In the old days, bullies needed the nerve to face their victims. They ridiculed and belittled in person. Though that was torture for the bullies' prey, the victims of newfangled torment -- cyber bullying -- might call that up-close and personal harassment the good old days.

A cyber bully commits viciousness online, where it's anonymous and permanent. He posts on a site like Myspace.com or Facebook.com a photo of a person that has been altered so that it is lewd and fabricates descriptions of unsavory activities, making it appear that the victim of the post is bragging about engaging in them.

The victim is horrified and humiliated. But he can't find out who posted the information. Before the post is taken down, viewers have copied it and e-mailed it to friends or posted it elsewhere. Cyberspace can give infinite life.

Republican state Sen. Jane Clare Orie of McCandless recently leaped into the middle of this mess, proposing to become champion for the victims.

Since she's a legislator, she contends the solution is new laws. She wants to make cyber bullying and cyber identity theft illegal. And she wants to require school districts to prohibit cyber bullying and cyber identity theft.

Though she's already sent out a news release promoting her efforts, Ms. Orie hasn't actually written a bill yet. That's good. She needs to let well enough alone.

District attorneys already have the ability to criminally charge cyber bullies with harassment and stalking. And Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., with the help of the three-year-old Regional Computer Crimes Task Force, has done just that.

Last week, Mr. Zappala sent the association of police chiefs a letter reminding them that the task force is willing to investigate and prosecute cyber harassment, which is conduct not limited to teenagers or high school students.

And that raises questions about the second half of Ms. Orie's proposal. She says her legislation will require school districts to adopt policies to prohibit cyber bullying. But, really, why are policies necessary at all when district attorneys can prosecute?

In addition, it seems unlikely that many of these harassing sites are created on school computers. They're set up away from the prying eyes of teachers and school administrators, which is another problem for Ms. Orie.

The American Civil Liberties Union has repeatedly won lawsuits against Western Pennsylvania school districts that punished students for their behavior at home on the Internet. A principal may be annoyed that a student holed up in his bedroom posted a picture of him with a dunce cap pasted over his head, but he can't give the kid detention for it.

In addition, Ms. Orie is not free to trespass on citizens' free speech rights. In this country, citizens have a right to mock and parody and ridicule. As a politician, Ms. Orie should be particularly sensitive to this right. How would U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum feel, for example, if Ms. Orie barred him from ridiculing his opponent, Bob Casey Jr. by referring to him in the diminutive "Bobby"?

Mr. Zappala knows the difference between ridicule and criminal harassment. Ms. Orie should let the prosecutors decide and work on a real issue to aid children, like the proposals for additional early childhood education or health care coverage for all of the state's youngsters.