Woman Jailed for Blogging About Police
By worldwise1
@worldwise1 (14885)
United States
August 10, 2009 12:42pm CST
I found an article on Washingtonpost.com about a Virginia woman who has been jailed because she would not stop blogging about the local police. Specifically, the drug task force. It seems that she got herself on the wrong side of the police department by posting blogs repeatedly about the shortcomings of the task force. She even went so far as to publish the name, address, and a photo of the home of one of its members. They decided they had had enough and raided her home, confiscating evidence, and locking her up. The article stated that it was thought that she could not afford to pay the $750 to bail herself out. Do you think the police were within their rights to arrest this woman? I tend to agree with their position because I believe she crossed the line by revealing the identities of some of the officers. That could conceivably place their lives or the lives of their family members in danger. Sorry I can't provide a link due to my copy and paste function not working.
6 people like this
12 responses
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
10 Aug 09
Free speech is free speech, but she crossed the line. Private information about police officer is not they right way to do. They had the rights to arrest the woman...
2 people like this
@baldypriest (338)
• United States
10 Aug 09
I think they were within their rights to take action once she gave out personal information of an officer. That is crossing the line, for sure. While I can respect a person who voices their opinion about the police, it should always be tactful and not infringe on another human being's right to privacy. That's totally the wrong way to make oneself heard.
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
She might not have extended an invitation to the criminals, baldypriest, but she had to have had sense enough to know that some criminal would take it as an invitation to wreak havoc. I equate her action with yelling, "Fire!" in a crowded theater; it was calculated to invite mayhem.
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
10 Aug 09
Well I guess she only has herself to blame if she has been asked to stop and didn't well then it serves her right , it certainly was not right of her to risk the Lifes of these People
I guess that this might give her Lesson
I just do not understand why she did it and what the point is
As for the Bail money well that is her own fault I guess if she had not done this in the first place she would not be where she is now
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
She ignored the warnings, gabs, and continued on with her mission, which led to her downfall. You would think that she should have expected to eventually be arrested for her activities, so she would have been wise to sock away enough money to bail herself out of jail when the time came.
@Shaun72 (15959)
• Palatka, Florida
12 Aug 09
I agree it sounds likt this woman did take things to far. She shouldn't have wrote personal stuff online that should not have been said. So yes the police did have a right to arrest her.
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
I agree, Shaun, and think the woman was short on common sense to continue such activities even after she received warnings.
@echomonster (2226)
• Greenwood, Mississippi
10 Aug 09
I think this woman absolutely had the right to say whatever she wanted about the police. They work for her and other taxpayers, after all. I don't agree with the practice of posting addresses and phone numbers, but, honestly, that is public information. Surely it would have had to cross the line into incitement (like saying "go this guy's house and get him!") to justify an arrest. I worry that this woman is just being shut up because a lot of what she is saying is true and the task force doesn't want the scrutiny.
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
What you say, echomonster, allows no room for this woman using common sense at all. It is a well-known fact that the police have been known to be targeted by the criminal element at times. I am reminded of a case in my area that took place several years ago where an officer was gunned down as he exited his car enroute to his residence. I cannot imagine the horror that his family was forced to deal with when this happened. After many years the case is still unsolved. I'm sure that if all of law enforcement's addresses were to be made public knowledge this kind of incident would be an ongoing problem.
@bluesinjid (658)
• Canada
10 Aug 09
I feel this law was following the law every blog post she made except the one where she revealed their address, home phone number, etc. I think that she didn't know what the consequence could have been if criminals read her blog. They could probably go to the police's house, and attack the officer and his family, which is a major danger for any family.
I feel the police did was right of arresting her, but raiding her house was not really needed.
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
If you read the entire article, bluesinjid, you might see the situation in a different light. Blogging was not the only activity she directed toward the police force, and she had received warnings.
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
17 Aug 09
Personally how can anyone risk someone's life like this without expecting some type of recourse? Personally I am not sure what would be the Best thing for them to do to this woman, but when you go posting things like this especially with pictures of their house, etc. you are risking invasion of property suits against you and this one could be a hard thing to fight as well.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
13 Aug 09
It's hard to know what her intentions were or what point she was trying to make unless I'm being dense and her whole aim was to run the police down. This is probably not a good idea...especially if you have something to hide because for sure the cops will come down hard on anyone showing total denigration and disrespect to the force.
As for revealing private info about one of the police members...whoa...big mistake. This violates anyone's privacy let alone a cop's and the are laws about this sort of thing.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
10 Aug 09
I think that the woman put her local police department in danger as well as the families of the police officer whose home address was posted on her blog. This is very dangerous, and she should have been locked up. I do not think the bond is really all that bad and wonder if it's the same rate as what they would give to those who have done similar offenses. Offenses, against police enforcement that is.
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
Her grievance against the police force seems to have been something of an obsession, SomeCowgirl. I don't believe that any responsible person would have done such a thing.
@dlr297 (5409)
• United States
10 Aug 09
as long as she was just running her mouth giving her opinions i see nothing wrong with that. We the people have the right of Free Speech.
But when she published the name and address of one of the officers she crossed the line, and they were in their right to arrest her. because all she did was put that person, and his familey in danger. How would she feel if her actions caused one of his kids to be killed because of what the father does for a living.
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
I agree that there is a limit to the meaning of free speech, dlr, and I also believe that the woman took things too far.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/09/AR2009080902126.html?wpisrc=newsletter. I hope that this link to the story works because it will give full details of all the events that led up to the woman's arrest.
@clorissa123 (4926)
• United States
11 Aug 09
Well, what about the rights of freedom of speech publish in our constitutions? She has the right to express her anger, and her dissent to the local police force. If she was deprived from her rights of speech on article and speech. Who gonna freely express their opinion in public anymore? That is the violation of the government to their rightful citizens. She shouldn't publish the members identity, that is correct. But she should also grant a warning before arrested.
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
I will say it again, clorissa, she had been warned! Her activity was ongoing and I can think of many other people I would choose to harass than law enforcement.
@allisonbrk (155)
• United States
10 Aug 09
I absolutely think the police were in the right. There is a difference between making your opinion heard and endangering the lives of police officers. These officers work hard to keep us safe. Sure when we are doing something wrong we maybe think ill of them, but bottom line, they are doing their job to keep the general public safe. For anyone to post pictures of their homes and their names and addresses is completely unacceptable. It puts the officer in danger of other people who harbor ill-will against the police. While I absolutely support freedom of speech, what this woman did was not exercise her rights, but rather abuse them and endanger the lives of others in the process.
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
12 Aug 09
I tend to see the situation the same as you, allisonbrk, because this woman evidently crossed the line by revealing the information about a certain officer. We do rely on law enforcement to protect and serve us, and I would never think to place them in danger in any way.
