I am pleased to announce that the Justice Department will be moving to dismiss its appeal in the Lori Drew case. The motion apparently will be filed today or tomorrow, and it will bring the Drew case to a close.
I am pleased to announce that the Justice Department will be moving to dismiss its appeal in the Lori Drew case. The motion apparently will be filed today or tomorrow, and it will bring the Drew case to a close.
Bill Poser says:
Good news.
November 19, 2009, 7:54 pmSteve says:
I got banned from the VC comments section over this case, dammit. I demand closure!
November 19, 2009, 7:59 pmPhaedrus says:
My thoughts and prayers to the family of the girl that committed suicide as a result of this woman’s actions. Nothing brings a child back from the dead. I don’t know if this family is entitled to proceed with any other legal action against this woman. If so, I hope their action is successful.
November 19, 2009, 8:00 pmRPT says:
Excellent work.
Your descriptions of the reality of federal criminal litigation are light years from the unfounded, and, even worse, simply uninformed hysteria we are reading about the KSM case.
November 19, 2009, 8:07 pmBob from Ohio says:
Thank God she is free to abuse more children! Yeah justice!
November 19, 2009, 8:21 pmLagrangian Mechanic says:
Good job, Professor. Yes, Drew was a pretty icky defendant, but the ridiculous theory the government was using could not be allowed to stand, and thank you for your work in knocking it down.
November 19, 2009, 8:54 pmBC says:
I’m glad she won’t be going to jail.
Now I hope the family of the girl she abused sue her into absolute ruin, such that she starves in a gutter — which would still be far better than she deserves.
November 19, 2009, 8:58 pmTweets that mention The Volokh Conspiracy » Blog Archive » Justice Department to Drop Lori Drew Appeal -- Topsy.com says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Carey L. and Carey L., Suffolk Media Law. Suffolk Media Law said: Justice Department to Drop Lori Drew Appeal http://bit.ly/3fSRrd [...]
November 19, 2009, 9:14 pmCornellian says:
If I ever need an example of a case taken to establish an important principle on behalf of a client who is scum of the earth, this case will fit the bill.
November 19, 2009, 10:48 pmFub says:
Dropping the appeal means nobody will likely ever face federal prosecution for violating VC’s (or any other website’s) AUP/TOS. That sounds like pretty good closure to me.
Congratulations and thanks, Prof. Kerr
November 19, 2009, 10:59 pmuberVU - social comments says:
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November 20, 2009, 12:42 amAndrew Grossman says:
Prof. Kerr, congratulations! This is a well-deserved victory in a suit that should never have been brought. It is also a prime (and perhaps rare) example of the relevance of academic research in criminal law.
November 20, 2009, 12:47 am801(d)(2)(D) says:
I imagine the defendant to be pretty judgment proof. I doubt what meager assets she has will do much to recompense the Meiers.
November 20, 2009, 1:04 amMyspace Suicide Case Ends « Tim Nuccio's Blog says:
[...] The Lori Drew case, which I blogged about a few weeks ago should be over very soon. According to Professor Orin Kerr, the Justice Department will file a motion to dismiss in the case either tomorrow or the following [...]
November 20, 2009, 2:35 amkrs says:
Congratulations. I think I agree with all but one of the comments thus far.
November 20, 2009, 9:35 amASlyJD says:
Woot! This is going in my “Seminar on Science, Law, and Technology” paper.
Of course, since the World of Warcraft gold farmers I’m investigating have violated the TOU of the game in furtherance of criminal copyright violations, 18 USC 1030 (a)(2)(C) should still apply, right?
November 20, 2009, 10:36 amShelbyC says:
You? You’re the last guy I would have figgered.
Congrats to OK on getting the right result.
November 20, 2009, 11:03 ambartman says:
So once again, evil goes unpunished due to the hard work of a bunch of smart people. I’m not superstitious, but I really hope karma exists.
November 20, 2009, 11:46 amGuest101 says:
“Dropping the appeal means nobody will likely ever face federal prosecution for violating VC’s (or any other website’s) AUP/TOS.”
A cynic might say it means the government remains free to bring harassing prosecutions on that basis without the impediment of a circuit court decision affirming the dismissal.
November 20, 2009, 11:50 amKen Arromdee says:
The point wasn’t to stop someone from punishing evil. The point was to stop someone from punishing evil by hurting a lot of innocent people. Setting a precedent that violating a TOS is against the law would punish an evildoer–and put the rest of us in jeopardy.
November 20, 2009, 12:47 pmRealistLiberal says:
Agreed. While I hope Lori Drew lives in ridicule and is shunned for the rest of her life, what she did was not criminal. And the over reaching of the prosecutor put a lot more people at serious risk. Thank you for your work on this. It was incredibly important work and a well deserved win.
November 20, 2009, 1:12 pmFub says:
Yep. I plead irresistible impulse, which induced a rare fit of optimism about the human decency and good judgment possessed by our “public servants”. I blame Obama, or Bush, or somebody.
November 20, 2009, 2:23 pmLeo Marvin says:
Congratulations, Orin. Echoing the prior comments, what you did was God’s work because, like the ACLU’s defense of Nazis in Skokie, it was right, our feelings about the immediate beneficiary notwithstanding.
November 20, 2009, 3:03 pmRPT says:
I don’t recall if there was pretrial bail or if the case was defended entirely pro bono. However, Drew’s having to come to Los Angeles and go through the experience of a federal criminal trial, listen to a guilty verdict live for a time with the uncertainty of post-conviction motions, is certainly some sort of punishment.
November 20, 2009, 5:15 pmProsecutors Drop Plans to Appeal Lori Drew Case says:
[...] University, had planned to work on Drew’s defense if the government pursued an appeal. Kerr was the first to report the news on his blog that the government had decided not to pursue an [...]
November 20, 2009, 10:41 pmdavod says:
What does this mean – AUP/TOS?
November 21, 2009, 9:40 amU.Va. Grad says:
Who says anything’s gone unpunished? The girl’s family can still, as one commenter put it, sue Lori Drew into oblivion (and I hope they do). But what Drew did just wasn’t a crime.
November 22, 2009, 12:37 amFub says:
Acceptable Use Policy / Terms of Service.
November 22, 2009, 7:51 amMatt says:
@ U.Va grad, why would you hope anyone can be simply sued into oblivion? That’s probably one of the worst parts of our legal system. Woman is to blame for nothing other than the impersonation, really. If you say “why don’t you go kill yourself” and someone actually does it, that’s when people play the Moral Outcry card and villify someone. At this point Lori Drew is probably unable to live in the united states because even though she is not guilty of anything legally, the public at large will probably vandalize her car, apartment, etc.
Lawsuit scenario: Party A: prosecution, has more resources than Party B.
Thus party A is basically going to win by default, and make the other side bankrupt for life or worse. The system does enable this.
November 23, 2009, 9:09 amChrisTS says:
Lawsuit scenario: Party A: prosecution, has more resources than Party B.
Folks are speaking of a private suit. There is no ‘prosecution.’
November 23, 2009, 7:06 pmChrisTS says:
Realist Liberal, Corneliian, and Leo have all got it right: we ought never to abuse the law to go after those we despise.
November 23, 2009, 7:09 pmLinks 28/11/2009: Dell Spreads Chrome OS, Tiny Core Linux 2.6 Out | Boycott Novell says:
[...] Justice Department to Drop Lori Drew Appeal [...]
November 28, 2009, 8:11 pmProsecutors Drop Plans to Appeal Lori Drew Case | Slush says:
[...] University, had planned to work on Drew’s defense if the government pursued an appeal. Kerr was the first to report the news on his blog that the government had decided not to pursue an [...]
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January 30, 2010, 7:15 pmholdaccountable says:
I have seen lori drews my whole life, always hiding, never in the open.A poser and also a FPFS.
February 12, 2010, 8:39 pmShe will be there when the fires roar down below.