Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Via Sunbelt Blog comes news that teacher Julie Amero will get a new trial.
Amero's case made waves in the tech community a few months ago when she was tried and convicted after a classroom computer became flooded with pornographic pop-ups. The state contended that she showed the material to minors on purpose. Forensic research supporting Amero's claim that she didn't do anything to initiate the content was not allowed in court. The tech community rallied behind this case and caused the state to investigate further, which led to the decision to grant a new trial.
Amero faced up to 40 years in prison essentially because a classroom computer became infected with malware. I'm sorry, but Scooter Libby gets 2-1/2 years in prison and a fine for outing Valerie Plame, Enron executives walked away with a few years in prison, and this woman could get 40 years for using a computer that most likely had been infected before she sat down at it?
Kudos to the bloggers and tech community members who banded together (some of whom did forensic work for free) to help bring to light - and hopefully overturn - this travesty of justice.
Tags: Technology