Lawmakers vote to bar cyber harassment Bill, a response to teenager's suicide, now goes to the governor
By Chris Blank - The Associated Press
updated 6:53 p.m. CT, Fri., May. 16, 2008
msnbc.msn.com
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Responding to the suicide of a Missouri teenager who was teased over the Internet, state lawmakers Friday gave final approval to a bill making cyber harassment illegal.
The bill updates state laws against harassment to keep pace with technology by removing the requirement that the communication be written or over the telephone. Supporters say the bill will now cover harassment from computers, text messages and other electronic devices.
It was approved 106-23 in the House and 34-0 in the Senate and now goes to the governor.
Many of the bill's provisions came from a special gubernatorial task force that studied Internet harassment after the media last fall reported on the details of Megan Meier's suicide.
Police say the 13-year-old St. Charles County girl hanged herself in 2006 after being teased on a social networking Web site.
A neighborhood mother, her 18-year-old employee and 13-year-old daughter are accused of creating a fake profile of an attractive teenage boy to determine what Meier was saying about the daughter online.
The mother, Lori Drew, 49, was indicted in California on Thursday on federal counts of conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the teen. An attorney for Drew said a legal challenge is being planned.
Missouri police didn't file any charges against Drew in part because there was no applicable state law. Sen. Scott Rupp said Friday there's no way to be sure his legislation would have guaranteed a conviction, but it would have allowed prosecutors to continue investigating without having to ship the case to a different state.
"Without a good, quality cyber stalking and harassment law, which we don't currently have, we have to go to federal courts in other states to make a stretching leap argument," said Rupp, R-Wentzville.
State Sen. Harry Kennedy, D-St. Louis, said the law is "definitely a warning shot for those folks who want to use the Internet for harassment."
There was no immediate response from Meier's parents, Tina and Ron Meier. Tina Meier earlier this year testified before a Senate committee urging lawmakers to pass the bill.
Under Rupp's bill, repeat offenders and someone who is at least 21 years old could be charged with a felony and face up to four years in prison if they harass a minor. Other instances of harassment would remain a misdemeanor with penalties of up to a year in jail.
The bill also requires school officials to tell police about harassment and stalking on school grounds and expands state laws against stalking to cover "credible threats" not only against the victim, but also family and household members and animals.
Currently, stalking is a misdemeanor, but the bill would let someone be charged with a felony and face up to four years in prison if they stalk more than once, make "credible threats," violate a court protection order and violate their probation or parole by stalking.
* * * |
