However,Lori isn’t charged with Megan hanging herself. She is charged with using a computer under the pretense of someone else.

I cannot believe that all of these people are willing to give up their freedom to be anonymous just for the pleasure of seeing one woman in one case who we cannot be completely sure did ANYTHING wrong other than set up a Myspace account reap consequences of actions that are more based on emotion than logic or justice. These people, who want to ‘protect the children’ and build a bubble around them are going to ruin this country. If this case succeeds, it will only be a matter of time before net anonymity is lost. What comes next? A case in which someone was mean to someone else, face to face, and somehow caused that person to commit suicide? What will happen then, cameras with audio across the whole United States, so that evidence can be gathered easier for future cases of ‘emotional abuse?’ That’s the road we are on. It sounds illogical and stupid now, but many times in our high speed world, the weirdest and most illogical endpoint we can imagine often comes and goes with ease while we are still debating the case that started it all.

“When comments such as RHarnack and lamkp appear on here I know why now we have such a mess on our hands. Research and evidence does not matter to people like them. However, it sure feels good though. First off, the Texas Cheerleader case is like comparing apples and screwdrivers. Either you have no logic skills or you no idea what the facts were. Try looking the facts. Explaining logic to you just might be above your head anyway.”

Gee, Superdave I didn’t know you cared.

1. The Texas Cheerleader is analogous in that you had one deranged Mother taking it into her own hands to physically destroy one of her daughter’s competition so that her daughter could go on. If she had had MySpace, etc. available, she may have chosen to savage the girl on-line. What you have is the Mother of one child aiding and abetting the on-line abuse of another child because her daughter didn’t like her.

2. As to research etc., look it up. Suicide among teens remains in the top three causes of death in teens. Cf.:
http://www.aacap.org/page.ww?section=Facts%20for%20Families&name=Teen%20Suicide
http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Teenage_Suicide.htm
http://www.familyfirstaid.org/suicide.html

3. Lastly, as someone who had a seemingly well-adjusted and exceptional student commit suicide, and, as someone who has helped another friend keep from committing suicide, I have a different perspective on bullying and abusive behavior of any kind, especially when it comes to children.

As to logic being above my head, when presented with it no, and neither is it beneath me.

I believe she should face some charges, she knew the young lady had mental issues.
This is sad a grown woman, messing with a childs mental state. It is hard enough being a kid. But to have a adult do this is wrong and should be punished. I am not sure 20 years is fair. But she should pay and let it be a example for others.
God bless Megan’s family.
And the family of this very stupid woman that has placed them in the middle of such a stupid prank.

Once more . . . this indictment is a frighteningly ridiculous abuse of the federal criminal justice system. I’m mortified at the pitchfork-wielding mob mentality exhibited by a number of posters here who obviously do not care one whit about what the federal statute at issue actually governs.

This specific federal law (18 USC § 1030) prohibits “unauthorized access” or “exceeding authorized access” to a computer used in interstate communication. Those phrases in quotations are not defined in the statute by the duly elected Congress. However, according to this publicity-starved fool O’Brien, those phrases ARE arbitrarily defined by . . . ummm . . . whatever lawyers MySpace hired to author the MySpace “Terms of Service” (TOS).

Huh?

That’s right. In the indictment against Lori Drew, THE TOS OF SOME SOCIAL NETWORKING INTERNET COMPANY KNOWN AS MYSPACE apparently dictate whether Drew may be criminally prosecuted and possibly serve 20 years in a federal prison. For the life of me, I simply don’t remember MySpace’s “suits” being elected to Congress or - for that matter - being congressionally authorized to define substantive portions federal criminal law.

How comforting to know that there exist attention-starved U.S attorneys intentionally misusing the awesome prosecutorial power of the U.S. federal government to jail citizens based on a set privately-written internet company usage rules.

Let’s hope none of you WASP internet users are signed into a social networking site whose terms of use happen to require you to be a Hispanic Buddhist. Your use of that site is “unauthorized” and you may end up in the same cell block as Drew.

CORRECTION OF PRIOR POST:

The phrase “exceeds authorized access” is indeed defined by the the applicable statute. It means, “access a computer with authorization and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accesser is not entitled so to obtain or alter.”

First off RHarnack, I am not aware of your situations but I am also privy enough not to play that game. The Texas cheerleader mother case is quite different then this one. The mother arranged a contract for murder for the mother and the daughter. That situation is far different than this one. To be frank, if you don’t see that then I now understand why you probably didnt see it in your situation. I know that’s harsh but I won’t play this game to satisfy one’s issue if there is one to begin with. The facts are that this teen had many problems to begin with and when Tina Meier illegally signed her up to be on Myspace knowing full well of Megan’s problems then I call that dam near criminal. We make far too may excuses for bad behavior here for the ones that have the control.

I will not get into your situation because I don’t have the facts to be fair. I am far from being a hard individual and it’s so easy to brand someone as such. I was the coach for the kids. I watched as so many parents lived through their kids or tried to be their kids best friend. My whole point is that we as parents have a massive responsibility and so many parents do not truly accept that responsibility and fail miserably. Parent are quick to fix a problem with a drug. Parents drop there 12 year olds off at the mall to hang out with much older kids that they cannot know how to act when put in certain situations. How far do you want me to go?

It is unfair of you to use this situation and compare it to your own. If I were you I think I would run far away from this before drawing comparisons. If you do then it makes you look foolish. If your situation was different then I would suggest you say so but don’t make yourself look foolish by showing similar circumstances between yours and Megan’s.

This is my last post here.

1. Yes, parents have a heavy burden. There has been way too much pressure put on younger children to be “pro-athletes” or some such unrealistic expectation. This type of toxic parenting needs to be addressed and confronted by coaches, teachers, other family members, etc.

2. Regardless of Meagan’s predispositions and previous threats to committ suicide (if that be the case), it is my experience that most people are unwilling to take such statements seriously simply because it is so alien to our nature. Yet the statistics are against this sanguine expectation.

3. A child’s expectation is that adults will behave as adults and shoulder their adult responsibility to care for and protect them. Children seldom expect adults to be vindictive and hostile toward them.

4. I did not draw any comparisons with having lost an exceptional student to suicide. Rather, after the experience of having to sit and console his Mother, and, after having to work with my friend to keep him from committing suicide, I made myself a promise that I would confront at every turn the easy assumptions surrounding this.

5. I truly hope that the Drews are seeking help and counseling for their child so that she does not become another tragedy. That is one of the major problems with suicide, others are more profoundly affected than is usually acknowledged.

6. Lori Drew and others have a lot to answer for. Whether the indictment will hold up or not is a matter for the courts to decide now.

7. “Superdave” when you state: “I will not get into your situation because I don’t have the facts to be fair.” You are correct. But if you wanted to learn about on-line bullying, and teen suicide, they are out there.

Here are some resources:

Cyber-Bullying/Online Bullying:
http://www.besafeonline.org/English/bullying_online.htm
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/lesson_plans/68_04.asp
http://www.isafe.org/

Teen Suicide:
http://www.aacap.org/page.ww?section=Facts%20for%20Families&name=Teen%20Suicide
http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Teenage_Suicide.htm
http://www.familyfirstaid.org/suicide.html

I think this situation is so very sad all around.Everyone involved is guilty.As far as medication for mentally ill people the anti-depressants are wonderful drugs.They have saved many,many lives and will continue to save lives.To blame a drug company is nuts.

I really wonder if more than 20% of the people here understand that an indictment is not a conviction?

Anyone can accuse anyone else of almost anything. Justice has been perverted here in that the grand jury assembled to indict Ms. Drew is not a jury of her peers — sorry, LA residents are quite different than Midwesterners, with different values, and anyone thinking this is a reasonable “change of venue” is merely addled.

Maybe someone should indict Brad Paisley for promoting such spoofing behavior in is song “Online” (video on You Tube). Folks just need to chill.

(Hey, anyone seen the story out of Gerald, Mo. of the guy who impersonated a DEA agent for two months? That’s got to be a whole lot worse than pretending to be a 16 year old boy. What’s next? We indict and imprison all fiction writers for impersonating multiple characters? How about biographers of dead people? Actors and actresses? It’s the hoosegow for them! People have killed themselves over unrequited crushes on Hollywood heartthrobs and musicians. We need to protect the children. No more music, video or movies unless they are documentaries with no recreations allowed. Anyone not satisfied being who they are, and role-playing in any form? Didn’t Kurt Vonnegut write a story about this sort of behavior way back in the 60s…oops, he’s already dead, and cannot be indicted. You know, the Bible isn’t a signed, iris-scan authenticated document. We don’t know…maybe it was written by the Devil to deceive us!)

The so-called co-conspirators have to live with themselves and Megan’s memory for their whole lives anyway. Seems to me the shame of that would be enough, instead of having to also endure “Scarlet Letter” style harassment.