Prosecutors Ending Lawsuit Against Lori Drew

from the good-news dept

While there was some concern that prosecutors would push forward with an appeal of a judge's decision to toss out the ridiculous ruling against Lori Drew, federal prosecutors have now said that they're dropping the case and will not pursue it further. Drew may still face a civil lawsuit, but it's a good thing that the government is out of this. No matter what you think of Drew's behavior in dealing with her daughter's friend, Megan Meier, it was never a good idea to twist computer hacking laws to try to convict her.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: lori drew


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Matt Bennett, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:21am

    It seems to me a civil lawsuit is a pretty appropriate way to handle it. A criminal trial was not.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:31am

    Re:

    "It seems to me a civil lawsuit is a pretty appropriate way to handle it. A criminal trial was not."

    Two civil lawsuits would seem appropriate, actually. One from the family of the girl that killed herself against Lori Drew.

    And one from Lori Drew against the DA's office....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Ryan, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:42am

    Re: Re:

    Agreed, although I still find it pretty troubling that merely being deceitful online suddenly makes you financially liable for any overreaction another Internet user may have.

    We'd be much better off as a society if we weren't so entitled and with so much liability for anything and everything. For whatever reason, it has become so important in the U.S. to make somebody pay anytime something bad happens.

    Lt. Jake Stone: You arrested a waiter?
    Norman Robberson: Jake, he was rude.
    Lt. Jake Stone: Norman, you can't arrest people for being rude. If you could, all of New York City would be on Death Row.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    DH's love child, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:44am

    Re: Re:

    And chances are really good both would be settled out of court...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Matt Bennett, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:45am

    Re: Re:

    Sure.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Matt Bennett, 23 Nov 2009 @ 8:48am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Yeah, I think we live in an overly litigatious society too, but there is a recognized concept of "unreasonable harassment" and if there was ever a case for it, I would think this woul be it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 9:28am

    I hate Lori Drew, but yea, I'd hate to see our legal system become (more of) a joke.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Nov 2009 @ 9:47am

    Sorry. Couldn't resist. This was one of the Google contextual ads that popped up on the right side of the screen when I was reading this TechDirt story.

    California Rape Lawyers
    We Specialize in Rape Cases 24 Hours/7days, Free Consultation!
    nocuffs.com

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    DS, 23 Nov 2009 @ 9:55am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Really? Voluntarily engaging in a conversation with somehow becomes "unreasonable harassment"?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous1, 23 Nov 2009 @ 10:10am

    My momma always said "stupid is as stupid does"....a derhh....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Steve, 23 Nov 2009 @ 11:32am

    Re: Re:

    "Two civil lawsuits would seem appropriate, actually. One from the family of the girl that killed herself against Lori Drew.

    And one from Lori Drew against the DA's office...."


    If Lori Drew knows what's good for her, she'll take her lumps and just crawl back under the rock from which she came.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. icon
    Shawn (profile), 23 Nov 2009 @ 12:24pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I would say it was more then just a conversation. She purposely set this all up because this girl stopped being friends with her daughter. She built it up like some guy was interested in her then shot her down with comments that were cruel and mean. As an adult she should have known better. This is just helicopter parenting at it's worst.

    On that note though I am glad this is being dropped as it was such a stretch that it was rediculous. What she did was wrong but if she didn't break a law then she didn't break a law.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Manfriend, 24 Nov 2009 @ 9:32am

    Methinks Everyone is Missing the Point Here

    The criminal lawsuit and the going of to court while the whole world watched and argued about the whole thing, her name and her kid's name constantly coming up in discussion on the internet, radio, and television talk shows--becoming a touchstone of conversation to be referred to whenever a parent does helicopter parenting... THAT was the punishment. The DA had to know that this type of harassment was unwarranted, that any decisions would be appealed, that the law he chose to charge her with was inapplicable and would result in an overturning of any verdict given. All of which was immaterial--the DA's goal was not legal justice, but street justice. One wonders if the DA hoped the attention and stress of court and the media circus would result in Lori Drew committing suicide the same way her victim did?

    The punishment though, has been served and is being served without any need for prison walls or for expensive police supervision and there is no appeal...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 9:07pm

    Instead of twisting Internet hacking laws to charge Lori Drew, criminal hates smelt charges ARE appropriate.

    Good on the Governor for broadening the law around harassment to include cyber bullying & causing emotional distress to someone else.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.