Alyson Shontell
Many people exercise poor judgement on Facebook, a site where Freedom of Speech may no longer apply.
Recently, young Facebook users who have posted controversial status messages have ended up in jail.
Sometimes the messages they typed were actually offensive. Other times they were jokes gone terribly wrong. One teen was even arrested for posting violent rap lyrics.
Most of the time, the Facebook offenders are impulsive. They type before they think, and lately they’ve had to pay serious consequences.
Justin Carter is a 19-year-old who is currently in jail for leaving a “sarcastic” comment on Facebook about “shooting up a kindergarten.”
Justin Carter is a 19-year-old who has been in jail since February 2013.
The reason: he was allegedly insulted by a fellow League of Legends gamer who questioned his mental state and retorted:
“I think Ima shoot up a kindergarten / And watch the blood of the innocent rain down/ And eat the beating heart of one of them.”
The comment worried a Canadian woman who tipped authorities. Carter’s house was searched, his computer was taken, and he was arrested. He’s currently awaiting a trial even though he and his family maintain that the Facebook messages were meant to be sarcastic.
Last October, another 19-year-old, Matt Woods was sentenced to three months in jail for making sick jokes about missing children on Facebook.
A teenager in England, Matthew Woods, was sentenced to three months in jail after making numerous inappropriate comments about a five year old, April Jones and a four year old, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared, according to The Daily Mail.
The offensive comments stemmed from Sickipedia, a site that encourages the swapping of tasteless jokes.
Woods’ Facebook messages included: “I woke up this morning in the back of a transit van with two beautiful little girls, I found April in a hopeless place.” and “Who in their right mind would abduct a ginger kid?”
Woods’ mother wasn’t pleased. Daily Mail says she wrote a follow up message, “You should stop and think things out before opening ya gob,” at which point Woods wrote an apology and said he had been drunk while writing the messages.
Still, an angry mob showed up at Woods’ house and the court was notified of the offensive comments. Woods was told at the time of his sentence, “This was a disgusting and despicable crime which the bench finds completely abhorrent…We felt there was no other sentence which would convey the abhorrence that many people have for this sort of crime.”
Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan were given a 4-year jail sentence after they created a Facebook event encouraging a riot.
Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, used Facebook to try and encourage a riot in England and they were sentenced to four years in prison. Blackshaw created a Facebook event for “Smash Down in Northwich Town.” Sutcliffe-Keenan used a Facebook account to create a page for The Warrington Riots.
“Sentencing Blackshaw to four years in a young offenders institution, Judge Elgan Edwards QC said he had committed an ‘evil act’. He said: ‘This happened at a time when collective insanity gripped the nation. Your conduct was quite disgraceful and the title of the message you posted on Facebook chills the blood.'”
18-year-old Paula Asher was sent to jail after “Lol-ing” about a hit and run and a DUI on Facebook.
Last September, 18-year-old Paula Asher was sent to jail after NBC says she hit a car with four teenagers in it and drove off, got a DUI, then joked about it on Facebook.
“My dumb ass got a dui and I hit a car…lol,” she wrote.
The parents of the teens in the car saw Asher’s message and asked a local judge to have her remove the post and stop using Facebook, NBC reports. When Asher declined, she was sentenced to two days in prison for contempt of court. She then had to go back to court to face the charges she admitted to in her status message.
“I apologize to everybody,” Ashler later said. “I apologize to the judge. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. I didn’t think ‘lol’ would put me in jail.”
A high school student who is an aspiring rapper, Cameron D’Ambrosio, was arrested for posting some of his lyrics on Facebook.
Cameron D’Ambrosio at his trial.
AP/POOL PHOTO
Cameron D’Ambrosio, 18, is a high school student who is also an aspiring rapper. The Massachusettes native posted some of his lyrics on Facebook and was initially arrested without bail. He was told what he posted was a “terroristic threat.”
The lyrics read: “F— a boston bombinb [sic] wait til u see the sh– I do, I’ma be famous for rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me.”
A grand jury decided not to indict D’Ambrosio.
A man in Bangladesh, Muhammad Ruhul Amin Khandaker, was given a jail sentence for joking about his desire for the Prime Minister to die.
In Bangladesh, Muhammad Ruhul Amin Khandaker was sentenced to jail for joking about his desire for the Prime Minister to die, The Huffington Post reports.
Khandaker worked for Jahangirnagar University’s Department of Information and Technology and was commenting on Facebook about a number of newsworthy, fatal traffic accidents. He typed something to the effect of, “Why can’t this happen to [Prime Minister] Sheikh Hasina?”
The casual comment led him to a six-month jail sentence. Khandaker was traveling in Australia at the time and sought refuge there. The Huffington Post’s contributor Mark Hillary notes that Bangladesh is more sensitive to Facebook material than other countries:
“The Bangladeshi government has something of a track record with Facebook – which is by far the most popular social network in the country. In May 2010 they blocked Facebook access because of satirical images of the prophet Muhammad.”
David Voelkert was arrested temporarily for an elaborate hoax he played on his ex-wife.
David Voelkert was the mastermind behind an elaborate Facebook sting which got him arrested, but quickly released.
In mid-2011, Voelkert received a Facebook friend request from someone who looked like an attractive teenager named “Jessica Studebaker.” But Voelkert believed it was his ex-wife trying to toy with him. He got a notarized affidavit which stated:
“I am lying to this person [Jessica Studebaker] to gain positive proof that it is indeed my ex-wife trying to again tamper in my life. In no way do I have plans to leave with my children or do any harm to Angela Dawn Voelkert or anyone else.”
Voelkert had numerous conversations with “Studebaker” on Facebook that made it seem like he was striking up a romance with her and plotting to end all ties with his ex-wife. Specifically, he told “Studebaker” (who was indeed his ex-wife) that he placed a GPS device in Angela’s car so he could find her and kill her. Then he asked “Studebaker” to run away with him.
Voelkert’s ex-wife Angela went to authorities and told them of the conversation. David was arrested shortly after but was released when he brought out the affidavit.
BONUS: While going through a nasty divorce, Mark Bryon wrote about his wife on Facebook. A judge ordered him to either apologize or go to jail.
Mark Bryon and his wife were going through a messy divorce and his custody of his child was in jeopardy. He blasted his wife on his Facebook page saying:
“… if you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband’s life and take your son’s father away from him completely — all you need to do is say that you’re scared of your husband or domestic partner…”
His ex-wife found out about the post and brought it to the authorities. From USA Today:
“Domestic Relations Magistrate Paul Meyers found Mark Byron in contempt and ordered him jailed for 60 days beginning March 19 — or to post for 30 days on his Facebook page an apology to his wife, written by Meyers, if he wanted to avoid jail. He also had to pay her $1,156 in back child support and her lawyers’ fees.”
Mark Byron’s lawyer was shocked. “In a million years, I didn’t think he’d be found in contempt,” she told USA Today. “He did nothing but vent. She didn’t like what he had to say. That’s what this boils down to.”
Here’s the full, court-ordered apology Mark Byron wrote his wife to avoid jail time:
“I would like to apologize to my wife, Elizabeth Byron, for the comments regarding her and our son … which were posted on my Facebook wall on or about November 23, 2011. I hereby acknowledge that two judicial officials in the Hamilton County Domestic Relations Court have heard evidence and determined that I committed an act of domestic violence against Elizabeth on January 17, 2011. While that determination is currently being appealed, it has not been overturned by the appellate court. As a result of that determination, I was granted supervised parenting time with (my son) on a twice weekly basis. The reason I saw (my son) only one time during the four month period which ended about the time of my Facebook posting was because I chose to see him on only that single occasion during that period. I hereby apologize to Elizabeth for casting her in an unfavorable light by suggesting that she withheld (my son) from me or that she in any manner prevented me from seeing (my son) during that period. That decision was mine and mine alone. I further apologize to all my Facebook Friends for attempting to mislead them into thinking that Elizabeth was in any manner preventing me from spending time with (my son), which caused several of my Facebook Friends to respond with angry, venomous, and inflammatory comments of their own.”
BONUS: When 19-year-old robbery suspect Rodney Bradford was arrested, his Facebook status “Where my IHOP” got him out of jail.
On October 17, 2009 at 11:47 a.m., Rodney Bradford wrote a simple Facebook status intended for his pregnant girlfriend:
“ON THE PHONE WITH THIS FAT CHICK…WHERER MY IHOP.”
The message saved him when he was arrested the next day. Police thought the 19-year-old had committed robbery. But his Facebook status proved to be an alibi; it was published at the same time as the crime and Bradford’s lawyer proved it had been written from his dad’s house in Harlem.
Bradford later told NY Post: “They had me on Rikers Island for 12 days. It was really miserable. If it wasn’t for Facebook I’d still be on Rikers Island.”
If we are able to arrest people for things they say, then why the hell isn’t all of Westboro Baptist Church in jail? This is a violation of the First Amendment. We might not like what a person says, but they have the right to say it!! Yes I know that you can’t scream fire in a movie theater, or even whisper the word bomb on a plane….
Good points! Nothing like Jeremiah Wright saying “God Dam America” Racially motivated as it was and we cannot forget out non-muslim president came from there. Which enforces his statements about Trayvon.
Common sense left the country for the most part at the same time people began to think they could text and drive.
Miniature Lego toy replicas of guns getting a 6 year old suspended from school, 6 year old suspended for inappropriate touching in a recess dodge ball game sexual harassment charges for same. My grand daughter at 14 suspended for slapping a boy who did real actual inappropriate touching and had done so to others a few times. (He is lucky she did not snap his neck.)
I told her if it happens again just to knock his as$ out. If the school fails dealing with reported events then make sure the boy understands if you are going to be expelled anyway.
In an a$s backwards society where the media pushes sexuality and preschools teach “alternative” lifestyles while the majority of the population find it unacceptable we can expect more confused children disobeying the laws.
It the Federal Government will not properly enforce laws in existence and instead chooses when and where they determine doing so is appropriate instead of treating all laws and people equally we can expect racism to continue unabated as supported by irrational political elite.
No doubt, some of the comments were abhorrent and should elicit a loud “What were you thinking?” but our laws allow for stupid and distasteful speech. None of this justifies an arrest and it points to a dangerous trend by government and law enforcemnt.
So the First Amendment is now a crime? Yes that is how I am seeing this. ROTFLMAO regarding the pretty Jessica Studebaker. I am glad that one backfired. I am sure there are stalking laws that should convict the ex wife.
Threats are illegal even if they have no bearing in reality. I must admit that if I could get out of this wheel chair and Bit(h slap every one of the Elite I would. Simply for using soldiers as “Dumb stupid animals to be used in foreign policy.” – Henry Kissinger
I would prefer those criminally involved to have the opportunity to be shot on the battlefields of their own making. Not to die, but to live disabled and urinating through a tube. Having to transfer to the toilet and enjoy the lack of sensations that make men, men.
Just saying that my being a “patriot” and doing what my “government” ordered, when it was all based in profit for the elite and the Elites quest for even greater wealth and power and/or to rid the earth of Palestinians, (yes a Zionist jibe). Wish we could post pictures here. I would post the map of the Israeli criminal take over of Palestinian lands since the 1940s.
5 War, note the story again. I was thinking the same thing, but in a couple of them, the jail time is likely not linked to what they said but what they did. The one dude owed back child support, the girl that had the dui and hit and run confessed to the hit and run. I believe the rest were all in other countries. Mainly in England where there is no first amendment. Pay close attention to the “wheres” in this story. Not that facebook isn’t crap and not that it isn’t commie and promoting a tattle tale state, but, in this story anyway, most of them come from other countries.
You are correct and with all due respect to the inbred Britannia royalty. (Zionists the lot) We are all born with inalienable rights and I personally believe free speech is one of them. Yes Farcebook is a Zionist tool to monitor the people. I rarely use it for anything other than contacting relatives with mundane communications. That and trying to find childhood friends. Not much luck there. LOL Most too old to tackle a computer.
SMS are getting dangerous for venting…actress amanda bynes was arrested for twitting that the US pres.obama and his wife “are ugly”.