Mom’s Acquittal can pave Way to New Cyberbullying
Law Downtown California Representative Linda Sanchez on Monday expressed strong disappointment over the dismissal of charges against MySpace suicide suspect Lori Drew, saying that the decision could pave way to more cases of cyber bullying.
In a statement issued after the judge rendered its decision, Sanchez said that U.S. District Court in Los Angeles has made the wrong ruling, saying that the dismissal of the charges can further aggravate the now worsen condition of cyberspace.
On Thursday, Judge George Wu dismissed the case against Drew, setting aside the “guilty” verdict of the jury against Drew.
The MySpace suspect was charged with three misdemeanors with regard to the bullying attack on MySpace.
Wu said that he will issue an official statement early this week regarding his decision to acquit Drew of the charges.
Meanwhile, Sanchez said that she will exhaust all legal options to see an appeal to the case.
The California representative earlier filed a proposed law, called “Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act,” which seeks the criminalization of people committing online harassments.
A Missouri native, Drew allegedly violated an anti-computer fraud law for masterminding a plan to lure Meier into her trap. The suspect, who hides under a fake profile of boy named “Josh”, sent and exchanged flirtatious messages with the victim.
However, the messages turned hurtful prompting Megan to hang herself.
“The World Would Be a Better Place without You,” Josh’s final message to Megan reads.
During the hearing, Drew testified that she did not personally create the “Josh” account and she did not send any messages to Megan.
Meanwhile, Missouri law enforcement authorities, who had earlier investigated the case, said that no state law has been violated by Drew. Later, Missouri enacted a proposed law seeking to imprison people who commit harassment using the internet and other electronic devices.
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1:34 pm on July 8th, 2009
Cyberbullying is serious in the effects that it has the lasting power as social media trends are on the rise. More and more teenagers and children are signing on and forgetting the permanence of the World Wide Web.
Hopefully the law will catch up to the rapid evolution of the internet, and we can set specific boundaries of what should be acceptable and not acceptable behavior/content. These online communities need to guarantee safety, both safety for our children as well as ourselves. We need to monitor the content going on these sites and flag anything suspicious or questionable. If any parents are reading this right now and are looking for safe fun for their children, check out http://www.HopOnThis.com.