REFUTATION
It has been argued by those who oppose legal consequences for online behavior that cyberbullies should not hold blame for the reaction of their target. In The New York Times article “Bullying, Suicide, Punishment,” Professor of Law and cybercrime specialist, Orin S. Kerr, expresses his view that offenders need to be prosecuted for the crime they committed and not for how their victim responded, releasing the cyberbully of any ownership of what occurs after the offense. In this line of thinking, should the courts also be expected to stop charging robbers with first-degree murder after they “accidentally” murder their victim while committing their initial felony? No, because whether it was their intention or not, the act was a result of their crime, for which they should be punished to the full extent. With this reasoning, cyberbullies are to blame for the outcome of their offenses and should be prosecuted according to the damage they caused.