Was this a terrible tragedy? Of course. Does Drew bear responsibility? Morally, yes; legally, no. What law did she break? Since when is it illegal to “inflict emotional distress?” That language is incredibly vague. If that were truly a crime, we would all be indicted every time we broke up with a girlfriend or boyfriend. I see a mean-spirited, downright nasty person in Drew, but I fail to see a crime.

It’s not harassment.
The basis of a harassment case is that the conduct was forced upon the individual, and yet Meier could have simply blocked Drew and her alter-ego, switched her user name, or stopped using myspace altogether.

I’m sorry to say, the fact that the conduct by Drew led to Meier committing suicide leaves one with the impression of much more deeply-rooted problems in the girl. I feel deeply sorry for this troubled child, and I question the parenting of the Meiers.

And before anyone accuses me of it, I am NOT defending Drew. I believe what she did was despicable, but there are many things that are allowed under the law that are considered wrong morally.

What she did was wrong, but then again, the suburbanites in that area have all kinds of weird rituals that warp kids’ values and lives. I am surprised they were able to nail her though in that case. There were too many other reasons that kid could have committed suicide that day. Her mother had just reamed her out not an hour before. It was known mom was about to lose her cushy lifestyle because of divorce. Who knows what she said to her in her nervous state. The kid was on prescription drugs whose side effects include suicidal thoughts. In the world today, we like to jump on easy solutions and easy blame. All kinds of evil things exist that the laws overlook like molester priests who actually touch kids physically to ruin their lives. And go free after they admit it. Mom could have removed access to the computer. She knew there were troubles and did not. In auto accidents we have ways of splitting who is at fault. I’d hate to see the internet freedoms clamped down because some woman chose to drug her kid and let her have little supervision instead of taking the time to deal with her mental issues. You stay kind of busy keeping up that big house lifestyle I guess. Leave the internet alone and raise your kids properly peoples. Maybe there will be an appeal on this. It sure is interesting how it went so far. Mom has VERY squeeky wheels I hear!

It is a horrible situation, all the way around. A girl tormented (by neighbors, mental illness, most likely both) is tragic.
I don’t condone what Drew did, but I hardly think she ever thought that Megan would kill herself. Drew is not responsible for this.
What if I wrote a letter saying that “Joe,” who thinks Liberals have no souls urged me to hang myself?
Perhaps Drew’s actions were more deliberate, but does any one honestly believe she thought the girl would commit suicide?? How could she have known; the parents didn’t.
And I cannot be the only one who thinks Dad on the news w/ his girlfriend is in bad taste. Megan’s mom does not want justice, she wants revenge. She’s a grieving mom, who can blame her. I bet its easier than looking inside the home.

Absolutely prosecute this person for harassment, false impersonation and if she can be prosecuted for actions which encouraged murder she should be so. Her actions essentially convinced this adolescent girl to commit murder against herself.

The “free-speech advocates” I see on these forums and on places like YouTube are at best maladjusted morons. They hide behind their keyboards and spout profanity-laced rhetoric against parents like the Meiers and the parents of that young teenage girl who was beaten by a mob of her peers and then broadcast on YouTube. They loudly proclaim their precious right to say and do whatever they want, without consequences for their hurtful words or actions. The right to free speech comes with safeguards, and with responsibilities, to not infringe on the rights of others.

I am reminded of the passage, “Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them…” (2 Timothy 1-6, The Message.)

I think that pretty well sums up where we are at as a society. Lori Drew is getting what she deserves, and ultimately so will we.

For those of you who are gladly throwing the book at Megan’s parents: How many of YOU are in the process, today, of raising a teenage girl? Unless you are, you don’t have a leg to stand on. One of my daughters (now 27) got into some pretty scary stuff (myspace is mild) when she was in high school…stuff that I didn’t find out about until much later. Here’s my statement about all that: The things I DO know about are bad enough. I’m not sure I want to know the rest.

Sometimes, what you hope for with your kids is that they find SOME adult to keep them pointed in a healthy direction. I (and my wife) spent many hours sitting up with various teenage girls that wound up at our house. Other parents who I know say the same thing. My hope was then that my girls were getting the same things from their friend’s moms and dads.

What Lori Drew did was reprehensible. I can only say that Megan’s parents most likely did what they thought was best for their daughter. Lori Drew was living a vicarious life through her daughter. Whether she deserves a court appearance and trial is secondary. She should at least admit remorse for her behavior and recognize that her behavior is not the behavior of a responsible adult.

There is no doubt what the Drew did was heinous, dispicable, and just wron in so many ways! There is no doubt Drew should be sued in civil court for intentionally attempting to cause distress to a minor. But as the prosecutor stated, there were no laws at the time that made her aggregious behavior illegal.

Just as strongly, I find the parents of MTM equally as quilty for having no clue what MTM was up to on her computer….and apparently no clue how emotionally unstable MTM was. It has been known quite some time kids can be fickle and downright cruel. Relationships amoungst minors start, stop, start, stop, and change so fast blinking will miss the event. Millions of teens feel angst, emotional distress, heart break and do not react with suicide. Perhaps there are more unfortunate events than are reported.

MTM obviously should have been receiving some type of professional intervention and most definitely parental supervision.

Everything about these events is disturbing.

I don’t think she should go to jail. It’s too bad that it happened, but apparently the girl was highly emotional and suicidal without this event. Maybe it’s worth looking into her upbring and what influence her parents may have had in this.

You can’t tell this is an election year…

An LA grand jury did what Jack Banas did not have the fortitude to do. Lori Drew intentionally set up this userid with the intent to contact a minor. She is a predator, plain and simple and should have been charged for that in Missouri. Lori Drew is no different than a child sexual predator except that she went for mental torment instead of sexual torment.

Some of you have cited Megan mental state. But, Lori Drew knew that and went after Megan anyway. That makes her 10 times more contemptable in my eyes.