More bad press for aspies

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Article in the Guardian about a troll jailed for mocking the dead:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/13/internet-troll-jailed-mocking-teenagers

It was heard in court that the person responsible (Sean DUffy) has Aspergers.

With so many lawyers trying to use AS as a mitigating factor, I wonder how all this press coverage will affect the perception of the general public?

Oh wonderful. How can Asperger's be argued as a defense for that kind of behaviour?

You can be jailed for mocking the dead? What the f**k?

This was a persistent and targeted campaign by an individual with the aim of causing maximum emotional distress to the families. It is no different from harassment or stalking for which people can be jailed. He was charged under the "Malicious Communications Act 1998" (here):

"is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, so far as falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated."

Similar to a case in Brisbane
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/facebook-troll-bradley-paul-hampson-jailed-for-posting-child-porn-on-tribute-pages-for-dead-children/story-e6freoof-1226028117673
That link doesnt say AS but other articles you can find say he does and just look at those Aspie eyes!

Maybe TFAS needs to be promoted so we can put up a defensive barrier.
http://www.autismuk.com/?page_id=262

That's still ret*d. If someone is trolling, you ignore them. Absolute freedom of speech should always be upheld on the internet.

Take off the rose-colored glasses and read Die "Autistischen Psychopathen" im Kindesalter.

Why should the internet be a special case? In "real life" is taunting grieving families that their dead daughter was a whore acceptable? What about freedom from emotional distress? In any case we don't have "freedom of speech" (in the US sense) in the UK, for which I am very glad.

I disagree. DId you read what he did? He created a video using the face of a girl who died on a railway line and pasted it onto a children's cartoon train. He wrote on her tribute face book page. "I fell asleep on the track lulz."
That's just sick!

Imagine if one of your close friends or relatives had died and some stranger was making horrible comments to you about it.

There are things that people just shouldn't do. There's no reason to be unkind and thoughtless and aggressively post abusive messages directed at hurting people.

By all means have an opinion about things, but there's no need to hurt other people.

Harassment is generally considered illegal.

I agree that he's a terrible person. Still, the American version of freedom of speech is too ingrained into me for me to agree with his being jailed.

Ok,he went to jail but i don't think for too long,6 months-2 years?

I think his behaviour has a lot more to do with being able to post anonymous messages on the internet than it does with AS.

The Daily Mash nails it, as usual: 'uh oh' says everyone on internet

I agree. Harassing grieving families is just SICK. This Duffy guy sounds like he has other issues. I hate when people use Aspergers as an excuse for their horrible behavior. It makes all of us with AS/HFA look bad.

Am I the only one who remembers when the supreme court ruled that the westboro baptist lunatics were protected by freedom of speech to say whatever they wanted at military funerals? How the hell is this any different? I'm not saying that what either Duffy or the "god hates fags" people did is right, but I am saying there needs to be consistency, or what's the point of even having a law or a bill of right in the first damn place?

And I'm sorry, but if you jumped in front of a moving train, you're pretty damn stupid and deserve to die. Survival of the fittest, my friends...

This is ridiculous. And it has nothing to do with aspergers. Freedom of speech should be upheld no matter what. Or else they need to start throwing those "god hates fags" people in prison too. This is a buncha s**t. He's a dick for harassing them, but he shouldn't be thrown in jail for it.

The difference is that Duffy was sentenced in Britain. He probably wouldn't have been to court in the US. There is a consistency. Britain wouldn't allow members of the Wesboro Babptist Church to enter the country.