A 34-YEAR-OLD woman, the mother of a 12-year-old girl, has been locked up in a Virginia jail for three weeks and could remain there for at least another month. Her crime? Blogging about the police. [More]How dare a mere subject presume to monitor the exalted "Only One" drug warriors.
Look--I'm "identifying a police officer."
[Via JPR9]
7 comments:
Perhaps she will be invited for beers at the White House? LOL
I am a huge defender of free speech and while I agree that the police occasionally abuse their power (i.e., your article about the woman being tazed), I don't know about this one. She WAS following them around while they were on duty and, from what I'm reading about her post topics, probably committing libel. She also posted the name and address of one of the officers, which is a pretty snake-in-the-grass thing to do. Such an act opens up the policeman's family to potential harrassment and vandalism...Maybe worse. And these policemen did nothing to her.
This lady sounds crazy. A woman with a 12-year-old daughter should know better.
Scott
Since when is libel a criminal offense?
Oh yeah, the cops never put out information on suspects or other citizens, with full address, etc. If they need secrecy, perhaps they are doing something wrong?
From the article it appears that the woman did not take any pictures herself but accessed already available public records. That is now against the law?
I lived in Va. for awhile and the thing that amazed me was that as the birthplace of American liberty and many of her original patriots, it was stunning that EVERYTHING I mean everything was against the law.
Now the cops there are also against the law? Oh wait, that's not unusual enough to be notable, is it?
Anonymous: Libel is certainly not a criminal offense. It is a civil offense (http://www.robertslaw.org/slander-libel-defamation.htm); that's not the reason I feel she should have been arrested. It simply adds to the harrassment point.
straightarrow: You're absolutely right. The police do it too. That doesn't justify her actions though, because NO ONE should be doing it. And yes, the information was public, but let me put this out there: In which case do you think people with violent intent would be more likely to go after an "arrogant thug" officer: if his name and address were or weren't posted? How would you guys like it if someone was unjustly calling you a nasty, corrupt bully officer (if you were a cop) and then posted your address and photo online?
You guys are acting like she got tazed and beaten and thrown into a cage. She got charged with a single count of harrassment, which is perfectly reasonable given what she did. And she'll probably just get probation and her blog deleted. Following cops around (especially narcs) in what sounds like a bad area is not only irresponsible, but also dangerous.
Oh I don't know. It seems the cops even hassle their own. Read this forum to the end for details, paying particular attention to the posts of SHERIFF, a LEO who alleges (and has won settlements) for harassment:
http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum54/29292.html
she could take some lessons from this guy:
http://badphoenixcops.blogspot.com/
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