The Julie Amero Debacle (or Why I’ll never go to Norwich, CT)
Imagine this. You are a substitute teacher and are surfing the web on the classroom computer only to find a porn popup come up on the monitor. You try and go to the teachers’ lounge to get help but when you leave the classroom, students see the porn on the computer. When public officials find out about this, you are charged with a felony of impairing the morals of a child. After testimony by some idiot of a cyber crime detective named Mark Lounsbury (complete douchebag), a jury convicts you of a crime that is punishable by up to 40 years!
Sounds incredulous, right? This couldn’t happen in our wonderfully technological society filled with intelligent people who make decisions based on rational thought, right? WRONG. It did happen. It happened in some backwards ass town called Norwich, Connecticut. The incident happened in 2004. And the teacher, Julie Amero, was convicted in January 2007. That’s just last year! LAST FUCKING YEAR!!! How does this kind of stuff happen?
Luckily, some intelligent people heard about this case and came to Miss Amero’s rescue. There was even an ad put in the Hartford Courant signed by 28 computer science professors that all agree that Julie Amero couldn’t control the porn popups. This case dragged on until just a few days ago when Miss Amero finally agreed to a plea bargain where she plead guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a $100 fine. Unfortunately she has paid a much larger price in that she has lost her teaching credentials and has had her reputation completely tarnished in the process.
How do we prevent this from happening again? Well, first we need to stop bumbling idiots like Mark Lounsbury from being able to testify and be “expert witnesses” in something they only have mediocre knowledge about. Second, the prosecutors in this case should have criminal charges brought upon them. The experts that came to Miss Amero’s defense have also formed a group to bring cases like this to the spotlight in order to educate the public to prevent “bad law”. Finally, we need to stop being so goddamn uptight and listen to reason. Anytime someone mentions “the kids”, people tend to lose their minds in some mob mentality. Strangely, it reminds me of Horton Hears a Who. Check that movie out if you have the time one day.
