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The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

nationalreview.com

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Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#21

Post by cgag »

willvarfar wrote: post #7
Ma8ee wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the concerned woman who reported him to the police?

Actually, if you saw that posted, would you not consider whether to tell the police? The proper thing to do - as said in the article - is for the police to investigate if he was serious. And you or I would - depending on lots of context on whether we thought it a remotely credible threat I guess - report it for them to investigate? The problem seems to be on the police end, not the concerned citizen (of another count…

How could you think that's a remotely credible threat?

Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#23

Post by javajosh »

rayiner wrote: post #20
wavesounds wrote: post #4

"He’s been incarcerated since March without trial." That's the problem. A jury of his peers would throw this out no questions asked.

I wouldn't count on it. It was some uptight woman who saw the comment and told the police in the first place, and you can bet its the fear of uptight parents that's causing the prosecution. Can you imagine how the shit would hit the fan if the kid had said something like that, the police had been notified, and the police had done nothing, and the kid had shot up some school?

You mean like the uproar and lawsuits that occurred when it turned out the FBI was tracking the 9/11 hijackers for months before they attacked?

Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#24

Post by alexvr »

It's only illegal for him to say such a thing if he also has a few machine guns and other preparations ready to go. Such statements, even with the appended "jk lol," deserve question. But I don't see how authorities managed to do anything more than question or search him.

Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#25

Post by maratd »

zaroth wrote: post #19

I know articles like this bring out the trolls, but I can't get over the sheer number of commenters (on the target site) happy to see Justin being 'taught a lesson', or claiming that his speech was truly criminal. What hits me the hardest about this story is that, what if an HN post of mine strikes the wrong nerve and next thing they're coming for me? Maybe next they'll be coming for you. Or 15 years from now my kid…

> By the way, how the hell does bail get set at $500,000 for a single Facebook comment, no matter how insensitive or inciteful?

I think he might graduate high school soon and go off to college, so that represents a flight risk.

And as funny as that is, I'm willing to bet that the above really was the reason given.

Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#26

Post by singular »

This is ridiculous, outrageous, insane.

Terrorism is less likely to happen to you than a great many extremely unlikely events, I can't find a citation right now but I suspect it's less than being struck by lightning, yet the risk justifies... this?

The odds of being struck down by a careless driver must be vastly higher, yet I don't see people who text as they drive being sent to jail for >= 10 years, or those with driving licenses who are suspected of being higher risk (older people, those on higher insurance risk bands, etc.) being monitored illegally (or 'legally' based on dubious laws) and/or shipped off to a coaling station [0] where their legal rights are effectively suspended and they are tortured [1] to get information about their alleged membership of a boy-racer organisation.

Oh, and if this law was in effect in my country (UK), I'd be serving several years in jail. The irrationality of this kind of bullshit hasn't prevented people from trying to ruin people's lives over it, however [2].

What I'd like to see is the humourless 'people' who report this kind of obvious bullshit prosecuted for wasting police time and perhaps even harassment (I can't think of anything more harassing than trying to send somebody to jail + near enough ruin their life over something that is obviously not serious), the prosecutors who actually take it seriously losing their jobs and the politicians who implement these laws being publicly grilled on them.

[0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_bay#US_Control_of_Gu...

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp#T...

[2]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19009344

Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#27

Post by xauronx »

willvarfar wrote: post #7
Ma8ee wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the concerned woman who reported him to the police?

Actually, if you saw that posted, would you not consider whether to tell the police? The proper thing to do - as said in the article - is for the police to investigate if he was serious. And you or I would - depending on lots of context on whether we thought it a remotely credible threat I guess - report it for them to investigate? The problem seems to be on the police end, not the concerned citizen (of another count…

I definitely would. I'm not sure what the rest of these people are talking about. If some angst-ridden teenager is posting something like that on facebook, they probably need to speak with a psychologist/councilor. In today's America, you can't take that shit lightly.

However, this is like putting out a candle with a fire hose.

Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#28

Post by thret »

willvarfar wrote: post #7
Ma8ee wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the concerned woman who reported him to the police?

Actually, if you saw that posted, would you not consider whether to tell the police? The proper thing to do - as said in the article - is for the police to investigate if he was serious. And you or I would - depending on lots of context on whether we thought it a remotely credible threat I guess - report it for them to investigate? The problem seems to be on the police end, not the concerned citizen (of another count…

I've seen worse, heard worse, said worse, and am ashamed for you. Nothing anyone says on an online game should be taken seriously.

Re: The 19-year-old jailed for the crime of sarcasm

#30

Post by mig39 »

singular wrote: post #26

This is ridiculous, outrageous, insane. Terrorism is less likely to happen to you than a great many extremely unlikely events, I can't find a citation right now but I suspect it's less than being struck by lightning, yet the risk justifies... this? The odds of being struck down by a careless driver must be vastly higher, yet I don't see people who text as they drive being sent to jail for >= 10 years, or those with d…

Toddlers killed more Americans this year than Terrorists did. Time for a war on toddlers.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/toddlers-killed-...

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