A.S.S. readers:
Here’s two news stories about Jake Baker from the AP and Knight-Ridder
news services:
Judge Dismisses Charges in Internet Fantasy Case
Eds: Note contents of grafs 11-12
By AMY YUHN
Associated Press Writer
DETROIT (AP) _ A college student’s Internet message about the fantasy
kidnapping and torture-murder of a classmate isn’t illegal, it’s “only a
rather savage and tasteless piece of fiction,” a judge ruled.
Finding that the electronic musings of former University of Michigan
student Jake Baker were protected by free speech, U.S. District Judge
Avern Cohn dismissed federal criminal charges against him.
Baker, 21, had been charged with five counts of transmitting a threat
to kidnap or injure by electronic mail. Each count is punishable by up to
five years in prison.
