Young people have really taken to MySpace, Facebook and YouTube. They love to post pictures, movies and articles. So far, so good. The problem is that much of their posted material is there for the whole world to see, probably forever.

I saw a custody case where one parent had real concerns about the non-custodial parent. One side had a very important witness who posted on Facebook. According to his own Facebook account this important witness was an irresponsible, somewhat lewd lawbreaker. The proponent of that witness was forced to drop him.

I think this fellow's account was set up as a joke but he could not be used as a witness since the case would have become about his Facebook account, not the problems of the custodial parent.

Another example of how internet posting can hurt you is the case of Joshua Lipton. Lipton was the accused in an alcohol caused motor vehicle collision that seriously injured a woman.

According to Rhode Island prosecuting attorneys, Lipton had a .15 blood alcohol content as he drove over 60 mph in a 40 mph zone in the rain before striking one vehicle and then slamming head on into a vehicle containing Jade Combies and her sister. This three vehicle pileup left Jade Combies, then 20 years old, hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury, fractures to her femur, hip, and collar bone as a well as injuries to her liver and spleen.

Due to these injuries, Ms. Combies endured nine operations, rehabilitation therapy, memory loss and constant pain. She had to learn how to care for herself again just like an infant.

At trial, Ms. Combies spoke of her loss of independence and her feelings of helplessness in having to rely upon others at a time she should be embarking upon life as an independent adult.

She also asked the Court to let Lipton feel her pain and live her life: "I want you to feel completely and utterly helpless...I want you to know how it feels to only eat when people feed you... to be completely dependent on others...I will live with what you did to me every day, everything that I do, for the rest of my life."

During sentencing Lipton cried and apologized to his victims but the prosecutor used photographs from Lipton's Facebook account to give the Court a different picture of Lipton's feelings. This picture was of Lipton, drinking Red Bull, sticking out his tongue, with his arm slung around a sorority member, wearing a prison jumpsuit embossed with the words, "Jail Bird".

While a picture may be worth a thousand words for Lipton it was worth two years in prison. The Judge Daniel Procaccini said that the Jail Bird Picture influenced his decision. The Court felt the mocking picture gave an insight into how Lipton really felt after almost killing Ms. Combies and almost ruining her life.

Indeed, the Court called the Halloween costume Lipton donned two weeks after this collision "sick, depraved and disgusting". It was impossible for Lipton to overcome the terrible impression of lack of remorse that this photograph portrayed.

Apparently, Lipton's words of contrition seemed hollow when placed beside the picture of him wearing the irreverent orange jumpsuit. Lipton's request for probation and community service in light of his post-accident substance abuse treatment and remorse fell on deaf ears.

People using these social sites on the Internet need to understand that these pages are going to follow them forever.

Copyright (c) 2008 Robert Keefer