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USA Today reported this week on a massive $11.3-million jury decision against a woman who posted critical comments about someone else on an internet site. Carey Bock called the operator of a referral service for troubled teens a "con artist", "crook" and "fraud". The comments stemmed from an ongoing dispute and were posted on a site used by other parents. A Florida jury awarded the damages to Sue Scheff, the target of the criticism.

The jury did not make a decision weighing the complex arguments of defamation. The defendant did not show up for the trial so the plaintiff won by default. She said she never received notice of the trial because she left her Louisiana home after it was flooded during Hurricane Katrina. She told USA Today she doesn't have money to appeal the decision or to pay the $11-million dollar judgement.

David Hudson, Nashville School of Law instructor and research attorney for the First Amendment Center said, even though lower court rulings rarely set Constitutional precedent, the jury is making a statement about the harm thoughtless comments on the internet can cause.

Eric Goldman, director of the High Technology Law Center at Santa Clara University, said such judgements open the door to suppressing speech on a much broader scale than originally envisioned.