Completely unconfirmed and made-up sources swear on a stack of Cracked magazines that this is an actual picure of the alleged gay teacher, Robert Muzzillo!
A Henry County high school student is facing criminal charges after posting comments about his teacher on the Web site, MySpace.com. It was supposed to be a joke, but the student’s teacher was so offended, he filed defamation of character charges against the student – and another student may also be facing charges.
“He used to drink a lot of coffee and Diet Coke,” Davis said about an Eagle’s Landing High School science teacher which now has Davis facing criminal defamation of character charges. Davis’ father said the charges are a waste of the court’s time.
Teacher Robert Muzzillo pursued the charges against Alex and another student after noticing a profile with his name attached on MySpace.com. The profile talks about Muzzillo liking Michael Jackson and having a “gay old time,” like the Fred Flintstone song.
Davis is scheduled to head to court next Tuesday. His attorney said the criminal defamation of character charge is unconstitutional.
I can’t find a picture of Mr. Muzzillo, but I found a webpage where he gives us his teaching philosophy…
To provide students with an opportunity to master the skills needed to take advantage of future possibilities. I strive to foster a class climate of cooperation and achievement. It is expected that each student will not only master the basics but also strive to gain a deeper understanding of scientific concepts.
It’s never a good idea to talk about someone behind their back unless that person is a public figure. Anyway, saying the sky is red doesn’t make it so– or saying Dvorak is gay.
Its good to know that our educators have learned to turn the other cheek. We’re teaching our children now that you can sue based on myspace chatter? If the dude is gay, he’s gay. If he’s straight, he’s striaght. This isn’t the military; and it doesnt sound like he’s wanting to “break the confines of marriage” so what the fuck does it matter?
I believe the teacher should be slapped and sent back to class.
What’s next – criminal charges for saying someone likes to eat? For saying someone is overweight? That someone is attractive?
Crazy, Crazy, Crazy America, oh when will it stop. This teacher needs to be smacked down by a judge that needs to tell him he’s a pansy and should grow up.
Implying that the teacher is gay is certainly no reflection on his character. But who wouldn’t be pissed off to be accused of liking Michael Jackson. Now that’s defamation 😉
Gawd I hate it when students (and adults for that matter) are held responsibel for their actions.
What is next Reporters?
The site shows a picture of Muzzillo, look at the TV program. It has been a long time since I was in HS but I wonder why the entire student body doesn’t go after Robert. In my day our teachers understood how unfairly attacking a student is not a good plan. Having 4 flats on one’s car the last day of school was a bad day. A potato in the tailpipe pretty much ruins a muffler and exhaust system. Having your transportation’s wheels removed, along with the fenders and placed upstairs can humble a woman called “bitch” (behind her back by disrespectful students.) But, I still still makes get a lump in my throat remembering the time our entire student body give a spontanious standing ovation for Ms. Lamb because she was the toughest and best Biology teacher. Maybe this guy should see about another line of work. He obviously has “issues”. But, I do not recommend Robert consider college teaching. At the University of Texas the instructors are graded by students on an unsanctioned website and not focusing on being a good instructor is painful. Oh well, life is so much more civil now than in my day.
1. Why is a teacher trolling around Myspace.com looking up his students? (Male students at that.)
2. How can a High School teacher be so thin-skinned?
I think the accused might be on to something.
#3: Exactly. I’m only mildly concerned at best about people’s ridiculous sense of entitlement and what they can sue for. The court should smack him down. I’d only start to worry if this case actually made it anywhere.
3. How can a High School teacher file criminal charges? A civil suit, sure. But who’s the bone head investigator that bought into this?
The teacher doth protest too much, methinks.
Actually you are right about the criminal charges aspects. Seems odd.
Unprotected speech. There are only a few clasess of unprotected speech and this is one of them. Sux for that kid. Best policy is if you have something to say to someone say it to their face.
The teacher doth protest too much, methinks.
Of course, this teacher is a complete idiot. and should be transferred to some back office job.
But the student involved may now have a better feeling how “freedom of speech” works in real life. It’s not always that easy.
On remedies, as suggested in #6 ( “Having 4 flats on one’s car the last day of school was a bad day. A potato in the tailpipe pretty much ruins a muffler and exhaust system. Having your transportation’s wheels removed, along with the fenders and placed upstairs…”): Isn’t that too high-tech? They neither learn how to do this at home, nor at school.
Read the article more closely. It wasn’t a post on his blog. The student created an entirely fictional profile of the teacher.
#16….still dosen’t answer why the teacher was trolling through myspace in the first place. Unless he was looking for a cop to date.
But a good question about it being a criminal case. Since when did deflamation of charecter become a criminal offense?
#4…Gary….now thats a good point.
This is what America has done for years. Now it’s setting a tone for the rest of the so-called “free-world”. If you don’t like what somebody is saying or doing, either sue them or bomb them.
Joshua, I think he found the profile through a google search of his name or through a MySpace search of his name. This is a common practice everyone should follow to make sure there is no false or unauthorized information about themselves out on the internet. Additionally, he probably caught on to the rumor and decided to investigate.
#18 steve…..here you have to sue….in Europe it IS a criminal offense to make those kinds of remarks and you will be arrested. So the U.S. is actually still playing cath-up in this game.
As I understand, Libel and Slander may be pressed by an individual as criminal charges without the District Attorney getting into the picture. This goes back to the days when it was considered a crime against a person and not a crime against society. It would be up to the Judge to decide if there is sufficient cause for the case to go forward and most are denied at the criminal level but may still be done as a tort.
Any lawyers or legal scholars care to correct me? I’m not 100% certain.
That’s just my point. Why tie up the courts with this kind of foolishness. If I were the judge in this case, I would hold the prosecutor for contempt just for bringing these charges before me. I would also fine the teacher for wasting the courts time. Either that or find out where he lived and bomb him 😉
I think this teacher needs to grow up and buy a new life at the dollar store.
After being a former student of Mr.Muzzillo I can agree with the idea of him being gay. However to the best of my memory he is still married(which doesnt mean a whole lot, but some). Anyway, it is freedom of speech, to say what you want, however only a civil suit can follow. Most of the lawsuits are directed toward newspapers, or television, not myspace, or the kid who posted it. That would be the same as him taking me to court for a civil suit writing this..
As far as his teaching skills, okay at best, like the WSBTV report at top mentioned, he did drink alot of caffeine. Partly due to the fact he coaches womans basketball(he was while i was there), stressful yes.
Enough useless info. the fact that he found it on myspace is more shocking than what was said. He was the type of teacher that you would feel uncomfortable around alone. Overall i believe the civil suit will be dropped, and he will retire or transfer to another county at the end of the school year.
One last thing he does look like Mr.Garrison from South Park (pic. above)
This is no different from the days before the technology boom when stupid kids wrote on bathroom stalls, “For a good time, Call Johnny Harper at 555-SUCK.” Except now, those comments have the potential to reach more people and do more damage in a world where reputation is everything. Oh, I wonder how some of you who posted negative comments would feel if someone did this to you. What if they posted a slur on another student’s reputation by opening an account in his/her name for as they put it ‘”a joke”? What if that child were yours? Should he/she just laugh it off? Could you? I’m not saying that I believe in the sueing frenzy of today (I don’t.), but you have to admit the guy has a right to be pissed and want some kind of vindicatory action for what these boys did. Obviously, he thought this was the only way to send these boys a messsage that he’s not laughing! —by using the legal system, instead of taking matters into his own hands like we’ve all at times wanted to. Give the teacher a break, please. Stop and think before you start casting stones that may one day come back to hit yourself upside the head.