Thread: I really hate people

Should people who write horror films be locked up? What if I have a bad day and write something down like "I wish my co-workers would just f---ing die!!!!"? Also, who decides what is okay to say and what isn't?

Well, according to the First Amendment, the answer to that question is not the government. Free speech is protected, and writing a story about zombies in a journal is free speech. I'm not denying that this boy is troubled, and I hope he receives any help he needs, but I fail to see in that article that he committed any crimes. If he was building bombs in his garage or stockpiling weapons or writing about plans to commit a crime, this would be a different matter.

Free speech means free speech for everyone, even the idiots, even if we don't like it.

Investigating and locking the kid up are two entirely different things. I doubt few people would be opposed to following up on the kid, getting him counseling, etc if a journal is found like that. Its treating it as though he committed a crime that people are objecting to considering he is given the right to free speach allotted from the first ammendment.

Not saying I'm necessarily taking either side at the moment, I just don't think people who oppose this action are acting unjustly.

If all you do is write in your private journal then I would say they (the authorities) are over stepping their bounds. However once you start communicating it to others it no longer is private and thus is not protected.

I meant IMO

But lets takes a real example.
You in your notebook that you keep private write down "On Thursday March 28th, 2006 I'm gonna go kill the President and heres how I'm gonna do it" its protected.
If you then go tell Joe Smoe that you wrote down a detailed plan on how you are gonna kill the President there is no assumption of privicy and thus if Mr Cop over hears you your busted and they can use your notebook against you.

No, Thantos, that is not protected. Plans to commit crimes are not protected as free speech; neither are threats nor incitations to violence.

I say he needs to be locked up indefinitely. When people are allowed to shoot up their school, it affects more than just the victims. The media will often wrongly identify the shooter's weapon, or put great emphasis on it, prompting liberals to propose more "assault weapon" bans, which in turn prevent law-abiding citizens like me from owning them for sporting purposes.

If I designed the legal system, we would have heard the last of this kid

So you're saying a kid who writes stories about zombies should be locked up but you shouldn't? At least we weren't sure whether the other kid was a gun-toting imbecile, but with you there's not question.

Now where did I put that flamesuit of mine?

Private written works kept out of the public are protected. Because to get them you would have to violate your other rights (ie search and seizure). They'd never get a warrent because they wouldn't know it existed. Now as soon as you start making public threats and what not you have moved from the private into the public.