Teacher put on leave and a forced emergency evaluation because he wrote a book..

[Shadow8088]

before he was a teacher..... about a school shooting... 900 years in the future....

In Maryland, a Soviet-Style Punishment for a Novelist - The Atlantic

sry if its a dupe, but with the thread names anymore, its kinda hard to tell...

 

[MCgrease08]

Wow. I don't even know where to start.

I thought this was America. This is despicable. What legal basis do authorities or the school board have to do any of this?

 

[bradmedic04]

Well I'm sure this won't end up in the court system and cost the school district a bunch of money. Totally worthwhile decision.

 

[1911ly]

Pretty sad when fiction is presumed as fact. Those accusing him are the ones that need evaluated.

 

[MisterChester]

Absolutely incredible. Detaining someone for writing a tragic fiction story? There may be more to this story that's not being said, but still, this is a gross violation of rights. Just goes to show how f***ing unreasonably sensitive and daft our school admins have become.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I guess, after Sandy Hook, when the cry went out that we need to be more proactive about mental health, we needed to have a "national discussion", etc.....this is what that looks like. We know if this guy had done something to students or a school and it was known he had written these books, the public would have demanded heads roll.

 

[jamil]

Absolutely incredible. Detaining someone for writing a tragic fiction story? There may be more to this story that's not being said, but still, this is a gross violation of rights. Just goes to show how f***ing unreasonably sensitive and daft our school admins have become.

Not only was he detained but it sounds like the detainment may be indefinite. As it gets exposed I imagine they might ease up a bit though. And <gasp/> he used an alias to write a book!

I just can't imagine the mindset of the police and especially the press. It's astonishing.

I guess, after Sandy Hook, when the cry went out that we need to be more proactive about mental health, we needed to have a "national discussion", etc.....this is what that looks like. We know if this guy had done something to students or a school and it was known he had written these books, the public would have demanded heads roll.

I'm about tired of "national conversations". When I hear those words, I know the conversation is about which freedoms are just too dangerous for citizens to have. In stead of all that, if we have to have these silly "national conversations", how about we just have one about parents teaching their kids to cherish life--their own and others?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I'm about tired of "national conversations". When I hear those words, I know the conversation is about which freedoms are just too dangerous for citizens to have. In stead of all that, if we have to have these silly "national conversations", how about we just have one about parents teaching their kids to cherish life--their own and others?

How about common sense, national conversations?

But easy there...we're not supposed to be imposing our morality on others.

 

[ViperJock]

If I were him, I'd be making a shopping list for the millions I was about to be gifted from the law suit. And then I'd move to a free state.

 

[jamil]

How about common sense, national conversations?

But easy there...we're not supposed to be imposing our morality on others.

There's a difference between common sense and popular sense. And reasoning or trying to persuade is different from imposing.

 

[MisterChester]

There's a difference between common sense and popular sense. And reasoning or trying to persuade is different from imposing.

Maybe common sense really isn't so common after all.

 

[KLB]

Maybe common sense really isn't so common after all.

I lump "common sense" in the same category as Unicorns.

 

[jamil]

Maybe common sense really isn't so common after all.

What it used to mean is the ability to evaluate circumstances and judge a likely conclusion the same way that most people would. Common sense isn't common because of opinion or popularity. It's only common because most people should be able to figure out the right answer. Common sense has a right answer apart from the popularity of the answer. If you touch a hot pan with bare hands, it doesn't matter that most people can arrive at the correct conclusion. Either way you're still gonna get burned.

That's a lot different from the thought police using a horrible event to popularize accepting illogical and unreasonable encroachments on personal liberty, and then calling it common sense. They're purposely conflating popular sense and common sense. It's not common sense to force someone into a psychological evaluation and indefinitely detain him just because he wrote a novel that is about a topic people find scary. But whatever kind of sense they're using to justify it, it is getting more popular.

 

[MisterChester]

What it used to mean is the ability to evaluate circumstances and judge a likely conclusion the same way that most people would. Common sense isn't common because of opinion or popularity. It's only common because most people should be able to figure out the right answer. Common sense has a right answer apart from the popularity of the answer. If you touch a hot pan with bare hands, it doesn't matter that most people can arrive at the correct conclusion. Either way you're still gonna get burned.

That's a lot different from the thought police using a horrible event to popularize accepting illogical and unreasonable encroachments on personal liberty, and then calling it common sense. They're purposely conflating popular sense and common sense. It's not common sense to force someone into a psychological evaluation and indefinitely detain him just because he wrote a novel that is about a topic people find scary. But whatever kind of sense they're using to justify it, it is getting more popular.

Nailed it. I'm afraid that there will be a day where showing someone shoot a big 'n scary gun in a movie is grounds for detainment and evaluation. All because the creator could be a raging psychopath waiting to snap. The author in this topic could be crazy or normal. It's all done on the pretense of that. Any question (and I mean any) of mental health would be grounds for the suspension of rights. It's getting more and more ridiculous by the day.

 

[eric001]

This whole situation sounds ridiculous. Unless and until some quantifiable crime has been committed, and the guy charged with something, processed through the court system as is his right... It seems that Maryland now has a state full of subjects with absolutely zero rights and zero recourse.

Oh, wait! This isn't even the first time for this garbage in Maryland--it's just a well-orchestrated reboot of the past.

Witchcraft a part of Maryland's past - Washington Times

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Nailed it. I'm afraid that there will be a day where showing someone shoot a big 'n scary gun in a movie is grounds for detainment and evaluation. All because the creator could be a raging psychopath waiting to snap. The author in this topic could be crazy or normal. It's all done on the pretense of that. Any question (and I mean any) of mental health would be grounds for the suspension of rights. It's getting more and more ridiculous by the day.

Have any of these school administrators ever read a book by Stephen King (who also used a nom de plume btw - Richard Bachman). I know he's not a teacher, but if they see a work of fiction as a viable threat, then I'm thinking a Stephen King novel would have them cowering in the fetal position and wetting themselves.

This whole thing makes me angry. If I were that teacher I might... oh, I don't know... chew a poptart into the shape of a gun, or perhaps point my finger at someone... something really crazy like that.

 

[jamil]

This whole thing makes me angry. If I were that teacher I might... oh, I don't know... chew a poptart into the shape of a gun, or perhaps point my finger at someone... something really crazy like that.

Need two poptarts. One to chew into the shape of a gun and one to chew into the shape of an extended middle finger. Or you could use real fingers. Either way.

 

[BogWalker]

Story updated read page 2. Says he was taken in, not entirely because of the books, but because of "health concerns" brought about by a four page letter he sent "to a school administrator over the summer. According to Maciarello, the letter contained no threats against schools or school personnel, but that it indicated that McLaw was not mentally sound. "Health care professionals were concerned, he was in a relationship that had just come to an end, he was talking about his mother as being overbearing, there was some thought that he could be a threat to himself."

So, the authorities have changed their story as to why he was fired. Sounds like he was having a hard time and needed to vent to me. I wonder what his relation was to the school administrator? It would be a strange letter to send to somebody who was purely a co-worker, but if they were friends it makes perfect sense.

I smell a huge lawsuit as well.

 

[drillsgt]

It sounds like he was involuntarily committed, does this mean he lost any gun rights (even though it sounds like he wasn't a gunowner)?

 

[jamil]

Story updated read page 2. Says he was taken in, not entirely because of the books, but because of "health concerns" brought about by a four page letter he sent "to a school administrator over the summer. According to Maciarello, the letter contained no threats against schools or school personnel, but that it indicated that McLaw was not mentally sound. "Health care professionals were concerned, he was in a relationship that had just come to an end, he was talking about his mother as being overbearing, there was some thought that he could be a threat to himself."

So, the authorities have changed their story as to why he was fired. Sounds like he was having a hard time and needed to vent to me. I wonder what his relation was to the school administrator? It would be a strange letter to send to somebody who was purely a co-worker, but if they were friends it makes perfect sense.

I smell a huge lawsuit as well.

I'm guessing perhaps son of the administrator?