An appellate court's dismissal of the groundbreaking Internet case involving a former University student has elicited mixed reactions from everyone from First Amendment advocates to legal experts.
On Tuesday, a panel of judges from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a case involving former University student Jake Baker. Baker, who was charged with interstate transmission of threats over the Internet, was arrested two years ago for posting a story on the Internet involving the rape and torture of a classmate.
The 2-1 decision has evoked emotions in both supporters and opponents of the court's decision.
"Ultimately, it means the U.S. Court of Appeals recognizes that free speech must be protected at all costs," said Ilona Cohen, president of the University chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
But many people were not enthusiastic about the decision.
"I think the tragedy of this case is the interests of the woman who was victimized has been lost," said Susan McGee of the Domestic Violence Project of Washtenaw County.
Others concur that during the past few decades, while women's rights have advanced, victims' rights have not.
Gloria Allred, the attorney for the family of Nicole Brown Simpson, said domestic violence and stalking have not been top priorities of law officials and police.
"A lot of the problem is district attorneys are not treating these as serious crimes," Allred said. "With stalking, often the cases don't get prosecuted because there is not sufficient evidence for them to prosecute."
Wayne State University Law School Prof. Edward Wise, who originally filed a brief for the ACLU in Baker's defense, said that although Baker's dismissal has been a highly publicized First Amendment case, the case did not even go into the depths of constitutional law.
"You can uphold the dismissal of all of the charges without ever even getting to the First Amendment," Wise said. "The prosecution should never have brought the case in the first place."
Wise said the case will not go down in the record books as a groundbreaking decision.
"It starts out looking like a landmark, but I don't think it is," Wise said. "But it is an indirect victory for the First Amendment."
Although the appellate court upheld the dismissal, U.S. District Attorney Saul Green has not said whether he will appeal the case again either to the appellate court or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Mr. Green is reviewing the decision, and he will decide if their needs to be further review," said Sandy Pallazo, a spokesperson for Green.
Baker was suspended indefinitely in 1995 by then-University President James Duderstadt for writing a pornographic story on an Internet newsgroup, which was read by a University alum. The victim in the story had the same full name as a woman in Baker's Japanese class. The case also involved e-mail messages Baker sent to a friend in Canada outlining plans of molesting and torturing women.
Laurie Burns, director of the University's Information and Technology Division, said Baker's suspension was not due to a violation of ITD policies that warn against putting a story in certain areas.
Subsequently, Baker was imprisoned for one month. The U.S. District Court in Detroit dismissed the case in 1995.
Baker, who is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, would not comment on the recent decision.