

Teen jailed for Facebook joke is released - ianterrell
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/12/tech/social-media/facebook-jailed-teen/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

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ianterrell
"[He] has been released on bail after an _anonymous donor_ posted a $500,000
bond." (emphasis added)

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ScottBurson
Yes, I saw that too. Pretty fucking cool.

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jpreiland
It's cool that someone did it, but why should $500,000 and 5 months of jail
time be involved when he didn't commit a crime?

If we jailed people for jokes made with poor taste, half or more of our
comedians would be locked up.

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ScottBurson
I totally agree, of course. I'm just grateful that someone with that kind of
money decided to help out.

It's great that we should be alert to people who show signs of being
dangerous, but what that should mean is we should be very quick to look into
these situations and evaluate whether the person poses a real threat. It does
_not_ mean that we should toss them all into jail, press charges for non-
crimes, and wait for the court system to get around to sorting them out.

I understand the desire by police departments to avoid potential liability by
not taking the chance that someone who makes a joke might actually be serious.
But that needs to be balanced against the right to free speech. In this case,
I would love to see a civil rights lawsuit against the police. Police
departments need to understand that they face liability for overreacting as
well as for underreacting.

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ColinWright
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6030806](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6030806)

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watty
Title should have quotes around "joke".

