Essay Sample on Constitutional Protection Issue

Introduction

The main issue in the case was cyber-bullying after a lengthy court battle regarding the custody of the children. Matusiewicz's family had been denied a parental right, and therefore they started a campaign that capitalized on cyber attacks on Belford.

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Facts of the Case

The case started as a dispute over the custody of three daughters that Belford and David Matusiewicz had. The court favored Belford, and therefore, David decided to kidnap the children, he was found in Nicaragua and was sent to prison. His family made several cyber-attacks. During a court case hearing, Thomas shot Belford and her friend and the prosecutors asserted that it was linked to the cyber-attacks.

The charge was based on the Violence Against Women Act that was made in 1966 by Joe Biden. The act gave the prosecutors the authority to pursue cases of cyber attacks. During the trials, the attorneys of Matusiewicz family asserted that David and Lenore had kidnapped his three girls in 2007 and fled to Central America so that the girls can be protected from their mother who was sexually abusing them. They resided in a motorhome.

David Matusiewicz was discovering residing in Nicaragua in a motor home after eighteen months. He had taken the three children after telling Belford that he was taking the children for a two-week trip to Disney world. While in Nicaragua, the children had inquired about their mother but were told that their mother had committed suicide.

When David was taken to court, he asserted that his actions were to keep the children safe from their mother. The district court and the Delaware family court why David had not come out earlier to report the sexual abuse allegations. The family court found the claims to be made-up.

However, in 2009, her David's mother led guilty of the kidnapping charges, and Matusiewicz was sentenced to prison, and his parental rights were confiscated. Matusiewicz's family did not accept the verdict and therefore campaigned to regain the parental rights.

Indictment

Three prosecutors were assigned to the attorney's office in Delaware. Among them was Edward McAndrew, a professional in cybercrimes. They were mandated to show the jury how the Matusiewicz's family conspired to stalk Belford, and also show how the cyber-attacks were intended to harass, intimidate and injure Belford. They were even supposed to prove that the cyber-attacks had caused Belford to be shot while in court for the case to guarantee a prison sentence.

During a court hearing, the three prosecutors gave the following evidence. The first one was that David Matusiewicz was the mastermind of the obsessive campaign in December 2009 even though he was in prison. He wrote a letter to Gonzalez, her sister, saying that he was tired of being "Mr. Nice." He instructed Gonzalez to send anonymous complaints about the capacity of Belford to offer parental guidance. The allegations were to be sent to the Delaware social service workers.

The prosecutors also gave evidence showing that Matusiewicz had created a portal on a website that posted the theory of JonBenet Ramsey murder. They published an essay with the title "A Grandmother's Impossible Choice," where it accused Belford of conspiring to sell the girls for $50,000to a pedophile. It also contented claims of sexual abuse by the mother. Belford was accused of throwing food on a rug where one of the daughters would compete with the dog. Similar letters were sent to the girls' school and church.

However, Dina Chavar, the attorney representing David challenged those who asserted that the letter entitled "an impossible grandmother choice." There was a note at the bottom of the message that asked the attorney to handle the case on a pro bono basis. With that statement, Chavar asserts that the intent of the email was not to harass.

Chavar also pleaded with the jurors to consider the letter that stated the mistreatment of the children by the Belford. The message showed that the family was desperate to regain their custody and was not intended to harass her (Wang & Nansel, 2009). The desperation was caused but the fact that the state officials did not act on the information regarding the sexual abuse of one of his daughter.

The prosecutors also found out that the family had a friend who spied Belford in her Newark home. The friend made videos of Belford and took down the license plate of cars that were parked in front of her house.

The Matusiewicz family also used one of David's high school girlfriend to go and befriend Belford and take some of her personal information to them. She gave them Belford's Facebook logins so that they can hack into it.

Belford wrote a letter to her attorney after she began to feel the pressure from the campaign. In December 2011, Thomas went to Belford's home, but the children did not want to meet him. The visitation made Belford sell her house. A letter David had written to Gonzalez on November 1, 2012, suggested that Gonzalez was going to get custody of his three children.

During the hearing of the child support, David, his father Thomas and mother traveled in the same car. The investigators found that it contained ammunition, an electric shock device, pictures of Belford's children and her home, a bullet vest, ammunition, and three plastic handcuffs. The police also found a notebook labeled H*/L. It contained the names of the people who the Matusiewicz's family felt had wronged them. Among the names, was Gregory Sleet, District court judge who had presided the case involving Matusiewicz's kidnapping. The three prosecutors asserted that it was a hit list and therefore, the family posed a threat in the society. Thomas opened fire after they hugged and parted ways with David on the courthouse lobby. He shot Belford and her friend Mulford and then shot two Capitol police officers.

My Opinion

Sometimes it is difficult to determine the intention of cyber-attacks. However, in this case, there were multiple scenarios of cyber-attacks which were traced back to the Matusiewicz family. Additionally, they were acting like a family. David sent letters to Gonzalez. During the kidnap, he was supported by his mother, and at one point, Thomas had gone to Belford residence. All this evidence shows that the shootings that happened at the courthouse were directly linked to the cyber-attacks. The attorneys of David Matusiewicz asserted the letters were not intended to harass. However, it is evident that the discomfort caused by the campaign threatened Belford's life.

The Matusiewicz case was one of the first case cases that involved cyber-attacks to be charged in the United States. The court had denied the Matusiewicz the right over David's children. David decided to kidnap the three daughters. However, he was found after eighteen months in Nicaragua in a motor house. He was sent to jail and started to mastermind cyber-attacks by sending letters to Gonzalez. They included some of their friends to go and spy Belford's whereabouts. During a court hearing, Thomas opened fire and killed Belford and her friend. The prosecutors interpreted that the shooting that resulted in death was caused by the cyber-attacks.

References

Campbell, M. A. (2005). Cyber bullying: An old problem in a new guise?. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 15(1), 68-76.

Erdur-Baker, O. (2010). Cyberbullying and its correlation to traditional bullying, gender and frequent and risky usage of internet-mediated communication tools. New media & society, 12(1), 109-125.

Wang, J., Iannotti, R. J., & Nansel, T. R. (2009). School bullying among adolescents in the United States: Physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Journal of Adolescent health, 45(4), 368-375.