Lori Drew Opinion Handed Down- DISMISSED (thankfully)

from www.volokh.com

a victory for rule of law and against kneejerk prosecution ...
(links embedded in original article at :http://www.volokh.com/posts/1251601962.shtml )
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Lori Drew Opinion Handed Down -- Judge Grants Motion To Dismiss on Vagueness Grounds: Readers who are following the Lori Drew case know that back on July 2, Judge Wu "tentatively" ruled that he was going to overturn the jury verdict. At the time, however, Judge Wu stressed that his decision was not final, and that he would eventually issue an opinion with his final ruling.

Late yesterday, Judge Wu finally handed down his opinion. You can read it here: United States v. Lori Drew, Final Opinion. Judge Wu did in fact grant the defense motion to dismiss, ending the prosecution against Drew and overturning her misdemeanor convictions. (To my surprise, it seems that Friday's final ruling in the case has been entirely ignored by the press; I couldn't find any reference to it on the web.)

The reasoning of the opinion is that whatever unauthorized access means, it cannot mean mere violation of Terms of Service without more. Such a reading of the statute would render the statute unconstitutionally void for vagueness because it would give the government almost unlimited power to prosecute any Internet user and wouldn't give citizens sufficient notice as to what of their Internet conduct was criminal. I'll probably have some more comments on the opinion soon, but for now I just wanted to post it so others could see it.

As you might guess, given all the pro bono efforts I put into this case, I am very pleased by the result. This was an extremely important test case for the scope of the computer crime statutes, with tremendously high stakes for the civil liberties of every Internet user. I feel fortunate to have been able to argue the motion in January, and to have done what I could to bring about the correct result.

Finally, I'm working on a draft article on the use of vagueness and overbreadth to challenge overly broad interpretations of 18 U.S.C. 1030, along the lines of the arguments we made (and Judge Wu accepted) in the Drew case. I'll post the draft when I have something ready enough to share.

The right thing may have been done in dismissing the charges against her. But the fact still remains that she helped drive a young girl to suicide. And for that I think she is still slime.

They shouldn't make it a crime to break a website's "Terms of Service."

as a crime is exactly the sort of overbroad/vague law that is prone to immense abuse.

the thing many people fail to acknowledge is that everytime you criminalize something, or expand the criminal code, you are GIVING power to the govt. (and law enforcement). as a law enforcement officer, myself, i am intensely aware of this.

the reality is that criminalizing "meanness" is fraught with peril.

the law is more than adequate. we just realize that it can't (nor shouldit) attempt to criminalize meanness.

and of course, there is a burden on the PARENT to monitor the child's internet use. if the parent HAD done this, we very well may not have seen the suicide.

Let's say a real boy broken up with a 13 years old girl and she killed herself. Should that boy be charged with driving the girl to suicide?

Something that could be expected to happen in the normal course of events, and hopefully done without malice. What Ms. Drew did was totally outside what a rational, caring human being would do. An adult intentionally and with malice inflicting emotional and psychological abuse upon a 13 year old child.

intentional infliction of emotional distress.

so, while its not a CRIME, she will get pummeled in a lawsuit

as she should

i firmly believe she is scum of the earth.

but it doesn't therefore follow that her actions were criminal.

one doesn't twist the law to punish bad people. that's what i refer to as "jack mccoy'ism" (after the Law and Order character).

and of course, there is an excellent chance she will be sued for everything she has. clearly, there are excellent things to sue for here.

Stop the police state!

:dem:

-Laelth