Posted on 05/24/2010 4:43:34 AM PDT by jerry557
Jennifer Kesse would have turned 29 last week.
The 24-year-old was taken near her Orlando condo a little over four years ago and has been missing ever since.
Since then her Bradenton parents have searched for her and stepped into a national media spotlight in hopes of giving her case exposure.
In the process, their lives have been open to threats from strangers mainly through a web site the Kesse family set up, www.jenniferkesse.com, to find Jennifer. The site features case information, family letters and message boards.
Anonymous posters were able to make threats online. However, last week Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill making it a second-degree felony to send threats to kill or do bodily injury whether it’s signed or anonymous online.
The law, which takes effect Oct. 1, allows a person to be sentence up to 15 years in prison, according to state statutes.
“What it really did, it just truly brought the law into the 21st Century,” said Drew Kesse, Jennifer's father who lobbied for the bill introduced by Rep. Janet Adkins R-Fernadina Beach. “I think it’s going to help many families. ... It’s amazing how we do everything by computer now and how we didn’t have that included in the law in Florida.”
A 27-year-old man finally was admitted into a hospital and went before a judge after he made threats towards the Kesse family for years online.
And on Jennifer’s birthday, May 20, the Kesse family was in court for the five-day trial of a Georgia man who called himself the “Catch Me Killer,” falsely claiming he killed 16 people — including Jennifer Kesse. He was convicted of making false statements after he broadcast himself on Youtube, Kesse said.
“You just can’t go after people and threaten them,” he said recalling when he was turned down for an injunction in Manatee County courts when threats were made online towards his family.
Rep. Bill Galvano R-Bradenton, supported the bill which passed unanimously through the House last month.
“The existing statute didn’t reference electronic communication. Electronic communication is how we communicate today. And as beneficial as it has been, it’s also been a hotbed for problems,” he said. “One such issue is the ability to send threats and to be anonymous. This is an added tool. We need to have that in place.”
Mark Lipinski, a criminal defense attorney based in Bradenton, said there could be constitutional challenges arising from the new law.
The government can twist your words anyway they want and throw you in jail for 15 years.
If the threats are in printed words for the jury to see, how can they be twisted? They are what they are.
Do you have control of the posts you have made on FR? I think not! They are specifically NOT “printed” words. They are records in a database which can be changed long after you make your post. I have managed web sites with blogs, forums, and wiki’s. I could have manipulated any post I chose. I wouldn’t post to a DU bulletin board due to rulings like this.
However, last week Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill making it a second-degree felony to send threats to kill or do bodily injury whether it’s signed or anonymous online.
The law, which takes effect Oct. 1, allows a person to be sentence up to 15 years in prison...
15 years !!!
a bit much? more than murder ???
The issue will be what is “implied”, even if the printed or digitally published words don’t specify a direct threat. Simply saying something like “your wife is a nice person, hope she stays safe” could be considered a threat if the context is construed or misconstrued to be that of violence!
Hence possible constitutional problems. Still I’m not against the law, just because a money grasping lawyer can forsee possible constituional issues. If the law is used unconstitutionally, then sue!
By your logic, hand written or verbal threats shouldn't be a crime either because they too can be altered.
Sorry to hear that you don't post at D.U. for this reason, I have better reasons.
Yet database logs would also show when the words were changed even if a record of the original words was wiped out. Plus many internet blogs get cached on various search engines in their original forms. A government can, with enormous resources disguise all traces of database tom foolery; but I suspect what they would rather do more efficiently is to simply make things up out of whole cloth and pin them on a political adversary as opposed to messing with a database. Messing with a database means that computer forensics can show that the data were manipulated which can backfire on a prosecution case. If you make something up out of whole cloth complete with timestamps, then a defendent would have a much harder time dealing with trumped up charges!
No, the alteration and in some cases, fabrication, of a hand-written or typed statement can be verified in a court of law. If it is found to be an original, then it stands as evidence. [If you don’t believe me go ask Dan Rather. :] This is established case law.
On the other hand, there is literally no way that a web posting can be proven to be in the same state as made by the original poster. As soon as you click “Post”, it could be altered.
The new law is an attempt to extend existing case law into a very fuzzy area. Unfortunately, it is fuzzier than the folks who write the laws will understand. Hopefully, some sharp judge will temper this with some sense.
It doesn’t take the power of the government to tamper with a database log. I assure you that when I said I could alter the post, I also meant the logs. It is a bit stickier with wiki’s since they usually purposefully maintain all updates. In the case of the wiki you have the database log AND the wiki records recording the update, but I know that it can certainly be done by a sysadmin with moderate database skills; e.g. myself.
[I am a computer expert. I do not play one on TV! :]
Something this law seems to overlook is the fact that it is no trick to anonymize yourself on the internet. Likewise, it is not hard to make yourself look like someone else. How would they prove it was accused who actually pressed the keys?
So Florida DU posters will clean up their act?
Yes but computer forensics would uncover what you did in no time....to do what you are doing and leave no trace takes resources well out of most mid level administators leagues.
In some case you would have to alter the PC’s that the data originated from and get rid of whatever back-ups the targeted “user” may have in possesion of. Lot’s of bloggers keep back-ups for the very reason you are talking about. Many PC’s can be examined for those “hidden” windows’ logs and hard drive data that say what was typed and where on the web the “targeted user” had been.
You can alter a data base but there are a host of other things that would need to be altered including records of IP adresses and dates to what IP address had access to what database and so forth...the records of which are stored in other places out side of the database’s storage server that a sys/admin would not access to easily!
Again, the key phrase...LEAVE NO TRACES to what manipulations from the original had been done.
Looking at the broader picture (not Florida) ON THE INTERNET:
A RANDOM SAMPLER:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2519629/posts
“JIHADIST CLERIC AL-AWLAKI ADVOCATES KILLING AMERICAN CIVILIANS”
(AP) via JIHAD WATCH.org ^ | May 23, 2010 10:33 AM | n/a
Posted on May 23, 2010 3:34:32 PM PDT by Cindy
#
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2482513/posts
“Philadelphia Man Charged with Threatening to Kill U.S. Congressman and His Family”
Philadelphia.FBI.gov - DOJ Press Release ^ | March 29, 2010 | n/a
Posted on March 29, 2010 2:09:30 PM PDT by Cindy
#
blog:
http://patterico.com/2010/03/25/leftist-issues-death-threats-to-palin-and-family-on-twitter/
3/25/2010
“Leftist Issues Death Threats to Palin and Family on Twitter”
Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:12 pm
#
Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408245/posts
AMF X 2
INTERNET HAGANAH.com ^ | December 15, 2009 | Aaron Weisburd
Posted on December 15, 2009 2:30:16 PM PST by Cindy
Note: Telephone transcript and web posts included.
15 December 2009 “AMF X 2”
SNIPPET: “Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed were sentenced to prison yesterday in US District Court in Atlanta, Georgia. Sadequee got 17 years, and Ahmed 13 - both are subject to 30 years court supervision upon release. (Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the second link and read some of Judge Duffy’s remarks to Sadequee).
• Terrorism Defendants Sentenced • Federal Judge Sentences 2 Muslim Americans for Conspiring to Aid Terror Groups
Sadequee and Ahmed were part of the global network of jihadis that coagulated around Younis Tsouli and Aabid Khan. While Sadequee may have been deserving of the longer sentence, it was Syed Haris Ahmed, together with his friend Zubair Ahmed (no relation), who publicly threatened to kill me and privately discussed the same - so I derive a certain sense of satisfaction from knowing the bastard will be locked up for quite awhile.
I was aware of the threat - they made sure I knew they were coming for me:
Threat posted on the al-Ansar forum, most likely by Zubair Ahmed For his part, Younis Tsouli was content to have a small part of my body as a kind of relic:
(Excerpt) Read more at internet-haganah.com ...
#
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2403572/posts
“THIS IS AN OPEN THREAT TO YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION TO STAY AWAY FROM MUSLIMS...”
JIHAD WATCH ^ | December 8, 2009 12:08 PM | Posted by Robert
Posted on December 9, 2009 3:35:10 AM PST by Cindy
SNIPPET: “I’ve been getting death threats on a more or less regular basis for awhile, but haven’t posted them.”
#
NOW, here are 2 Rustys’ who received death threats:
Rusty #1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2259359/posts
“Islamic death threat targets U.S. radio host (Rusty Humphries)”
WORLD NET DAILY.com ^ | May 27, 2009, 3:24 pm | Aaron Klein
Posted on May 27, 2009 2:54:45 PM PDT by Cindy
“Islamic death threat targets U.S. radio host ‘We will see his fat rotting torso dumped on the side of the road or in some swamp’” Posted: May 27, 2009 3:24 pm Eastern
JERUSALEM –
SNIPPET: “The author of the online threat apparently confused Humphries for Rusty Shackleford, the pseudonym used by the proprietor of the popular My Pet JAWA Report website, which focuses on exposing online support of Islamic terrorism.”
Rusty #2
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/197756.php
May 27, 2009
“Rusty and Rusty Get Death Threats!”
SNIPPET: “Read the rest to see both Rusty’s (Shackleford and Humphries) response.
Klein actually called Samir and Yousef up. Yousef at least fessed up and said that he “may” know Musab. Sammy denied knowing him.
I will add that there is substantial evidence showing that Samir Khan does, in fact, have an online relationship with “Musab” but that Sammy may know “Musab” under other names. Like as a certain “Irish mujahideen”, maybe?
Anyway, Musab, keep the death threats coming. Just know this: I own you, and each and every Jawa author has a gun. In fact, between the lot of us I’m guessing the gun to Jawa ratio is a bout 4:1.
I’m guessing Rusty Humphries has the self-protection angle down, too.
What kind of gun do they allow you to carry around Dublin, Musab? Oh, yeah, right. None.
Come and get us Musab. We’re shaking in our boots.”
###
###
Personal Notation: Anyone who is seriously interesting is researching online threats and death threats should refer to the following Fr key words:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/deaththreats/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/deaththreat/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/threats/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/threat/index
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.