Pseudonym = Alias?

Hapax Legomenon said:

What I said was:



As in there is someone being horrible no matter what, but right now we don't know who it is.

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Ah, I thought you were referring to the alleged letters as being incidental.

I agree, then, somebody somewhere isn't doing their job on this one.

Right. Either the media is lying to us by spinning some sensationalist story about this guy being detained for writing some books when the guy is actually being detained for writing a scary letter to the schoolboard (I honestly hope this is the case), or there is a grave violation of civil liberties and a man has been detained for thoughtcrime.

Indeed there is, but it's not clear that the thread is about writer Patrick McLaw. The title was too vague.

If he is sitting in a cell solely because of the book, it is a horrible, shameful thing.


That's a big "If." There could be other details that we do not know/have not been made public.

Personally, I think it's dangerous to jump on these kinds of bandwagons with incomplete info. And I think the piece at the Atlantic is awful, is totally lacking any serious investigatory elements, is simply poor journalism. So I wouldn't sign the petition right now, not until more details are available.

I'd like to see some independent confirmation of the facts pertaining to this matter.

And won't express any opinion prior to that.

As far as I can see, this story could fall anywhere from the reality of Watergate to the reality of 50-foot alligators in New York City sewers.

caw

I'm glad I'm not the only one who just doesn't know what to believe about this yet.

Plot Device said:

The reason I don't give a shit about the poor misunderstood police having their poor feelings hurt is because

1) innocent until proven guilty

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Which will apply when and if he is actually charged with a crime.

This may be the travesty of justice it appears on the surface, but as much as anyone mistrusts the system, they should keep in mind that the media is part of the system.

Simple logic would tell us that a lot of people would have to be fantastically stupid and incompetent and evil for this to be nothing more than a hysterical reaction to a science fiction novel set in the far future.

It is not, of course, impossible that a lot of people are being fantastically stupid and incompetent and evil. But I'm also in the "I suspect there is more to this story" camp. I have seen way too many stories like this, circulated on the Internet as inflammatory "OMG CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!?!?!" outrages, which turned out to be substantially different from the versions that got thrown onto Facebook.

I just called the ACLU of Maryland -- they are aware of the situation and will call me back and let me know what we can do to help -- they said they are talking about how they can reach out to him.

ETA: I also just talked with a reporter for the Star Democrat in Maryland and he will be working on updates to this story -- he'll let me know what he finds out.

Repeated from the other thread:

I just called the ACLU of Maryland -- they are aware of the situation and will call me back and let me know what we can do to help -- they said they are talking about how they can reach out to him.

ETA: I also just talked with a reporter for the Star Democrat in Maryland and he will be working on updates to this story -- he'll let me know what he finds out.

Karen Junker said:

Repeated from the other thread:

I just called the ACLU of Maryland -- they are aware of the situation and will call me back and let me know what we can do to help -- they said they are talking about how they can reach out to him.

ETA: I also just talked with a reporter for the Star Democrat in Maryland and he will be working on updates to this story -- he'll let me know what he finds out.

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Thank you so much for doing that. This story is haunting, and I find the lack of journalistic follow-up in this case to be incredibly odd.

Interesting further development on my end:

I just called the AP office in Maryland and the person who answered the phone knew nothing about this and further, stated that he didn't know why I would expect them to 1) Do anything 2) Tell me if they did. Other than if they do any further news stories, I can find out about them just like anyone else.

This article has some interesting new info...
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacket...ver-books-authorities-say-20140902-story.html

Thanks for the updated article.

"It didn't start with the books and it didn't end with the books," State's Attorney for Wicomico County Matt Maciarello told The Times. "It's not even a factor in what law enforcement is doing now."

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I suppose that's... comforting. But if that's the case, I'd rather they'd never mentioned the books in the first place. I can't really tell who's to blame. The articles say that the Sheriff mentioned them, but then they all go off saying that's what caught authorities attention, even though no one's really quoted as saying such.

His attorney seems to be okay with all of this...

Because I am very interested in this, I called his attorney -- he is out of the office for today, but I left a message asking if he can tell me anything or if there's anything we can do. I'll let you know if I hear back.

Hang on, folks. We're gonna go a'mergin', here.

ETA: And we're cozy again. Carry on!

Re: The article that Lauram6123 posted above -- I emailed the writer and she got back to me -- she said she talked to Mr. McLaw's attorney and he did not express concern for his client's civil rights, and confirmed that he is being treated for mental health issues.

ETA: Also, I called the Maryland AP office to file a complaint about the irresponsible and inflammatory reporting in their affiliate's article (the original report on WBOC16 news) and the guy on the phone laughed and said, "What do you expect me to do about it?"

robeiae said:

If he is sitting in a cell solely because of the book, it is a horrible, shameful thing.


That's a big "If." There could be other details that we do not know/have not been made public.

Personally, I think it's dangerous to jump on these kinds of bandwagons with incomplete info. And I think the piece at the Atlantic is awful, is totally lacking any serious investigatory elements, is simply poor journalism. So I wouldn't sign the petition right now, not until more details are available.

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I think it's the absolute best piece written yet about this whole mess. I love that Atlantic article and want to kiss its writer.

Meanwhile a young man sits incarcerated in an undisclosed location and we have no idea how he's being treated or what other rights of his are being violated.

::ETA::

Well I missed Karen Junker's posts above.

Thank you, Karen. Awesome work! I can stop having nightmares now.

Honestly, although people seem often very quick to blow off what "the locals say," in comments on the news stories, this is far from the first time I've seen them shortly thereafter revealed as the truth.

Also, the front line employees at large agencies, whether schools, police departments, whatever, are not allowed to speak- try it and you'd be quite swiftly fired. But anyone else can say anything they want to the media, true or false.

This often presents very skewed ideas to the public. I'm wondering why these large entities, who obviously have legal/PR departments controlling what's said and what's not said, don't come up with a blanket statement reminding the public of these simple facts. Wouldn't that go a long way toward stopping the skewed reports? Do they really not care at all what public opinion of them is? Just wondering...

I would like to know the contents of that 4-page letter McLaw allegedly sent to school officials.

And was that 4-page letter grounds for sending in the bomb squad and the sniffer dogs to sweep the school looking for bombs? And ditto searching his home for weapons and bombs?

And was the asshat at Ground Zero of all this either a) an asshat cop who stupidly told the press that it was the books that first caught their attention? Or was it an asshat reporter who botched the quote and set this firestorm rolling?

It sounds like maybe reporters focused on the books because a Google search brings them up as something 'relevant' actually known about him, imho. Like Nancy Grace reporting, I swear.

All of the psychiatric hold stuff wouldn't be available, nor would the SBI or State's Attorney's office investigations. Local cops might talk more, in many cases.

I'm not just saying that because more has come out. I'm astonished that people would really think a conspiracy to deny civil rights over a couple of books could be this large and with offices as high as are involved here. And with psychiatric holds, no less, which are notoriously hard to come by in the US.

It's Maryland, not China. Just sayin'.

Thanks for the link, Bob --

I am deeply concerned that his attorney does not seem to think that mental health issues are involved in civil rights. Of course that may be the LA Times reporter's interpretation and not the whole story.

I shall let you know what else I find out.

Karen Junker said:

Thanks for the link, Bob --

I am deeply concerned that his attorney does not seem to think that mental health issues are involved in civil rights. Of course that may be the LA Times reporter's interpretation and not the whole story.

I shall let you know what else I find out.

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Maybe my interpretation is wrong, but I think that reading between the lines of all the quotes has the poor man being treated for mental health issues as an inpatient for a while.

If so, good for him for getting help! And privacy would be nice, I'd imagine.

I could totally be wrong, though. That's the thing. There's so much we don't know yet. And that's OK, imho.

Karen Junker said:

Thanks for the link, Bob --

I am deeply concerned that his attorney does not seem to think that mental health issues are involved in civil rights. Of course that may be the LA Times reporter's interpretation and not the whole story.

I shall let you know what else I find out.

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Karen, I am so pleased with all you have accomplished here. I am equally jazzed that your instincts are telling you not to let this go until your instintcs are completely at ease in this whole matter.

As for your concerns that maybe this attorney seems to have a disconnect between civil rights issues and mental health issues, here's what I dug up just now about the rights for mental patients.

http://www.cchr.org/about-us/mental-health-declaration-of-human-rights.html


Of note:

Mental Health Declaration of Human Rights

by Citizens Commission on Human Rights

B. No person shall be given psychiatric or psychological treatment against his or her will.

C. No person, man, woman or child, may be denied his or her personal liberty by reason of mental illness, so-called, without a fair jury trial by laymen and with proper legal representation.

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