I woman in St. Peters was just charged with a felony for what is the equivalent of writing "for a good time call" on the bathroom wall. The bathroom wall like Facebook or Craigslist is a public forum with a slightly larger audience. The law that she is be charged under is an over-reaction to the Megan Meier case. While tragic, and particularly disgusting when done by an adult, the acts in these two cases do not warrant a felony conviction.
Harassment should not go unpunished, but we are getting dangerously close to violating our first amendment rights. If I were to call someone a douche on this blog that reaches, as far as I can tell no one, have I committed a crime or a public service. I may cause the douche in question emotional distress.
Perhaps we should amend the Constitution again to guarantee freedom from emotional distress. I mean we already can pursue happiness in this country why not guarantee that we can actually capture it.
If you deprive me of my life. Felony. If you deprive me of my liberty. Felony. But we do not have a right to happiness. The word pursuit was intentional because as we all know happiness is generally a fleeting emotion that must be constantly chased because circumstance and people often cause us to lose our grasp of it.
This not a felony and the law should be changed immediately.
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