Some folks say that Congress will do anything that resonates with the public, and that Congress doesn’t care about the Constitution — especially if the Constitution gets in the way of “protecting the children.” If you think that, you should read this report about Wednesday’s House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act that Eugene blogged about a few months ago. A taste:
Proposed legislation demanding up to two years in prison for electronic speech meant to “coerce, intimidate, harass or cause substantial emotional distress to a person” was met with little enthusiasm by a House subcommittee on Wednesday.
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-California) lobbied fellow lawmakers of a House Judiciary subcommittee to back her proposed legislation dubbed the “Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act.” In its first congressional hearing, Sanchez said the proposal was designed to target the cyberbullying that led to the 2006 suicide of the 13-year-old Meier of Missouri.
“Bullying has gone electronic,” Sanchez testified before the Subcommitttee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. “This literally means kids can be bullies at any hour of the day or the night, or even in the victims’ own home.”
From the outset of the 90-minute hearing, however, committee members from the left and the right said they thought the measure was an unconstitutional breach of free speech. “We need to be extremely careful before heading down this path,” Bobby Scott, a Democrat from Virginia and the committee’s chairman, said during the hearing’s opening moment.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said the legislation “appears to be another chapter of over-criminalization.” He quipped, however, that the law could target the “mean-spirited liberals” in the blogosphere that are attacking himself and his family regularly.
About 30 minutes later, Gohmert said that not all prosecutors would exercise good judgment, that they might “harass the harasser.”
Good for them.