Mooresville Students Charged With Cyberstalking

This is ridiculous. Two Mooresville teens have been charged with cyberstalking by the Mooresville Police Department for creating fake MySpace pages for their assistant principals. Tyler Yannone and Lauren Strazzabosco, both 16, were arrested for “portraying one of the administrators as a pedophile” and for “using racist words,” in the words of the Mooresville police.

Can you believe this? Everyone should’ve recognize this as a harmless prank and let it go. Two charge the two for an obvious parody is a violation of the First Amendment.

I understand the intention of the cyberstalking law but it is written so vaguely that it can’t help but trample free speech. Read the law (with emphasis by me):

§ 14?196.3. Cyberstalking.

(a) The following definitions apply in this section:

(1) Electronic communication. – Any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature, transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, computer, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo?optical system.

(2) Electronic mail. – The transmission of information or communication by the use of the Internet, a computer, a facsimile machine, a pager, a cellular telephone, a video recorder, or other electronic means sent to a person identified by a unique address or address number and received by that person.

(b) It is unlawful for a person to:

(1) Use in electronic mail or electronic communication any words or language threatening to inflict bodily harm to any person or to that person’s child, sibling, spouse, or dependent, or physical injury to the property of any person, or for the purpose of extorting money or other things of value from any person.

(2) Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, harassing, or embarrassing any person.

(3) Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another and to knowingly make any false statement concerning death, injury, illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct, or criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any member of the person’s family or household with the intent to abuse, annoy, threaten, terrify, harass, or embarrass.

(4) Knowingly permit an electronic communication device under the person’s control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.

(c) Any offense under this section committed by the use of electronic mail or electronic communication may be deemed to have been committed where the electronic mail or electronic communication was originally sent, originally received in this State, or first viewed by any person in this State.

(d) Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

(e) This section does not apply to any peaceable, nonviolent, or nonthreatening activity intended to express political views or to provide lawful information to others. This section shall not be construed to impair any constitutionally protected activity, including speech, protest, or assembly. (2000?125, s. 1; 2000?140, s. 91.)

Section 3 above makes it a crime to make a “statement concerning” death, injury, etc. It doesn’t say that the statement must imply death, injury, etc. I haven’t read the arrest warrant nor the fake pages, but I have yet to hear anyone claim these kids threatened these administrators in any way. From what I can tell, all they did was the Internet equivalent of putting “kick me” signs on these principals’ backs.

Fortunately for the kids, the last paragraph of the law – the part about “peacable, nonviolent, nonthreatening” activity – explicitly keeps this speech safe. Thus, either there is more to this case than the news story coveys, or the cops chose to overlook this part of the law.

The spokeswoman for the Mooresville Graded School District, Boen Nutting, said “its so important that we teach our children to respect adults and respect authority.”

I think its more important to teach our children the rights guaranteed them by our country’s Constitution.