Felony harassment charges stemming from Craiglist posting

Recently, a case came up before the Missouri court involving a 40-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl, with the former having been charged with felony harassment as she posted the girl’s personal contact information and photo on Craigslist in their subsection for individuals seeking “Casual Encounters” (you can imagine what that means). To note, this is the first application of Missouri’s new cyberharassment and cyberbullying law, which went into effect in June of 2008 following the media coverage of Megan Meier’s suicide.

The defendant and her attorney claim this was simply a practical joke. Her attorney also claims that had this same information been written on a bathroom wall, she would not have been charged.

I disagree with both of these assertions. First, there must be a line drawn as to what constitutes a practical joke, and that boundary was crossed when the defendant put the plaintiff at risk for actual, tangible harm. Secondly, to compare the writing on a bathroom wall to posting on the Internet is preposterous when considering the differential size of populations that would view each. Third, I believe it is completely appropriate for a judge and jury to consider the reality of recent Craiglist-related victimizations when interpreting the content and context of this case. Much like we don’t shrug off facetious statements about bombs in airports, we can’t shrug off the reality that the disclosure of personal information online can lead to serious harm offline. Finally, minors are (and should be) afforded even greater protection from these types of actions.

http://joyzoz.blogspot.com/ joyce elaine reaves

You know in Alabama they will not do anything to change any laws about the internet. They will not even get that woman who did the below things to me, phone records. They prove I am the victum that I am telling the truth. I guess if I would have killed myself like those bullies wanted and tried to get me to do then the laws might have changed. I don't know. I still cry everyday about what they did to me. That young lady that the stuff was done to will never be the same just like I am not. All bullies should have some kind of punishment. People should learn to be ethical and moral. I think the entire world is just full of hateful mean people now.

MAY OF 2008 MY IDENTITY WAS STOLEN. SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE CYBER-BULLIES AND

REAL LIFE BULLIES TOOK MY PHOTOS AND REAL NAME OFF OF MYSPACE. (IT WAS A

NEWSPAPER REPORT OF WHEN I WON AN AWARD) THEY CREATED FAKE/IMPOSTER PROFILES

OF ME AND USED THESE PROFILES TO WRITE THEMSELVES HARMFUL LETTERS. THEY ALSO

CLAIMED TO RECEIVE CALLS THAT THEY NEVER, NEVER RECEIVED. THEY COMMITTED

PERJURY IN MONTGOMERY ALABAMA BY SWEARING TO A FALSE AFFIDAVIT TO HAVE ME

ILLEGALLY PUT INTO JAIL.

THEY RUINED MY HEALTH, REPUTATION, AND THEY ALMOST TOOK MY LIFE (I BECAME

SUICIDAL AND WAS PUT ON MEDICATION)WHEN THEY TOOK MY IDENTITY. THEY DID THIS

ALL FOR A GOOD LAUGH. THEY USE THE INTERNET AS THEIR HUGE PERSONAL

SCHOOLYARD TO BULLY OTHERS. THESE PEOPLE CAN MAKE PROFILES OF ANYONE AND

NOTHING IS EVER DONE TO THEM. ALL THEY NEED IS A PICTURE OF YOU AND YOUR

NAME? YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE INTERNET ONLY THEY NEED IT.

IN ALABAMA THEY DO NOT EVEN CHECK THE PHONE RECORDS BEFORE PLACING YOU INTO

JAIL AND THEY DO NOT HAVE AN EXPUNGEMENT LAW SO THIS IS ON YOUR RECORD FOR

LIFE. THESE PEOPLE ALMOST TOOK MY LIFE FOR A LAUGH. MYSPACE FOUND THE SITES

AND EMAILS. I ALSO BELIEVE THEY HACKED MY REAL ACCOUNT AND I TOLD MYSPACE

BUT THEY DID NOTHING BUT DELETE THE SITES.

I WISH EVERYONE WOULD CALL OUR SENATORS AND HAVE THESE LAWS CHANGED. THESE

ARE OUTDATED COMMUNICATION LAWS-IT TAKES 5 MINUTES TO GET PHONE RECORDS AND

IP ADDRESS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE ACCOUNTS ABOUT AN HOUR. PERJURY-IF

THEY WOULD BOTHER TO INVESTIGATE THAT IS EASILY PROVEN. GOD BLESS AND HELP

ME MAKE THE INTERNET AND PHONE SYSTEM SAFER.

WE ALSO NEED THE LAWS CHANGED SO WHEN A CASE IS DISMISSED (AS THIS ONE WAS

BUT THE HARM WAS ALREADY DONE TO MYSELF AND MY FAMILY) IT CAN BE REMOVED

FROM YOUR RECORD. ALSO, MAKE THESE SITES BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT THESE

PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO DO.

EVEN NEWSPAPERS HAVE TO CHECK EVERYTHING THAT IS IN PRINT AND THESE SITES

SHOULD HAVE STIFF PENALTIES AGAINST THEM IF THEY ALLOW PEOPLE TO BE HARMED

DUE TO THEIR SITES LETTING SLANDER AND ANY OTHER HARMFUL CONTENT. HELP ME

MAKE SURE NO INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE EVER JAILED AGAIN. PLEASE………… http://www.facebook.com/JOYZOZ?v=app_2347471856&a…
http://cyberbullying.us/blog/felony-harassment-charges-stemming-from-craiglist-posting.html#respond laney

hi!
http://www.facebook.com/JOYZOZ?v=app_2347471856&ref=profile JOYCE ELAINE REAVES

WE NEED MORE LAWS SO THEY WILL NOT DO THINGS LIKE THIS TO ANYONE AGAIN.

MAY OF 2008 MY IDENTITY WAS STOLEN. SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE CYBER-BULLIES AND REAL LIFE BULLIES TOOK MY PHOTOS AND REAL NAME OFF OF MYSPACE. (IT WAS A NEWSPAPER REPORT OF WHEN I WON AN AWARD) THEY CREATED FAKE/IMPOSTER PROFILES OF ME AND USED THESE PROFILES TO WRITE THEMSELVES HARMFUL LETTERS. THEY ALSO CLAIMED TO RECEIVE CALLS THAT THEY NEVER, NEVER RECEIVED. THEY COMMITTED PERJURY IN MONTGOMERY ALABAMA BY SWEARING TO A FALSE AFFIDAVIT TO HAVE ME ILLEGALLY PUT INTO JAIL. THEY RUINED MY HEALTH, REPUTATION, AND THEY ALMOST TOOK MY LIFE WHEN THEY TOOK MY IDENTITY. THEY DID THIS ALL FOR A GOOD LAUGH. THESE PEOPLE CAN MAKE PROFILES OF ANYONE AND NOTHING IS EVER DONE TO THEM. IN ALABAMA THEY DO NOT EVEN CHECK THE PHONE RECORDS BEFORE PLACING YOU INTO JAIL AND THEY DO NOT HAVE AN EXPUNGEMENT LAW SO THIS IS ON YOUR RECORD FOR LIFE. THESE PEOPLE ALMOST TOOK MY LIFE FOR A LAUGH. MYSPACE FOUND THE SITES AND EMAILS. I ALSO BELIEVE THEY HACKED MY REAL ACCOUNT AND I TOLD MYSPACE BUT THEY DID NOTHING BUT DELETE THE SITES. I WISH EVERYONE WOULD CALL OUR SENATORS AND HAVE THESE LAWS CHANGED. THESE ARE OUTDATED COMMUNICATION LAWS-IT TAKES 5 MINUTES TO GET PHONE RECORDS AND IP ADDRESS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED THE ACCOUNTS ABOUT AN HOUR. PERJURY-IF THEY WOULD BOTHER TO INVESTIGATE THAT IS EASILY PROVEN. GOD BLESS AND HELP ME MAKE THE INTERNET AND PHONE SYSTEM SAFER. WE ALSO NEED THE LAWS CHANGED SO WHEN A CASE IS DISMISSED IT CAN BE REMOVED FROM YOUR RECORD. THE SITES THAT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN SHOULD ALSO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE BY HAVING STIFF FINES PLACED ON THEM. HELP ME MAKE SURE NO INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE EVER JAILED AGAIN. JOYZ OZ
Arnold94

Another way to put it is that "standing" may not be required to be proven in the "normal" was separately by the Plantiffs but is implicit in the illegal acts of the defendants in violating the law of the land. ,
SouthWind33

In either case, users were engaged in a kind of debate. ,
Todd

I flagged a guy's post on CL, and now he wants to file charges against me. He sites this page as evidence to support his claims, when clearly it is not. I just wanted a post here that calls him a moron. He's a moron. Okay, I'm done.
vm

I found any article on the news tribune about this twenty old man who faces 45 days in a federal prison for forward explicit online photos of teenage boy to the teens school. The suspect 20 was part of an "electronic mob" trying to drive the teenage boy to commit suicide. The twenty year old is being charged in federal court. The interest thing about this case is that the prosecutors could’ve sought a harsher punishment in the case, since the photo of the teen that he forwarded to the school was when the teen was 13 years old. The worst part of the story was that the photo of the victim was taken by the victim.

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