Reach of Government?

Government controls their citizens by emplacing and implementing laws to maintain peace. Most laws cover previous issues, court cases, and most crimes today, but in this article, the case presented to a jury in California has many twists. The issue presented in this case is Megan Meier, a 13 year old girl, who committed suicide due to a 49 year old woman, Lori Drew, who posed as a young teenage boy on Myspace and rejected her. At one point, Lori encouraged Megan to commit suicide, where she directed all her depression. The current charges against Lori is conspiracy and 3 counts of accessing protected computers.

There are some intriguing questions that come to mind when we think about this case. Even though Lori did not kill Megan, she tempted her to do so. Should Lori be charged with attempted murder even though she did not take any direct actions? The issue with that charge is that it would most likely open up more than thousands of cases and the fact that Megan committed suicide upon her own will. Another argument in this case would involve rules and regulations of Myspace. Lori falsely advertised herself as a young teenage boy, which means that she agreed to each term of service and certified that she was the actual person. Also, Myspace did not catch onto Lori's fake profile, along with a couple thousand out there still.

Our original government was designed to function in a certain way, and has powers granted by the Constitution, but that does not mean it protects everyone from everything. There are gaps and loopholes within our governmental structure, and that is why many cases file for appeals yearly. So how far can government exercise its powers, mandate its jurisdiction, or protect our rights?