On December 11th, Virginia Attorney General Bob McConnell appealed the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision overturning the first felony spam conviction in the country to the U.S. Supreme Court. McConnell asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the spam law, which the Virginia Supreme Court struck down on First Amendment grounds. In doing so, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the conviction of one of the worlds’ worst spammers, Jeremy Jaynes. The Virginia law was held overbroad because it was not limited to commercial e-mails, and could include political or religious messages. McConnell claimed that the situation where an imaginary spammer is prosecuted for sending religious e-mails is rare to nonexistent. Jayne’s lawyer said it was unlikely that the Supreme Court would hear the case, and if it did, the decision would likely be upheld.

McConnell’s press release may be found at http://www.oag.state.va.us/PRESS_RELEASES/NewsArchive/121108_Spam_Supreme_Court.html