Curt and Lori Drew and Megan

Yesterday, my youngest boy came home off the bus upset-- yet one more bullying incident. A number of years ago, a bully broke the collar bone of my oldest son. And when I was a kid, local toughs pursued me for fun and sport, including one who was knifed to death by yet another hood. It is hard to express the depth of my contempt to bullies, especially since we now know that many of the perpetrators of the school shootings are not the bullies but the bullied. So it is in this context that I read the Megan Meier story.

Here are the basic details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Meier

The police report:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1120072megan1.html

From CNN:








Curt and Lori Drew, who pertrated this hoax that resulted in the suicide of Megan, will most likely never stand trial and if they do they will most likely never atone for their crime, given our legal systems deference to the First Amendment. But the court of public opinion is quite different and infinitely ruthless. And I suspect that the karma of the situation will make their life a living hell, a hounding from town and business. According to Wikpedia: "The Drews were targeted with vandalism, prank phone calls, paintball attacks and a "prank" call to the local police which led to "as many as 15 deputies [drawing] weapons and [charging] the home of Lori and Curt Drew," the people identified as the hoaxers. Due to the vehement public reaction, police added additional patrols to the neighborhood, and the Drews have installed a security camera." But, as Tribune columnist Leonard Pitts puts it, "I don't want to hurt or jail them. I just want them to know how funny that joke was. I want them healthy. I want them long lived. And I want them to be reminded, every day of their long, healthy lives, what a great joke they pulled."

Scorn and humiliation are punishment enough.

Personally, in all such cases - when people do terrible things to other people - although the practicality of the various legal punishments we have for offences is obvious, what I really want is to have people really understand what they've done.

I agree. But I'm not sure it's possible in this case. It looks like that public sentiment is ahead of the law, which appears to be impotent. There doesn't appear to be much interest in either the Drew family or the Meier family in trying to work through this, and frankly I'm not sure that they can, as it is so horrific. On one hand, it does appear to be a mean prank that had consequences the prankster never envisioned. However, it may well of been possible that Megan in her fragile state may have killed herself soon and inevitably, and that was merely the circumstances that pushed her over the edge. I don't think any one can really know for sure.

I have a hunch this story is just beginning.