Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

nationalreview.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 93 posts

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

#61

Post by MartinCron »

GuiA wrote: post #10
cloverich wrote: post #8

So, i'd like to get the full details of this seemingly outrageous situation. After somewhat extensively searching, I've never found what he actually said; only paraphrasing, etc. That's the difference between an obvious joke and... something different. Not that it justifies the situation entirely (or maybe at all), but would perhaps explain the reaction. Consider a similar poster who did an AMA on reddit here: http:/…

I believe the exact details are all here; he typed (in the fairly popular MMO `League of Legends`): Oh yeah, I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts. lol jk

We can't jail him for that grossly inappropriate comma, can we?

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

#62

Post by Gigablah »

koalakid wrote: post #47

I'm going to be downvoted into oblivion for this comment, then my account will be hellbanned by the mods, but whatever: this guy's posting was jarringly violent and disturbing. I believe most people would never fathom ideas so evil, and yet this guy broadcasted it in the most public space in the known universe - FACEBOOK. The guy needs correction, badly .

Judging by your post, you seem to have a good grasp of the concept of hyperbole. Now apply that to the guy's posting.

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

#63

Post by adventured »

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…

Wander around most any part of Reddit for 5 minutes, and you'll see things that are far worse said in twisted jest. And that's a mainstream site.

By these standards, you'd have to arrest every teenager in America eventually. That isn't an exaggeration.

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

#65

Post by beedogs »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #38
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…

I would wish her a swift expulsion from office for gross incompetence, except that this type of brainless bureaucrat really does represent the people who elect them. We live in a post-literate, lawsuit driven society where such officials are simply following the path of least resistance. I hope the parents have some really good lawyers. This thing may have to go up the chain to their Senator and perhaps a federal cou…

> As for that woman who turned him in to the police and effectively ruined his life, I'd say she deserves a nice, fat civil suit.

Or at least to be doxed and harassed for a few weeks. Let's hope 4chan picks that ball up and runs with it. People need to stop being so fucking hair-trigger paranoid.

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

#66

Post by adventured »

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…

There are a lot of targets of blame these days... politicians, bankers, parents, teachers, you name it.

At the core, I believe it's my fellow Americans that have become frightening. They represent the rotting culture that accommodates our increasingly violent, extralegal form of government, the one now almost entirely unchained from the Constitution.

The sheer apathy; the willingness to hand over fundamental liberties with little to no fight; the willingness to defend perpetual war; the willingness to suffer any indignity (eg molestation at the airport) just so long as one can go home at night to the couch and watch Leno; and so on.

People joke endlessly about America's expanding waistline, mismanagement of personal and national finances, abuse of prescription drugs, and terrible education scores. It's all part of the same sickness, that goes hand in hand with the governmental abuses: it's a populace that has willingly become numb, and is ready for an iron boot to its neck, and no coincidence that's exactly what it's getting.

Show me a people unwilling to be vigilant about their liberty 24/7, and I'll show you a government happy to lord over them with absolute power.

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

#67

Post by beedogs »

cloverich wrote: post #8

So, i'd like to get the full details of this seemingly outrageous situation. After somewhat extensively searching, I've never found what he actually said; only paraphrasing, etc. That's the difference between an obvious joke and... something different. Not that it justifies the situation entirely (or maybe at all), but would perhaps explain the reaction. Consider a similar poster who did an AMA on reddit here: http:/…

> After reading the actual transcript (http://pastebin.com/Ldtj6mhx), many Redditor's sided with the police.

Well, my conclusion then is that many redditors are absolute mouth-breathing fucking retards. This transcript is dripping with obvious sarcasm and hyperbole. Anyone who can't see it should kill themselves.

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

#68

Post by joesb »

xauronx wrote: post #45
kristopolous wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever been to 4chan? Just scroll through: http://boards.4chan.org/b/ ... things like this can be considered the norm depending on what sites you go to.

That's just the thing though. Context matters a lot. Are you so excited to have something to be outraged about that you don't think about this? I mean, if I yell "I'm going to rape you" in a video game that's the equivalent of "Good game buddy", and quite innocent. I wouldn't however yell that in a public arcade at a 12 year old. The inability to discern the difference hints at mental issues that need to be discussed…

And, in this context, he was replying to his friend with whom he played video games with on a facebook page, and adding "lol" and "jk" to the joke. Do you consider that equivalent of an adult yelling "I'm going to rape you" to a 12 yo in a public arcade?

To me, it looks like the inability to discern the differences is not with Justin.

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

#69

Post by tomlu »

jxcole wrote: post #50
zaroth wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He had a public defender, but recently got Donald Flanary to take the case pro bono. I don't know anything about Flanary, but reports indicate this is a positive development, and it seems he was able to get some traction. I think fundamentally the woman did nothing wrong, if it was truly a case of an unrelated person showing concern. If it turns out she had some more nefarious reason to throw Justin to the wolves (th…

Hate to downvote an otherwise very informative post, but tech literacy is not an issue here. If this was a hundred years before facebook existed and someone joked "Oh yes I'm insane, I am going to stab a hundred babies...ha ha ha" it would be the exact same issue.

You shouldn't downvote a post because you don't agree with it anyway. You should downvote it because it doesn't add anything to the discussion or is otherwise vapid. It follows that there should never be a reason to downvote and reply to a comment.

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

#70

Post by xauronx »

joesb wrote: post #68
xauronx wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just the thing though. Context matters a lot. Are you so excited to have something to be outraged about that you don't think about this? I mean, if I yell "I'm going to rape you" in a video game that's the equivalent of "Good game buddy", and quite innocent. I wouldn't however yell that in a public arcade at a 12 year old. The inability to discern the difference hints at mental issues that need to be discussed…

And, in this context, he was replying to his friend with whom he played video games with on a facebook page, and adding "lol" and "jk" to the joke. Do you consider that equivalent of an adult yelling "I'm going to rape you" to a 12 yo in a public arcade? To me, it looks like the inability to discern the differences is not with Justin.

I guess everything I've read about it was inaccurate then. I had read that it was just a facebook post, like a post to his own wall. To me, it's still a fucking retarded thing to say in a public forum. Free speech is great, but your words still have consequences. Again, I don't think he should have been essentially abducted with no trial or bail.

However, I do believe that if you say "I'm going to murder children" in a public forum in a country where that exact thing happened on a disgusting level recently... you should get some counseling.

Post reply on HN