"LOLing" Your Way To Jail?


Published Oct 09, 2012 at 04:26 PM | 3,949 views

The latest story in a growing list illustrating why sharing certain things with your facebook "Friends" is not always a good idea. A Kentucky woman, Paula Asher, recently posted to her status after she (allegedly) got into a car accident, and fled the scene. The woman posted the following remark on her Facebook after getting charged with four counts, including a DUI. "My dumbass got a DUI and I hit a car "LOL", when the parents of the four teens that were in the car which was it heard of this they were deeply offended and brought it to the attention of the Judge.

The judge in the case demanded that she delete her Facebook account as a punishment for this offhand and offensive comment. Paula did not take the instructions seriously and when she appeared back in court after the accident the Judge held her in contempt of court, ordering her to serve two days in jail for failing to remove her Facebook account as instructed.

Paula claims that she did not think the judge was serious when he demanded she remove her account initially, and has since apologized to the Judge, the family of the teens involved and says she did not intend to hurt anybody. While she did not intend her comment to be read by everyone, you can never tell who will comment or share your status updates which makes your privacy very hard to ensure.

This is just one more example of why posting every detail of your life, especially in legal matters, is not a good idea. Paula Asher is now trying to put her back together, working full time and avoiding Facebook, but it is much more difficult due to the additional charge of contempt of court. So, the next time you're tempted to make light of a serious situation, make sure you do it somewhere that does not have the potential audience of millions of people, including one who can land you in jail.