DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - If You Speak Badly To or About Someone,& They Commit Suicide, are you Liable Legally?

**softy54534** · 11-12-2010, 04:49 AM

I was watching Dr.Phil as he did an interview with the Founder of This Website

It is known as "TheDirty.com", a website that seeks to expose the dirty laundry of public people. Dr.Phil, being a girl, argued that the website was wrong, and that if someone killed themselves he would be held liable legally. He disagreed, saying that the mean things written are not his words, but words of other users. He makes the comparison that anyone could go on Dr.Phil's own message board and post absolutely anything, yet he would not be held responsible.

Tyler Clementi, a homosexual student from Rutgers University who jumped off The George Washington Bridge, shortly after posting a suicide note, blaming roommates who posted recorded videos of his homosexual encounters, from a web cam hidden in his room.

What struck me is that no one was making the case, that if you kill yourself it shouldn't be considered anyone's fault but your own! This takes us back to the case of the college student who committed suicide. The charges are not related to his death, but to the illegal taping and distribution of the content without his permission, which is a 4th degree Felony, so no joke. They considering pressing hate crimes but so far have decided against it, so the death itself is out of the equation. This is the way I think our legal system should be.

Another interesting case is the Myspace Mother case, where Lori Drew was charged with 3 counts of computer fraud for hacking Myspace.

Megan Meier (Left) a Missouri teenager who was driven to suicide by Lori Drew (Right)

"MySpace’s user agreement requires registrants, among other things, to provide factual information about themselves and to refrain from soliciting personal information from minors or using information obtained from MySpace services to harass or harm other people. By allegedly violating that click-to-agree contract, Drew committed the same crime as any hacker."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/ny...02suicide.html

That to me seems like quite a leap. While it is illegal to break a contract, it does not normally constitute fraud.

She was also charged with Conspiracy in the girl's suicide, which the jury was deadlocked on. That is an interesting choice, Conspiracy is most well known when it was used in the Nuremberg trails, because individuals could not be pinned to murders. They could however, be said to have worked with others to commit those murders. Although I'm glad that there are enough sane people out there to deadlock that one, it seems like it should have been an obvious no. The fact that the lawyer even considered it is setting a scary precedent.

Basically, what they are alleging is that the mother helped the girl to commit suicide, which brings us to Dr. Kevorkian. Of course, he went so far in the assisting they could call it murder. They also charged him with criminal assistance to a suicide and delivery of a controlled substance, which is often used on drug dealers who's clients overdosed.

Jack Kevorkian, known for championing a terminal patient's right to die. Kevorkian served 8 years for 2nd-degree murder, released on parole, on condition that he would not offer suicide advice to any other person.

There is one main reason that you should not be able to be charged in someone else's suicide, is that it creates an incentive for people to commit suicide. There are over 120 million people who suffer from depression out there, and the last thing they need is a good reason to commit suicide. If you allow them to ruin someone over their suicide, they will provide the note.

The thing that surprised me the most, was the the Jury was actually hung on the legality of conspiracy to commit suicide. Think about that, that means that some number of people really do believe if you say something mean to someone, and they kill themselves (and note you), then you are legally responsible for their death. If this is going to be legally accepted as valid, people will be killing themselves left and right to get back at the people they feel ruined their lives.

On a side note, I took the poll he had up "Should Websites like Thedirty.com be shut down?" I voted no, making me one of the 16%, 84% thinks the Government should step in and shut them down. Dr. Phil's viewers are generally Conservatives Mothers.

http://drphil.com/polls/poll/314/

11-12-2010, 04:49 AM	#1
softy54534 Join Date Apr 2007 Posts 5,457 Senior Member	If You Speak Badly To or About Someone,& They Commit Suicide, are you Liable Legally? I was watching Dr.Phil as he did an interview with the Founder of This Website It is known as "TheDirty.com", a website that seeks to expose the dirty laundry of public people. Dr.Phil, being a girl, argued that the website was wrong, and that if someone killed themselves he would be held liable legally. He disagreed, saying that the mean things written are not his words, but words of other users. He makes the comparison that anyone could go on Dr.Phil's own message board and post absolutely anything, yet he would not be held responsible. Tyler Clementi, a homosexual student from Rutgers University who jumped off The George Washington Bridge, shortly after posting a suicide note, blaming roommates who posted recorded videos of his homosexual encounters, from a web cam hidden in his room. What struck me is that no one was making the case, that if you kill yourself it shouldn't be considered anyone's fault but your own! This takes us back to the case of the college student who committed suicide. The charges are not related to his death, but to the illegal taping and distribution of the content without his permission, which is a 4th degree Felony, so no joke. They considering pressing hate crimes but so far have decided against it, so the death itself is out of the equation. This is the way I think our legal system should be. Another interesting case is the Myspace Mother case, where Lori Drew was charged with 3 counts of computer fraud for hacking Myspace. Megan Meier (Left) a Missouri teenager who was driven to suicide by Lori Drew (Right) "MySpace’s user agreement requires registrants, among other things, to provide factual information about themselves and to refrain from soliciting personal information from minors or using information obtained from MySpace services to harass or harm other people. By allegedly violating that click-to-agree contract, Drew committed the same crime as any hacker." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/ny...02suicide.html That to me seems like quite a leap. While it is illegal to break a contract, it does not normally constitute fraud. She was also charged with Conspiracy in the girl's suicide, which the jury was deadlocked on. That is an interesting choice, Conspiracy is most well known when it was used in the Nuremberg trails, because individuals could not be pinned to murders. They could however, be said to have worked with others to commit those murders. Although I'm glad that there are enough sane people out there to deadlock that one, it seems like it should have been an obvious no. The fact that the lawyer even considered it is setting a scary precedent. Basically, what they are alleging is that the mother helped the girl to commit suicide, which brings us to Dr. Kevorkian. Of course, he went so far in the assisting they could call it murder. They also charged him with criminal assistance to a suicide and delivery of a controlled substance, which is often used on drug dealers who's clients overdosed. Jack Kevorkian, known for championing a terminal patient's right to die. Kevorkian served 8 years for 2nd-degree murder, released on parole, on condition that he would not offer suicide advice to any other person. There is one main reason that you should not be able to be charged in someone else's suicide, is that it creates an incentive for people to commit suicide. There are over 120 million people who suffer from depression out there, and the last thing they need is a good reason to commit suicide. If you allow them to ruin someone over their suicide, they will provide the note. The thing that surprised me the most, was the the Jury was actually hung on the legality of conspiracy to commit suicide. Think about that, that means that some number of people really do believe if you say something mean to someone, and they kill themselves (and note you), then you are legally responsible for their death. If this is going to be legally accepted as valid, people will be killing themselves left and right to get back at the people they feel ruined their lives. On a side note, I took the poll he had up "Should Websites like Thedirty.com be shut down?" I voted no, making me one of the 16%, 84% thinks the Government should step in and shut them down. Dr. Phil's viewers are generally Conservatives Mothers. http://drphil.com/polls/poll/314/
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