Redux: Following Up on Drew, Davis and Jesse James Hollywood
Simple Justice:
Sure, I post about plenty of stuff when it’s in my face, but what comes of it later?
Lori Drew, the MySpace Suicide Prosecution
When last we checked in on this case, one of the most significant cases confronting online criminal liability, U.S. District Court Judge George Wu raised three very interesting issues to be briefed by the parties relating to how the case founds its way into his courtroom. In light of the issues raised by defense motions to dismiss and the government’s response, this turn of events was quite significant.
The latest news brings no substantive change in the case, but rather a new player into the mix. Orin Kerr, lawprof blawger extraordinaire from the venerable Volokh Conspiracy, has joint H. Dean Steward on the Lori Drew defense team. Pro bono, no less.
In the last two weeks, I have gone an important step further: I have formally joined Dean Steward, counsel for Lori Drew, as Drew’s co-counsel. My participation is pro bono, based on my strong sense that the government’s theory of the case poses a very real threat to civil liberties online.
While Dean Steward is hardly a slouch, Orin brings a level of scholarly depth to the defense that this case demands. Given how dangerous a precedent this prosecution sets, and the strong potential that Judge Wu might reject the government’s theory, I hope that the combo of Steward and Kerr will prove to be unstoppable.
Yes, I know that there is a significant group who hates Lori Drew for what she did to Megan Meier, and demands that she be punished, and couldn’t care less about the theory of prosecution. We all understand this, but this isn’t about loving Lori Drew, but preventing a terrible theory of prosecution that will haunt us long after the Lori Drew case is forgotten.
Troy…