Flutterby™! : 40 years in prison for being infected with Spyware? 2007-06-07 13:35:49.080866+00

40 years in prison for being infected with Spyware?

2007-06-07 13:35:49.080866+00 by ebradway 6 comments

I just came across this article about a Connecticut substitute teacher who was CONVICTED of a FELONY charge and facing up to 40 years in prison because the computer she was using in the classroom was infected with spyware and flashed some pornography. I can't begin to count the ways that this is so wrong. Fortunately, the sentencing judge had the wherewithal to redict the conviction.

To start with, she was a substitute teacher. These folks are paid just over minimum wage to be thrown into a room with a bunch of kids they never met. Basically, they are baby sitters. She was also given technology she probably didn't receive training on and definitely was not responsible for maintaining security. But that's just the beginning...

How does flashing some porn in front of seventh grades warrant a felony conviction? I mean I've seen some damn racy stuff on prime-time TV. Stuff that was more racy than what I saw in Playboy and Penthouse when I was in seventh grade!

Kids these days think that they're damaged by a few flashes of porn from spyware. When I was a kid, we had whole copies of Penthouse. You think you're damaged, you little emo punk? I've had real trauma!

Yeah, I saw the news yesterday that she'd gotten a new trial, and didn't know where to start commenting about it. Thanks for putting something here. This culture is fucked up, and the legal system moreso.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-06-07 14:46:20.884177+00 by: mvandewettering

It is absurd. One can only hope that the kind of sanity which prevailed in the 2nd Circuit Court regarding the FCC might be contagious. I understand and appreciate the rights of parents to be reasonably secure in their expectations that their teachers won't be showing ads for pornography to their children, but it seems rather likely that the substitute teacher was the victim of pop-up ads and a lack of knowledge about how to really deal with the situation. At worst

, this offense might merit dismissal and/or a reprimand, but it is absurd to file charges against someone, particularly felony charges.

If you are a parent who is outraged by this, and thinks the teacher should be locked away in prison: get a grip. You can't maintain the insular environment that you want for your child, unless you simply decide to lock them in the closet and never let them out. Rather than just lashing out at every instance that offends you, how 'bout growing up and facing the issues reasonably?

Dan: We gripe about the legal system but the older I get, the more I appreciate our legal system. Sometimes I think the Supreme Court is the only sane part of our central government. Maybe it's because judges are granted tenure, but many judges seem willing to set aside any personal or political prejudices and really attempt to provide coherent interpretation of the law. In my estimate, it's the law that they have to interpret that getting so screwed up - and that's due to problems in Congress.

I don't feel like really chasing this much further right now because in this forum it's a dead horse that doesn't need anymore beating. I'll just state that it seems that some vocal aspects of society seem to drive legislative elections and ultimately the legislations created. Many well-meaning ideas, when translated and implemented as law, become horrendous monsters. It's really enough to make a progressive Democrat into a Libertarian!

#Comment Re: made: 2007-06-07 16:07:10.130226+00 by: Dan Lyke [edit history]

Yeah, I'm reading a history that touches a lot on England's history right now, and the Churchill quote about democracy seems to apply to our legal system. Yeah, it's fucked up, but 200 years ago Saddam Hussein would have been a progressive liberal in the context of Britain's government.

And the legal system starts with the legislative branch. So it's not really the legal system (although that has its own flaws), it's the laws which the legal system is being asked to enforce.