Good morning, Jay...

Jay P Hailey wrote:

> Stephen King is a Felon
> by Francis A Ney, Jr.
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> Exclusive to TLE

[SNORT!] Not bloody likely an exclusive. From what I have read of young
master William Poole, nearly everyone from the worlds of journalism,
writing, fiction and science fiction all are closely following the
official reports coming out of Kentucky about Poole's misfortune. 

> But the most disturbing thing I have seen in relationship to this case are
> the things I have not seen. There has been no outcry from the sources I
> would otherwise expect to be all over this like ugly on a gorilla. Nothing
> from the ACLU, nothing from FIRE, nothing from IJ, not a word from even
> the Libertarian Party. Maybe it's because the police now claim that
> William Poole was planning to start a "nationwide gang" and are using his
> notes and stories to prove it. Sounds like the vilification of the Branch
> Davidians during the 51 days prior to the witch burning, but on a smaller
> scale.

Again, not hardly. The ACLU, according to several national news sources,
are closely following events as they unravel, beginning with the court
hearing that released Poole on bail last week. If the ACLU is interested
enough in the case to send a top-notch lawyer from Washington, D.C. to a
bail hearing in Kentucky, you can wager they are actively involved, all
right. 

> Does Stephen King even have the stones to go to Lexington and dare the
> cops to arrest him? Does he even care enough to show a modicum of support
> to a fellow author who doesn't enjoy the protections he receives? Or is he
> going to do the smart and safe thing and stay out of Kentucky?

Now THERE would be an interesting test of Kentucky law, all right. Bring
Stephen King to Kentucky for a book signing and he gets arrested based
upon the same crippled Homeland Security law under which they detained
Poole. Almost immediately Kings' lawyers would begin descending upon
Kentucky in droves, bearing writs like talismans to ward off the evil
forces of Homeland Security. Kentucky officials probably would not like
how fast the corporate Lear jets would land, nor how little time it would
take to post bail for King. 

I expect that Poole will be probably exonerated and found not guilty on
appeal, when and if he is convicted by the local circuit court in
Kentucky. What is apparently at stake is that he wrote the story in a
narrative, not a fictional format. What is equally interesting and may
play an important role in his trial, is he did NOT, as this news piece
suggests, specifically mention either his high school nor local law
enforcement in any of his stories, as they are ALL written in a very
generic sort of way. 

However, not even an appeals court wants a massive public counter-reaction
against Homeland Security, hence they expeditiously will dispose of this
piece of legal stupidity-in-action as quickly as possible, one assumes.

On the other hand, the longer this case stays alive in the courts, the
greater the odds that some of the more aggravated abuses of justice being
deployed by Bush's Homeland Security will be struck down by the courts in
the process. Judging by the backlash in the news media, not to mention on
the Internet, people are not taking this one sitting down, nor should
they. 

This case can and probably will be used as a litmus test of the validity
of some of the more egregious abuses of civil liberties and civil rights
being performed in the name of Homeland Security. However, I don't expect
that the Poole case will last very long once it is in the hands of a
properly-prepared legal defense. 

Dave
-- 
Dave Laird ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
The Used Kharma Lot
Web Page:   http://www.kharma.net updated 11/24/2004
Usenet news server : news://news.kharma.net
                                           
 Fortune Random Thought For the Minute    
"I prefer rogues to imbeciles, because they sometimes take a rest."
-- Alexandre Dumas (fils)
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