Student Faces Criminal Charges For Teacher Jokes

[bparker]

But I thought he was defaming Rev Jerry Fartwell =) Wasnt that the point of the case?

Originally Posted by f5fstop

I don't believe Larry Flint was defaming anyone

[ratesguy]

Yeah, I think he had a cartoon of Fallwell getting teh buttsecks and Fallwell sued for defamation. That case was not an obscenity case, but rather a case of satire vs. defamation. Fallwell lost. Also, all of you out there sure better monitor your kids postings and use of myspace. Bad things go on there, and bad people (pervs) hang out there. Spoken as the father of a 16 y/o girl and 14 y/o boy, not as a perv. I really don't think the teacher has a case, though. It sounds like satire or some such. Not cool tho.

[Sewie]

Originally Posted by ratesguy

Yeah, I think he had a cartoon of Fallwell getting teh buttsecks and Fallwell sued for defamation. That case was not an obscenity case, but rather a case of satire vs. defamation. Fallwell lost.

Falwell actually won the lawsuit in two lower courts before it reached the Supreme Court.

And the reason Flynt finally won was because the cartoon was so absurd that a reasonable person would never believe it. The cartoon said that he lost his virginity to his mother while drunk in an outhouse. There was also the fact that Falwell was a public figure.

While the teacher may not have a case, I think its important that the student learns that his actions may have consequences. It may be a lesson for the parents as well.

[f5fstop]

Falwell is an idiot. As for the kid, make him work at GM when he graduates. That will be punishment enough for anyone.

[evldave]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Falwell is an idiot. As for the kid, make him work at GM when he graduates. That will be punishment enough for anyone.

lol! I wonder what his myspace page would say about Wagoner?

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by evldave

lol! I wonder what his myspace page would say about Wagoner?

He did cut his pay from 4+ million a year to 2+ million a year, so he's trying. I bet the family has to shop at Walmarts and the local Salvation Army store. A fifty percent pay cut is pretty steep.

[h2co-pilot]

Interesting on the First Amendment front considering a teacher or principal could be recognized as a public figure or even an involuntary one. Though, I believe there is specific laws (prolly judgemade) for defamation and libel concerning student blogging and social sites such as myspace.

Myspace= anyway, there is proposal in Congress to ban access to those kinda sites on educational properties. Not relevent to this case but I hope they pass it. No parental supervision, a stomping ground for criminals and a waste of educational funds IMO.