High School Girl Faces Felony Charges For Yearbook Prank
from the bullying-gone-legal dept
Let's start this off with the obvious: bullying sucks. In particular, when the bullies and the bullied are students, it sucks extra hard. That said, we've talked before about how overreacting to bullying situations ends up with everyone looking silly. And when the prosecutors and lawyers decide to get involved, all the more so.Which brings us to Columbia, Missouri, where a 17-year-old high school student is staring down felony charges for changing a student's last name in the school's year book to something as unfunny as it was inappropriate.
A Columbia high school student faces a possible felony charge after her arrest for changing a classmate's name in the school yearbook to a sexually suggestive term. The 17-year-old Hickman High School junior was arrested May 14 after she allegedly changed a student's last name from Mastain to "masturbate" in the 100th edition of the Hickman Cresset yearbook. She could be charged with first-degree property damage, a felony, and harassment.My first reaction to this was to be thankful that I didn't have any access to my high school's year book files. If I had, the overwhelming likelihood is that I'd still be serving time in a federal pen, with a teardrop tattoo or two on my face and a strong fear of showers. My second thought was, roughly: what the hell? Felony charges? I get that the school is probably annoyed, but this just screams of an over-reaction to suspected bullying. Hell, the victim of the prank doesn't even seem to think it's a big deal.
Raigan Mastain said although she wasn't happy about what happened, she also "wasn't devastated."Elsewhere, she pointed out that she didn't even know the girl that well, so the whole thing was strange to her.
"I was kind of annoyed. It was stupid, but I wasn't that upset," she said.
Both Acopolis and the girl whose name was changed, Raigan Mastain, an aspiring graphic designer, called the last-minute change by another yearbook staff member as an act of immaturity, not malice. "I hardly knew her at all," said Mastain, who graduated from Hickman last week. "I barely worked with her. We weren't friends. But I didn't think I had any problems with her."Still, given all that, Mastain went on to suggest that the charges would be warranted because "it's bullying" and "there needs to be consequences" while also noting that the damage to school property was immense. However, considering she's already graduated and didn't even know any of this had happened until a friend discovered the prank and sent her a text message, how much personal harm was actually done? And for all the talk about property damage, the school decided not to even reprint the year books, instead covering up the naughty word with a sticker. What does a sticker cost? $1? $700 worth of cost, plus a mildly annoyed fellow student, equates to felony charges?
As with so many of these stories, it's likely that emotions ran high and the school and community thought they needed to be seen doing something about so-called bullying. The end result, however, will be a young woman living the rest of her life with a felony on her record for what was a silly and stupid high school prank. That seems entirely unreasonable.
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: felonies, hickman high school, high school, pranks, yearbooks
Reader Comments
The First Word
“Three possibilities:
1) Felonies are becoming so widespread, and used so often, that people are no longer seeing them as the serious charges they are meant to represent.or
2) Those involved have no freakin' clue what they are doing, or what a felony on the record actually means for those charged with one, but just though it 'sounded about right' for what was for all intents and purposes a slightly annoying, stupid prank.
or
3) Both of the above.
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Three possibilities:
or
2) Those involved have no freakin' clue what they are doing, or what a felony on the record actually means for those charged with one, but just though it 'sounded about right' for what was for all intents and purposes a slightly annoying, stupid prank.
or
3) Both of the above.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Three possibilities:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Three possibilities:
This. A law has as much force as the level of understanding and respect the society has towards it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Three possibilities:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Three possibilities:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Three possibilities:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
By absurdly ramping up the punishment of some petty crime you are generating ill-will towards the law (along with lack of respect) and generating tons of people that are prevented from getting decent jobs and many other things a felony charge does. Often this person will need to resort to crime to survive decently. Is that what the US want? Seems so.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Way overthinking it. Make her pay for the stickers and actually stick them in place. Doesn't involve the police AND is the equivalent of writing on the chalkboard "I will never change Mastain to Masturbate again" 100 times.
Bryan
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
*glasses on*
...is a real jerk-off.
(yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
(glasses)... is a real jerk-off.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
/.-' `-.\
// \\
/j_______________j\
/o.-==-. .-. .-==-.o\
|| )) (( ||
\\____// \\____//
`-==-' `-==-'
Deal with it!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
Most forums delete multiple spaces.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Corrective Action.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Corrective Action.
Guess those dumb and stupid pranks get you Felony for life plus twenty years in the slammer.
Kids do dumb things.They are kids.Felony for life is bullshit.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Corrective Action.
Our yearbook staff conspired to sneak things past the faculty advisor (or so we thought, who knows what she really knew), writing risqué captions, creating fake students, swapping in embarrassing photos of kids doing things they weren't supposed to be doing ... it was all just silly fun. Now it would be "bullying" and someone have to pay with a felony record, I guess.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
$50 book * 2,100 students
--No charges had been filed against the teenager as of Tuesday afternoon.
--The school estimated the costs of reprinting 720 yearbooks at $41,000.
--She could be charged with first-degree property damage, a felony, and harassment.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: $50 book * 2,100 students
sack the school board for paying $30-$40 more for each year book than they should have in the first place.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: $50 book * 2,100 students
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: $50 book * 2,100 students
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://www.purpleandgoldnews.com/news/2013/05/16/why-is-everyone-talking-about-the-year book/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This is clearly another case of someone taking the "auto-correct" suggestions of Office without the appropriate grain of salt.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Stupid expense
If that's what it's costing them, then they're shopping at the wrong store. Where I live, stickers cost about 20p for one, and the price comes down for bulk buying; the more you buy, the less each sticker costs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Stupid expense
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Stupid expense
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Stupid expense
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mastain to Masturbate is not too much of a stretch.
Dear Auto-Correct,
Duck You
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Zero tolerance?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Zero tolerance?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Zero tolerance?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Zero tolerance?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Zero tolerance?
If a DA takes this to court he should be removed by the voters. Wasting the time of the court and resources of the prison is just plain over reacting. Zero Tolerance is just a sign of zero intelligence.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Zero tolerance?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Zero tolerance?
In the same fictional universe where her actions require a felony charge? (FTFA, the school would only have incurred that if they had decided to reprint everything - they didn't so it's the cost of printing and applying the stickers at best)
Let this be a lesson to the school that pranks can be played, and kids don't always see the consequences of their actions. Yes, she should have been more mature and not abused a position of relative authority to play a joke on a fellow student - but this isn't a felony.
Hire a teacher to proofread everything before the send it to the printer next time rather than shipping the girl off to the cops. It makes more sense and saves everyone money (the idiotic investigation and prosecution of this girl will almost certainly cost the taxpayer more than her prank would have cost the school).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Zero tolerance?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hypocrisy
Silly me, and here I thought our system was about justice and not revenge or "making an example".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Hypocrisy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yes, kids, $700 IS felony level of damages.
By the way, another name beginning with "Mas" should occur to you fanboys, but I suppose you're too busy masnicking to recall it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yes, kids, $700 IS felony level of damages.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yes, kids, $700 IS felony level of damages.
This post isn't about adults, it's about children. You also must have missed where I called the prank stupid. That you did miss that surprises me the same way I'm surprised when the sun comes up every morning, which is to say that it doesn't.
"By the way, another name beginning with "Mas" should occur to you fanboys, but I suppose you're too busy masnicking to recall it."
So...the prank isn't acceptable, but you'll just point to how it can apply to Mike? Does your hypocrisy know no bounds?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yes, kids, $700 IS felony level of damages.
I know that states can set their own amount that constitutes felony damage so its different by your location. I don't typically go around damaging anything regardless of how much I would like to sometimes, so I don't really know the specifics of where I live, but from what little I do know, I can not ever remember the amounts being raised to keep pace with inflation.
So does this mean that as a kid I could have effectively destroyed more property than kids today?
Can't seem to shake the question, if the above is true, how long until someone who grabs a McDonald's hamburger from your tray can be arrested for a felony theft?
Are we, by mere oversight, creating a population of convicted felons?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yes, kids, $700 IS felony level of damages.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yes, kids, $700 IS felony level of damages.
Does it tire you when you can't write anything about the article and so have to resort to lies and deflection in order to write anything at all? Not writing anything is still a viable option if it does, and that comes with the bonus of everyone not pointing out what a tosser you are on every thread.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yes, kids, $700 IS felony level of damages.
don't do anything to piss off Empire, kiddies!
now, have a nice life!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Maybe a demonstration of responsibility from the "adult" that was supposed to be overseeing the yearbook.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
From the article:
"Both Acopolis and the girl whose name was changed, Raigan Mastain, an aspiring graphic designer, called the last-minute change by another yearbook staff member as an act of immaturity, not malice."
So she was on the yearbook committee. Since she was authorized make changes to the yearbook, I question whether any charges based on property damage are appropriate.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What should have happened.
If you really thought it was bullying, rather than a prank make her write an apology note and send it with the sticker (copy costs... paid by her).
Common sense really isn't all that common any more.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Make the girl pay for the stickers and for school time spent addressing the issue and write and publish (at her expense) a public apology in the local paper and do some community service work (preferably that exposes her to people suffering the consequences of stupid pranks intended to belittle someone else (which is a form of bullying). That's punishment that fits the crime and might actually teach her something. (Which is why the education system could never do something like that.)
@spodula: zero tolerance = zero thought required -- I like that and may steal it. :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's good to know police/prosecutors have their priorities in order
Of course now that this highly dangerous young woman has been dealt with, perhaps that'll only be 86% now.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: It's good to know police/prosecutors have their priorities in order
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Where is the exit door from this world?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Where is the exit door from this world?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Zero tolerance... more like zero chance. Almost all do something stupid as a teenager and sometimes it can be high on the scale of stupidity, but it used to be that you could get over it at some point... now they just brand you for good and move on to the next.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
He's busy tramemblamemblamating. :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Arrested without a charge?
"No charges had been filed against the teenager as of Tuesday afternoon."
Arrested and no charges have been filed after 2 weeks? In a case like this there's no reason why they couldn't arrest her AFTER they figure out what to charge her with. There's no threat to public safety that would require them to get her off the streets, and she isn't likely to be on another yearbook committee for another year or so.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Under that logic....
I personally suspect that this sort of bullshit is due to minors being second class citizens with the 'benefit' of a system that gives the promised of shortened sentences in exchange for being the star of a show trial.
It is deeply messed up even /before/ the myriad perverse incentives of a private prison system. (See the infamous Pennsylvania "Kids for Cash" incident.)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
article
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: article
Also, and I'm going to be blunt here because I feel it's important, if you're still getting worked up over bullying 30 years afterwards, that is not a healthy thing, and you should see someone to deal with it and enable you to move on.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: article
You think that sending a girl to a criminal facility, surrounded by hardened criminals, leaving with a felony on her record (with all the employment and other options that removes) will "turn her life around"? For jokingly changing a name in a book that should have been proofread before it ever went to print, and which even the "victim" doesn't seem too bothered about?
This is idiotic. Get with reality, please. Oh, and I'm with That One Guy. I was bullied at school, as were many people. It doesn't directly affect my adult life. If it's still directly affecting you 30 years later, seriously get some help. There are 25 year olds who have gotten over their bullying in the time since you left school.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Free Stickers
Also, if the student is charged, then the yearbook teacher should also be charged, as it is the teacher's responsibility to approve any pages for publication (the Lifetouch software had the option to limit that privilege to teachers)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
"you think that this kid should be able to walk around and continue her life with no consequence for what she's done"
Nobody's suggested that, only that the proposed punishment is way out of proportion.
"it was a prank for her but not for the girl that it was done to her.."
Wrong. read the article:
"Raigan Mastain said although she wasn't happy about what happened, she also "wasn't devastated."
"I was kind of annoyed. It was stupid, but I wasn't that upset," she said."
Take your self-righteousness elsewhere.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]