George Wu
From Judgepedia
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Education
Wu graduated from Pomona with his Bachelor's degree in 1972 and later graduated from Chicago Law with his J.D. degree in 1975
Professional career
- Private practice, Los Angeles, California, 1975-1976, 1977-1979, 1989-1991
- Law clerk, Hon. Stanley N. Barnes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1976-1977, 1979
- Assistant professor of law, University of Tennessee College of Law, 1979-1982
- Assistant U.S. attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, 1982-1989, 1991-1993
- Judge, Los Angeles Municipal Court, California, 1993-1996
- Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court, California, 1996-2007
Federal judicial career
Judge Wu was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 9, 2007 to a seat vacated by Ronald Lew. Wu was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 27, 2007, and received commission on April 17, 2007.
MySpace suicide case
Judge Wu was the presiding judge of a Missouri woman who was convicted of computer fraud charges stemming from an Internet hoax that prompted a teenage girl to commit suicide. On July 2, 2009, Judge Wu has decided to tentatively acquit Lori Drew, who was convicted in November of 2008. The decision reversed a jury's verdicts which convicted the woman of computer fraud charges[1].
Drew was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of illegally accessing a protected computer. The charges stemmed from the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who committed suicide after being "dumped" on MySpace by a fictitious boy Drew helped create[1].
The case received a lot of national attention and created an uproar on the issue of internet security, as there have been a growing amount of cases in both state and federal courts across the nation on internet security[1].
On August 28, 2009, Judge Wu officially reversed the conviction of Lori Drew in a order issued by the judge. The judge found that The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was not applied beyond a reasonable doubt in convicting Drew of a misdemeanor. Wu said that the federal law that governs terms and conditions of visiting a website is "constitutionally vague"[2].
Close to three months later on November 20, 2009, federal prosecutors said they would not appeal Judge Wu's dismissal of all charges against Drew[3].
External links
- Biography of George Wu from the Federal Judicial Center
- George Wu Confirmed to Federal Bench, APABA, March 29, 2007
References
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The California Project on Judgepedia
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