comma.
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