Teen Who Used Facebook Images To Rank Looks Of Female Classmates, Arrested For 'Disorderly Conduct'
from the facemash? dept
For anyone who's seen The Social Network or is familiar with the history and lore of Facebook, you know that prior to starting Facebook, Zuckerberg got in a bit of trouble for creating "Facemash," which took photos of students from various online "facebooks" around Harvard, put two of them together, and let people vote on who was hotter. So it's interesting to hear that a teenager in suburban Chicago has been arrested for using Facebook to do something similar with is own classmates:A teenager who allegedly ranked females in a list on Facebook by their physical appearance has been arrested, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.While I agree that this may have been a real jerk move by the kid, it's hard to see how this should be an arrestable offense. Disorderly conduct seems like a ridiculous charge here. How is being a jerk online "disorderly conduct"?
The 17-year-old, whose name isn't being released because he's a minor, is a former student of Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Ill., and the girls he is accused of ranking in the list include former classmates, the Tribune said.
Oak Park Police believe he not only created the "offensive list" but also was responsible for circulating it online, the report said. The teen was arrested Monday at home and is being charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, the Tribune said.
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Filed Under: disorderly conduct, rating people
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I am starting to feel that this is some kind of loophole that the police can use to temporarily arrest anyone they don't approve. If they don't like you walking around the the street, they'll bust you with disorderly conduct, then let you go without a charge later after it hit the maximum holding time without a charge.
I mean, after all, walking in a zig-zag way on a side walk can be viewed as a disorderly conduct...
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What a fine use of public resources
Oh, I'm sorry...I forgot. Chicago cops are paid by the mob and the dealers and the gangs, no taxpayer funds were used. Never mind.
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First blush sounds like a very bad case of overreaction.
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Any of the girls could claim copyright over their photos, but Facebook asks for the rights in their terms of service before posting. Alternative uses could be copyright infringement. Facebook's right to use does not protect it against the outside use by others. There is no means of giving up a copyright and even Creative Commons has been argued as ineffective by some companies in court.
A photo is not speech and could definitely be claimed as a digital good. The content of the boys commentary protects him. Facebook contributed to improper use of the digital good so any alternative infringing use could put Facebook at risk for Third-Party linking and contribution to infringement...
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Which has nothing to do with disorderly conduct.
A photo is not speech
How exactly did you come to this conclusion? If a photo is not speech, then it's not protected by the 1st Amendment. Do you really think that's the case?
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D.C.
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I see no mention of a school involved.
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Bolding is mine.
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DIY without Lawyers = Jail Time
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And we wonder...
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What is Disorderly Conduct?
I'm not a lawyer, but I can read English. The minor must have either alarmed or disturbed someone, and he must also have provoked a breach of the peace.
Aside from being an incredibly broad standard, I just don't see how this applies to the facts as we know them. I'm sure he alarmed someone, but how did he provoke a breach of the peace? Did someone take a swing at him over this?
Remind me to fight any disorderly conduct charge I ever recieve.
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No, silly boy, laws are for civilians.
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I cannot imagine that if a teenage girl who was on that list was present she didn't make some obnoxious scene by throwing some kind of fit.
If it wasn't easily gotten under control then that is all it would take.
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Fortunately, criminal charges aren't based on what some unconnected person can or cannot imagine, but (in theory) on what actually happened. Did someone breach the peace over this list, and did the creator provoke that breach? The article doesn't say.
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The rule of law is dead
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Re: The rule of law is dead
Police have lots of discretion in enforcing the law. If the officer is reasonable then the law seems reasonable. If the officer is having a bad day then some citizen is going to have a bad day.
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Unless you're a cop.
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For instance, if racial slurs were used during an assault, it could be made a Hate Crime. Usually the Hate Crime card isn't played unless it's a violent crime, not all of the crimes are violent that can be escallated as Hate Crimes.
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Detention? Of course. That's what truant officers are employed for.
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I'm perfectly fine with physical altercations being handled by the police... but unless I'm missing something, there were no such in this case.
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Plus, this all qualifies as free speech (even if it is hurtful) so a school policy that covers this should be removed.
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TSA like
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I love misapplied law!!
However I think this is over the top and any good lawyer should be able to prove the charge was misapplied. Otherwise the gov't needs to prove facebook is a public place.
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> or threat of violence from one of the girls, or her boyfriend,
> then in most jurisdictions the school is required to turn the
> matter over to the police.
That's what is known in 1st Amendment circles as a "heckler's veto" and has been disallowed as a restriction on speech by the Supreme Court for decades.
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So does that mean....
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Are Beauty Pageant Judges now Disorderly?
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I doubt if many of them asked to be judged not good enough, so let the losers file charges?
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Why that little...
...unless he ranked my daughter fairly high on the list, in which case, I'm fine with it.
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RUKM
The schools and cops have nothing better to do than this? The most likely thing that happened is one of the girls didn't feel she get the rating to which she is ENTITLED.
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Getting the police to act
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Odd.
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> crime since he used racial slurs?
Racial slurs *are* protected speech. See American Nazi Party vs. City of Skokie, Illinois.
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Facebook Liability
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Save the Children
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Amazing
And from a practical perspective, when this call first came in to the station (from outraged parent of one of the girls, one presumes), I can't imagine why they even took it seriously. This would have been my reaction:
PARENT: Some miscreant posted a list of the hottest girls in school on his Facebook page!
ME: Okay... so?
PARENT: Well, it's an outrage! He said my daughter has a nice butt, for god's sake!
ME: Seriously? This is why you're calling the police?
PARENT: Damn it, something must be done!
ME: Well, that may be true, but it's not something on which we're going to waste police resources. Have a nice day.
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Friend
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17 Year Old Boy Arrested For Rating Girls On Appearance
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