I’m at a loss for this one. Lori Drew, a 50 year old woman, was acquitted of misdemeanor charges stemming from her involvement in the bullying of 13-year old Megan Meier via Myspace, which resulted in Meier’s suicide. The decision hinged on the fact that the prosecutors involved seemed ot have made a pretty terrible case: they argued that Drew’s behavior violated Myspace’s terms of service, thus resulting in trying Drew for hacking. As much as I would rather see people acquitted than thrown behind bars, I’ll make an exception in this case.
If manipulating someone into committing suicide is not a crime, it really should be. And it shouldn’t matter over what medium the events leading to the person’s suicide occurred. For those who don’t know, Ms. Drew set up a fake Myspace persona where she pretended to be a boy interested in the late Megan Meier, and then after acting out a relationship with the girl online, broke the girl’s heart, leading to her suicide. We can’t argue about whether or not the suicide was part of Drew’s plan, but we can argue that treating people in a way that makes them kill themselves should be illegal. If a kid is bullied at high school every day for a year and ends up killing himself, presumably the bully would be in some sort of trouble, especially if the bully were an adult under the law. So the fact that Ms. Drew was acquitted is sort of painful to watch.
I’m not saying that Ms. Drew should be found guilty of manslaughter, but she’s certainly guilty of abuse. Last I checked, that’s a crime.
