Julie Amero: Persecution of the Innocent

by Karoli on February 18, 2007 · 56 comments

Comments are now closed on this post. Thank you all for your support, blog posts, and the heart for justice. I’m working on a roundup of everyone’s comments and a final tally of the donation to Julie Amero’s Defense Fund as a result of your participation.

Julie Amero is the seventh grade substitute teacher in Connecticut who is facing 40 years in prison after pornographic popup ads came up on her computer screen during a class in 2004.

When I first read about this story, Amero was on trial. I assumed that the defense would show that the ads were clearly the result of a spyware/adware infection and she would be acquitted. My shock went deep (along with just about everyone with an ounce of understanding about how malware works) when she was convicted of multiple counts of exposing children to pornography. My outrage is just as keen, knowing that she was not permitted to introduce evidence of a malware attack because the defense failed to do so at the pretrial phase.

Amero and her husband are broke. A sad result of these specious accusations and mockery of a trial: Amero was 4 months pregnant when she was arrested, and lost her baby as a result of the stress. A miscarriage of justice, truly.

Amero has established a defense fund to try and pay for her appeal, which is accessible via her blog. Click the paypal link and give to her fund. If you do Whether you contribute or not, leave a comment on this post and I will add $1.00 for every comment posted in the next 48 hours. I’ve already donated $20 — but would be glad to donate ten times that amount with your help. Please blog about it, too.

If this conviction stands as it is, it will cast a pall on the use of technology in education but more fundamentally, will punish the wrong person — the one who deserves the jail time and firing is the lazy network administrator who couldn’t be bothered to keep the network locked down.

(Hat tip to Liz Ditz for the links to the blog and defense fund. Also for the link to the blog State v. Amero – A Miscarriage of Justice)

UPDATE: I’ve posted links to additional information here. This morning, Steve Bass at PCWorld posted links to two EXCELLENT articles here and here, addressing the duty of the prosecutor to use qualified experts. Had the prosecutor done that, there would have been no case.

I am donating $1 to her defense fund for every comment and/or pingback on this post posted before 2PM Pacific time tomorrow (2/20).

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Tagged as: Education, Internet, Julie Amero, News

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  • http://lizditz.typepad.com Liz Ditz

    I also emailed 23 bloggers I know — mostly edubloggers — asking them to join me in supporting Julie Amero’s legal defense fund.

  • http://lizditz.typepad.com Liz Ditz

    You can count all my responses as one.

    Mamacita wrote a heartfelt response on her blog, SchiessWeekly:

    Please Help If You Can; This Could Happen To Any Of US, And Has

    Dear God in Heaven, when will it all end? When a loving and competent teacher, or a sub like Julie, is accused of unspeakable things because other people misused a computer, when administration sees only the result and doesn’t really care about the cause, what are we coming to?

    I can tell you the answer to that. The end.

    We are coming to the end.

    I am too upset to write. For now, I’m just going to sit here and pray.

    For Julie, and all the other teachers I know who have been persecuted for things that were not their fault, and for the children who suffer in the long run because so many administrators are “too busy” or “too old” or “whatever” to study in-depth what someone can do with a computer, and who would rather just blame the teacher than learn.

  • http://www.jonsnetwork.com Jon Robinson

    I feel really sorry for Julie and her family. What a nightmare. I donated via paypal a few minutes ago…..definitely worth it if it frees her from this mess and points future prosecution at those who write and distribute spyware instead of the victims.

  • http://www.disarranging.com/review/ Marie

    Since this case is on to the appellate stage, both the trial court prosecutor and appellate prosecutor need to let themselves be educated by the forensic technoligist, so this case can be dismissed and all charges dropped. Thank you for giving this some light.

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  • milligansghost

    This Case has in Turn Appalled annoyed worried and Saddened me,
    If this is Justice American im glad i dont Live there,
    It Bothers me that Few of the Spammers/malware/virus/trojan writers are Ever prosecuted and Yet Julie has Been the Victim of a Techno Phobic Witch hunt the like of which i have never seen before and hope not to ever see again….

  • http://mutterandmuse.blogspot.com Mommela

    Oh good Lord. There is just all kind of wrong going on with this case. What kind of idiot was her defense attorney if he/she didn’t include the findings of a forensic technologist?

  • http://burrito19.livejournal.com Beth

    The idiocy of the courts never ceases to amaze. Here’s to hoping she’s found innocent.

  • Fiona

    I’m rooting for Julie and our justice system to right itself. Thank you for providing a way to help.

  • Rob

    I am amazed at how the school administration, the police department, a prosecutor, a judge, an entire jury, the local newspaper, and a host of others were so blinded by outrage at the notion of exposing young kids to sexually explicit images in a classroom, that they forgot to, or intentionally did not investigate the all circumstances of the case.

    And now, Julie Amero’s career and life are shattered by people that don’t know all the facts.

    The good news is that some of the top people in the computer security realm have offered their expertise and will testify on Julie Amero’s behalf at her appeal. We can only hope that good sense and justice will prevail at the appeal.

    Free Julie Amero!

  • Lindsey

    I can not even fathom how she got in trouble for this to begin with! It’s ridiculous. I hope that she is found innocent this time around. I wish her all the best in the future!

  • http://mumof3boyz.spaces.live.com -S.

    What a great judicial system we have that will put away a young teacher for 40 years for something that popped up on her screen, but yet, drug dealers in and near the schools get a slap on the wrist. I am going to submit this story to Reader’s Digest’s “That’s Outrageous” I am sure they would love to hear about this.

    -S.

  • http://mumof3boyz.spaces.live.com -S.

    The more I thought about this the angrier I get. There are teachers that sexually abuse students, and online predators that get less time when caught than she is getting.

    -S.

  • http://www.ourgaggleofgirls.com/agog rachel

    what a horrible miscarriage of justice. I’m off to make a donation.

    I was the computer teacher in a Catholic school for a year (and thereby the default tech support person), and porn pop-ups kept happening on the 2nd grade teacher’s computers. She was a NUN. I managed to fix it. I cannot imagine why people are prosecuting this.

  • twincats

    Our justice system (and government) MUST educate themselves on current technology! This is just so wrong-headed, I can’t believe it.

  • http://drumsnwhistles.com karoli

    You all are wonderful! Thanks for visiting! The more I read about this case, the more frustrated I am that she is in this mess.

    Tell your friends — A comment and/or pingback puts $1 more into her defense fund — no obligation required.

  • dragon-mum

    It might be because I live in Australia but I must admit to not knowing anything about this case. With no reading at all, even I, a stay home Mum, am quite capable of figuring out that no one should be subjected to this kind of treatment for a god damned POP UP.

    I have been caught unawares by pornographic pop up’s while surfing the web with my 2 boys numerous times. I am not computer savvy and have had to trust my computer tech to install whatever we needed to keep our net safe for the kids. I cannot comprehend how they can be blaming Julie?

    I’m going to go read as much info as I can find on this right now. I cannot credit that it’s even possible to get 40 years in prison for a pop-up. It’s heartbreaking and just shows what a totally anal and f’d up world this is becoming.

    My prayers go out to Julie and her family. May Justice actually be carried out and set her free.

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  • http://dontgelyet.typepad.com/dontgeltoosoon/ Cynthia Samuels

    This is the kind of thing you think would be a Saturday Night Live sketch, not something that really happened! I will post this link on my blog and advise as many others as I can. I don’t know why we’re shocked though. Remember Senator Stevens “the Internet is a series of tubes” speech? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f99PcP0aFNE&mode=related&search=

    The ridiculousness is obvious to anyone who spends time online and invisible to the rest of America. I just wonder how those prosecutors do their legal research if they don’t go online!

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  • http://f.otogallery.de Joel

    Thanks again for pointing out this case in flickr.
    I do not know much about the american justice system, ’cause I never have been to america (and sorry – don’t take it personaly: at the moment I feel like it’s not the paper worth laws are written on), but first I thought this is a bad hoax and “no, this can’t be true” ’cause as a german I would expect a court sentence about two years on probation. If at all – but not more.

    Anyway – I’m very sorry for her and her family and I hope the case went her way.
    Of course this is “worse” of [sorry for my limited english] or better “cries” after donating some money to support her.

    Joerg Lingnau,
    Network- and Systemadmin
    Essen, Germany

  • http://gillysmama.blogspot.com kelli in the mirror

    Thanks for doing this. This case makes me so sad.

  • http://kmilyun.com kmilyun

    This is such an outrage! Having been the victim of a porn loop myself when I accidentally hit yes instead of no on a virus scan warning box I have experienced first hand how out of control a computer can get in seconds. Short of turning it off there sometimes is no way out. To assume that a substitute teacher – not savvy in all things computer – should have known what to do – just dumb.

    Then the great system of justice has let her down also.

  • http://compostermom.blogspot.com Daisy

    Our so-called “Great” society has let her down as well.

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  • Johschmoh

    This is just so bloody stupid.

  • http://katiekatworld.blogspot.com Kate

    As a teacher (and as a human), I appreciate what you’re doing.

  • http://mochamomma.com Mocha

    Thank you, Karoli, for being so ardent in your support of Julie Amero. Why we take the innocent and victimize them and let so much else happen why turning a blind eye to them infuriates me. Of course, I’m in support of teachers and all that emcompasses, but what’s the real story? Who were they trying to catch doing something?

    So many more questions. You are a real blessing to know, my dear. Your example speaks volumes.

  • http://www.carriewithin.blogspot.com carrie

    why can’t julie sue the school district for negligence, since they did not update their firewalls?

    truly a miscarriage of justice – those jurors should be ashamed of themselves.

  • http://www.malathionman.blogspot.com Malathionman

    I don’t understand how something like this could go this far? Her defence attorney couldn’t get this thrown out of court? Is the physical evidence that hard to disput?Does someone benefit politically from this?

  • http://www.lightblog.com/member/elisabeth sozzled

    Good lord this is insane. thank you so much for you generous offer to match comments with $$. Things like that really work to raise attention as well as money.

  • http://katronika.blogspot.com Lara

    came here via mocha momma. this is horrendous, and i’m glad to have heard about it, so i can try to help. thanks for doing this.

  • http://scoutj.com scout

    I just put in $10.00. I will try and blog about it tomorrow too.

  • http://24Goingon40 KSL

    That poor woman! Those people are terrible.

  • Keis

    How unfortunate. Our justice system is a crock.

  • http://mrwrw.blogspot.com Mrs RW

    Many thanks for giving us the forum to respond to this outrage.
    Oftentimes when we hear about blatant miscarriages of justice all we
    can do is wring our hands and feel sorry for the person.
    Bless you for providing a venue for concrete assistance.

  • jillian

    I just learned of this, and am shocked deeply. Thank you for doing this.

  • Mrs RW

    Thanks for providing this forum to help.

  • http://sandgetsinmyeyes.blogspot.com Lori

    Outrageous. As an American expat living in Saudi Arabia – I would expect something like this to happen here – most definitely NOT in my home country! This is what the slippery slope must look like.

  • http://www.rmfr.com Mark Rogers

    I would like to support this campaign. It is an appalling miscarriage of justice.

  • http://www.pippikneesocks.com/blog pippi

    What a horrible mess!

  • http://lizawashere.com Liza

    What a BRILLIANT idea — thank you for pulling all this information together, including the fund raising possibilities.

    This is truly frightening.

  • http://www.clothesknit.com amanda

    i hope justice takes off the blindfold and sees Julie for the innocent victim she truly is!

  • Sarah

    This is completely bogus! I feel for that poor woman and her family & especially the innocent baby that was lost!

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  • http://carrieoke.net Carrie

    I sincerely hope justice happens in this case – what a sad case of our system failing someone.

  • Jean-Ann

    Thank you for doing this.

  • Hannah

    That is some messed up stuff. And an incredible misuse of the justice system.

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