Woman Jailed for Not Deleting Her Facebook

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on September 20, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A DUI crash is nothing to laugh out loud about. Just ask a Kentucky judge who sent DUI suspect Paula Asher to jail for a Facebook post that seemed to make light of her legal ordeal.

"My dumb (expletive) got a DUI and hit a car... LOL," Asher's Facebook post said, according to Louisville, Ky.'s WAVE-TV.

That may have been funny to Asher and her friends, but it didn't get her any "likes" in court.

Asher was allegedly drunk when she crashed into a car carrying four teenagers in July and then drove off, Lexington, Ky.'s WLEX-TV reports. Police later caught up with her.

But then the parents of the teenagers struck by Asher stumbled upon Paula Asher's Facebook post. They asked the judge to order Asher to take down her Facebook page. That's exactly what the judge did.

Asher apologized for the post, but she did not delete her Facebook page. So the judge found her in contempt of court, and sentenced Asher to two days in jail.

Contempt of court can be criminal or civil. In a case of civil contempt, a party typically fails to comply with a court order, such as failing to pay court-ordered child support or, apparently, failing to delete one's Facebook page as ordered.

That's different from criminal contempt, which can occur when a party defies or disrespects a court's dignity or authority. Unlike civil contempt, criminal contempt charges may drag on longer than the original case itself.

Asher's contempt charge happened more than a week ago, so she's already served her time. But a blogger for SecurityNewsDaily opined that it's not clear what law the judge was citing in ordering Asher to take down her Facebook page.

"I didn't think LOL would put me in jail," Asher said, according to WAVE-TV.

Asher could potentially even more jail time if convicted of the DUI crash. She's also charged with possession of a controlled substance.

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