The Lori Drew Sentence Delayed

I had predicted that Lori Drew wouldn’t do a day in jail. This case was about lying to someone over email, and if the Federal Government wants to start prosecuting that, they need to build a whole lot of new jails.

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But Lori Drew, aka, “the most hated person on the Internet” did use someone else’s profile on MySpace, which is a misdemeanor, and she was convicted of that. She was due to be sentenced today but the judge postponed the sentencing until July saying that he found the prosecution’s case “troublesome.”  He may end up dismissing the entire case, possibly for jurisdictional reasons.

Megan Meiers, the 13 year old victim of cyber bullying

From the LATimes here:

When federal prosecutors in Los Angeles indicted a Missouri mother last year for committing an Internet hoax that apparently led to the suicide of a 13-year-old girl, they touted the novel legal approach that allowed them to file the case halfway across the country. On Monday, a U.S. district judge indicated they may have gone too far.

“Using this particular statute in this particular situation is so weird,” Judge George H. Wu said, calling some of the prosecution’s argument “troublesome.”

Wu’s comments came Monday afternoon at a hearing where Lori Drew, 50, was to have been sentenced. Wu delayed the sentencing until July, saying he wanted to consider a defense motion to dismiss the entire case.

At Monday’s hearing, Wu grilled Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Krause at length about whether the government had prosecuted Drew under the appropriate laws when they accused her of unauthorized access in violation of MySpace’s “terms of service.”

“Is a misdemeanor committed by the conduct which is done every single day by millions and millions of people?” Wu asked. “If these people do read [the “terms of service”] and still say they’re 40 when they are 45, is that a misdemeanor?”

What Lori Drew did was despicable, and she is going to have to live with the horror she has visited on the Meier’s family for the remainder of her days.  But prosecuting someone for a “terms of service” violation is preposterous and would set a dangerous precedent that could infringe on the freedom of speech of all Americans.  Besides, didn’t Megan Meiers also violate the Terms of Service for being on MySpace when she was underage?  I’m not blaming the victim, just pointing out that the violation Drew is charged under is inconsistent with this case.