Bob McCarty Writes

Though it took place in the suburban St. Louis hamlet of Dardenne Prairie not far from where I live, I never imagined the devastating impact 13-year-old Megan Meier’s death Oct. 17, 2006, might have on my career as a blogger.  In short, I feel like it might “cyber-bully” me out of existence.

If, God forbid, House of Representatives Bill 1966 (a.k.a., The “Megan Meier Cyber-Bullying Prevention Act”) becomes the law of the land, bloggers like me — people who use their online platforms to exercise their First Amendment rights — could end up spending up to two years in prison.

Introduced April 2 by Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Calif.) and 14 others, the threatening measure contains the following frightening language:

Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both….

["Communication"] means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; …

["Electronic means"] means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.

If this isn’t an attempt to squelch free speech, I don’t know what is.  I do, however, know this:  If they want to stop me from exercising my First Amendment rights in cyberspace or, in their words, “cyber-bullying elected officials,” they’re going to have to pry my laptop from my cold dead fingers.

Hat tip:  The Volokh Conspiracy

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