Copyright Law

The (Proposed) Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act Is Crazy

By Sam Bayard

In a twist on the old adage "hard cases make bad law," Representatives Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) introduced a bill (H.R. 6123) in the House on May 22 which, if passed, would be known as the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act. If anyone is not already familiar with the Megan Meier tragedy, you can consult our previous posts (here, here, here). The bill would make it a federal crime to

transmit[] in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Eugene Volokh has some razor-sharp analysis laying out why this well-intentioned bill is unconstitutional. Check it out. (For more information on the bill, see OpenCongress.)

Full post as published by Citizen Media Law Project on June 06, 2008 (boomark / email).