# Girl and her mom might get 16 years each for trying to fix homecoming queen election **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 5, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424 "2021-05-05T11:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/1 "2021-05-05T11:11:27Z")
wow Im glad that much to moms chagrin i wasn’t into the HS social scene…seems mom let the daughter do as she pleased an said daughter wasn’t really hiding it it seems [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-student-accused-of-rigging-homecoming-queen-vote-could-face-16-year-sentence/ar-BB1glXrU?li=BB141NW3&ocid=SK2DDHP](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-student-accused-of-rigging-homecoming-queen-vote-could-face-16-year-sentence/ar-BB1glXrU?li=BB141NW3&ocid=SK2DDHP) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/2 "2021-05-05T11:19:19Z")
Sweet little 16 years in jail, how poetic, ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/3 "2021-05-05T11:22:44Z")
And people who try to fix actual elections don’t face penalties like that. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/4 "2021-05-05T11:25:18Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > And people who try to fix actual elections don’t face penalties like that. - She’d probably be looking at less time if she had simply killed her opponents. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/5 "2021-05-05T11:32:27Z")
I wouldn’t support a single day in jail for something like this. The very idea is ridiculous. The conviction and public humiliation is punishment enough. The mother, however, is a different story. There are many legalities surrounding the maintenance and use of a school’s student database which, probably, is Powerschool because that’s what the large majority of districts use. At the very least, she should lose her job for violating the confidentiality of the database. She and the district may be subject to civil suits because of her actions. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/6 "2021-05-05T12:13:26Z")
Sounds like a story hatched by a deputy, a lawyer and the beat reporter, hyped on coffee and doughnuts. Could be strung together about virtually any set of trivial charges, but common sense usually keeps such hypothetical speculation out of print. The girl will never spend a minute in jail, (nor should she) and if there is a fine, it’ll be no more than bail posted. Any traffic cop will tell you, if he had 30 minutes to search, he could send every traffic stop to jail. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/7 "2021-05-05T15:10:18Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > The conviction and public humiliation is punishment enough. Along with going on the girl’s permanent record! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/8 "2021-05-05T15:15:37Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > She’d probably be looking at less time if she had simply killed her opponents. Don’t give them any ideas! LOL ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/9 "2021-05-05T15:16:06Z")
If they walked past a two-story piano factory, they COULD have been crushed by a Steinway. I hate headline writers. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/10 "2021-05-05T16:58:43Z")
This is a pervasive problem in news media articles about potential prison sentences: they overwhelmingly overstate the the penalty the perp is likely to actually serve. For example articles about Derek Michael Chauvin talk about 40 year sentences; but he will actually serve a small fraction of this. In this case I expect the biggest negative consequence will be the amount of the lawyer’s fees. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/11 "2021-05-05T17:12:58Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > If they walked past a two-story piano factory, they COULD have been crushed by a Steinway. I hate headline writers. “It’s the oldest trick in the book: the distortion of truth by association.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6iAecAtJVdE/hqdefault.jpg "Distortion of Truth by Association") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iAecAtJVdE) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/12 "2021-05-05T19:41:13Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > She’d probably be looking at less time if she had simply killed her opponents. These stories all use the theoretical maximum sentence for the clickbait headlines, a sentence that there is absolutely no chance whatsoever of being imposed. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/13 "2021-05-05T20:53:53Z")
I could see the Mom doing some time, like a year in County. But the kid? Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/14 "2021-05-05T23:53:56Z")
The article quotes the prosecutor for the number of potential years of incarceration, so it could be a press-happy DA (that seems redundant to me) at fault. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/15 "2021-05-06T00:28:30Z")
Or it could simply be stating the fact that the charged offense carries a certain maximum penalty. I wouldn’t read much else into that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/16 "2021-05-06T00:39:17Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I wouldn’t support a single day in jail for something like this. The very idea is ridiculous. Why? She may have accessed it for a frivolous reason, but the point is that she accessed a computer system with private information in it, without any lawful authority. Why should she be spared any punishment, if convicted? > [@](#): > > The investigation also found that Grover openly used her mother’s account to access other students’ profiles. Law enforcement officials collected nine statements from students and a teacher who said they either heard Grover talking about accessing the account or watched her log on to it over the course of four years. I would assume that those accounts would contain personal and private information, such as dates of birth and health information. Why should she get a pass from breaching her fellow students’ privacy in that way? If convicted, why shouldn’t she be punished, but on the youth tariff? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/17 "2021-05-06T01:18:58Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Why? She may have accessed it for a frivolous reason, but the point is that she accessed a computer system with private information in it, without any lawful authority. Why should she be spared any punishment, if convicted? I agree. The headlines are inflammatory. She is not being punished for fixing the homecoming election. She is being punished (if convicted) for computer hacking, which ain’t cool. It is sort of like these stories where a guy spits out his gum on the sidewalk, a cop sees it and goes to write him a warning citation for littering and the guy fires at the cop, gets in his car leading them on a three state high speed pursuit causing thousands in property damage, injuring scores, that ends with the guy being killed and the headline is “Man Killed For Spitting Gum on Sidewalk.” ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/18 "2021-05-06T22:21:35Z")
Ugh, there’s more to this story than I thought after reading the linked article. It turns out [this wasn’t just in conjunction with the Homecoming vote](https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-teen-accused-rigging-homecoming-queen-vote-mom/story?id=77503943) [bolding mine]: “The report stated that Grover had voted for herself in other students’ names and she was able to do so because she had access to her mother’s FOCUS account,” according to the affidavit, which also included statements from students who told investigators that **Grover had been using her mother’s FOCUS account to glean information on classmates since at least her freshman year**. “ **She looks up all of our group of friends’ grades and makes comments about how she can find our test scores all of the time** ,” one student told investigators, according to the affidavit. The school administrators began the expulsion process last December. During that process, Grover admitted in an email to the superintendent to “using my mom’s password and looking at information I should not have seen in FOCUS,'” she purportedly wrote, according to the affidavit. “‘Of everything I’ve done wrong, ignorance is hurting me most. **I 100% knew it was wrong and would do anything to undo it but I had no idea this much trouble could come from this**.’” TL;DR: Groves used her mother’s password to access other students’ grades and test scores for 3 years. She and her mother also changed votes for Homecoming Queen. I’d be surprised if either serves time, but I’m betting probation and some pretty hefty fines. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/19 "2021-05-06T22:50:00Z")
Well, they are both going to get an education regarding this. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424/20 "2021-05-06T22:50:31Z")
Any slightest amount of prison time for this is ludicrous. Then again, this is America, where people can get 45 years for dealing drugs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-and-her-mom-might-get-16-years-each-for-trying-to-fix-homecoming-queen-election/941424.md?page=2)