# Aransas Cty (TX) judge beats daughter for downloading from the Internet (2004 incident) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 2, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577 "2011-11-02T01:41:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/181 "2011-11-03T17:14:34Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > It is trivially easy to lock down a computer so that it cannot be used without a password. I consider that sufficient proof that this guy didn’t make any attempt whatsoever to address the problem in a reasonable manner. Not that I disagree with your conclusion, but I question your premise. If I have physical access to a computer I can bypass any OS-based password. And if I have physical access I can bypass a BIOS-based boot password as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/182 "2011-11-03T17:17:22Z")
Do you think the judge tried BIOS-based boot passwords? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/183 "2011-11-03T17:17:49Z")
Why is everyone coming down so hard on **Lynn Bodoni**? You all are overlooking the point she made about this girl exposing the computer to trojans and viruses! My kids go to places like Addicting Games and all kinds of other sites. You would not believe how much crap their computers get infected with. In retrospect, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to whip the shit out of them once or twice than all the time and effort I’ve spent cleaning those machines. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/184 "2011-11-03T17:23:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not that I disagree with your conclusion, but I question your premise. If I have physical access to a computer I can bypass any OS-based password. And if I have physical access I can bypass a BIOS-based boot password as well. Clearly then, the judges hands were tied. \*\*Bricker \*\*, reliable practitioner of praise by faint damnation. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/185 "2011-11-03T17:27:38Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Clearly then, the judges hands were tied. > > \*\*Bricker \*\*, reliable practitioner of praise by faint damnation. Rage on **Lynn** all you want (just don’t call her a cunt, because _that’s_ beyond the pale), but \*\*Bricker \*\*is picking nits in legal terms, which is nothing but nits. That’s how he thinks. It’s also important to note that he [del]agrees[/del] (does not \*disagree \*- weak, **Bricker** ) with **Steve MB** ’s conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/186 "2011-11-03T17:31:28Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Rage on **Lynn** all you want (just don’t call her a cunt, because _that’s_ beyond the pale), but \*\*Bricker \*\*is picking nits in legal terms, which is nothing but nits. That’s how he thinks. It’s also important to note that he [del]agrees[/del] (does not \*disagree \*- weak, **Bricker** ) with **Steve MB** ’s conclusion. Don’t be ridiculous. How on earth is saying he can get round a BIOS level password a lethal nit pick? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/187 "2011-11-03T17:33:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not that I disagree with your conclusion, but I question your premise. If I have physical access to a computer I can bypass any OS-based password. And if I have physical access I can bypass a BIOS-based boot password as well. Well, then of course the answer is belt-whip your kid, rather than try something else like, I don’t know, removing the computer from her room, removing the computer from the house, or any of a number of other interventions that don’t involve beating the shit out of another human being. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/188 "2011-11-03T17:40:30Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Rage on **Lynn** all you want (just don’t call her a cunt, because _that’s_ beyond the pale), but \*\*Bricker \*\*is picking nits in legal terms, which is nothing but nits. That’s how he thinks. It’s also important to note that he [del]agrees[/del] (does not \*disagree \*- weak, **Bricker** ) with **Steve MB** ’s conclusion. Excellent point. Reminds me of the way-too-short radio broadcasting career of Simon Siegfried, who dispassionately observed that the pilot of the Hindenburg had in fact failed to obtain the proper permit to dock his aircraft in that location. Many found his reporting to be a rational breath of fresh air in contrast to the histrionic wailing of Herbert “oh the humanity” Morrison. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/189 "2011-11-03T17:46:17Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Excellent point. > > Reminds me of the way-too-short radio broadcasting career of Simon Siegfried, who dispassionately observed that the pilot of the Hindenburg had in fact failed to obtain the proper permit to dock his aircraft in that location. Many found his reporting to be a rational breath of fresh air in contrast to the histrionic wailing of Herbert “oh the humanity” Morrison. [nitpick]He spelled his name S_y_mon Siegfried[/nitpick] See, and I think we need both Symon Siegfrieds and Herbert Morrisons in the world. I don’t think either one of them deserves being ragged on. Although, come to think of it, I’d peg Herbert Morrison more like the kind of guy who’d lose control in a stressful situation and wail on his daughter with a belt. Symon, while not a great radio announcer, is more like the kind of guy I’d like on the bench - someone who can remember the rules even when dealing with an extreme emotional situation. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/190 "2011-11-03T17:47:10Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Someone’s going to come in this thread now and start to talk about hypothetical 16-year-old teenage girls with black belts against grown men who are physically disabled. You just DID!!! It’s Möbius strips all the way down! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/191 "2011-11-03T17:47:41Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Someone’s going to come in this thread now and start to talk about hypothetical 16-year-old teenage girls with black belts against grown men who are physically disabled. > > I guarantee it. Want to start a pool? Probably, but that doesn’t matter, since this girl didn’t have a black belt. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/192 "2011-11-03T17:47:56Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Well, then of course the answer is belt-whip your kid, rather than try something else like, I don’t know, removing the computer from her room, removing the computer from the house, or any of a number of other interventions that don’t involve beating the shit out of another human being. You’re completely missing the point. When a husband beats the shit out of his wife for burning the meatloaf, the first and most important thing to do before passing judgment is to determine whether (a) the meatloaf was in fact too burned to eat or if they maybe could have just scraped off the top part, and (b) she had burned the meatloaf in the past. I mean, what are you going to do? Even if you buy a fancy temperature-controlled oven, there’s nothing to stop her from manually setting it to 500 degrees for four hours. You can’t expect a guy to magically keep a determined woman from burning meatloaf if she sets her mind to it. Beating the shit out of her at that point is the only reasonable option. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/193 "2011-11-03T17:48:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Probably, but that doesn’t matter, since this girl didn’t have a black belt. But she _would’ve_ if not for her disability. Ha! ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/194 "2011-11-03T17:49:16Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > I am pointing out that while beating your child is never REASONABLE, there are reasons why people do it. It’s part of many cultures in the world and legal in many states as well. Public floggings, amputations and decapitations are part of many cultures in the world, too. Is that a reason for defending those practices? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/195 "2011-11-03T17:49:52Z")
> [@bup](#): > > But she _would’ve_ if not for her disability. Ha! _shakes fist_ ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/196 "2011-11-03T17:51:17Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > You just DID!!! It’s Möbius strips all the way down! :eek: > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Probably, but that doesn’t matter, since this girl didn’t have a black belt. But in the nitpicking mind of the Dope, your statement was “a 15 year old (?) girl,” not THIS girl. Therefore, some hypothetical girl will be offered up as a counterpoint to your statement. Remember that this is the Dope, also known as Pedants R Us. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/197 "2011-11-03T17:59:10Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not that I disagree with your conclusion, but I question your premise. If I have physical access to a computer I can bypass any OS-based password. And if I have physical access I can bypass a BIOS-based boot password as well. When I was but a Kobling and I got punished, the very first thing to go were always my PC and NES privileges. Which was worse than anything, because I was a complete nerd. My dad didn’t bother with any so-very-crafty stuff like passwords, because I was a complete nerd and probably better than him at computer shit. Instead he relied a very low-tech solution. He’d pull the fuse to the computer room and take it with him to work. Asshole, the fuck do I know about fuses ? :). Dad and I have yelled at each other and consistently disagreed on pretty much everything since I got old enough to speak. And of course, we’re both stubborn as mules. He never hit me. Not once. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/198 "2011-11-03T18:03:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > If I have physical access to a computer I can bypass any OS-based password. And if I have physical access I can bypass a BIOS-based boot password as well. How do you do that? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/199 "2011-11-03T18:08:20Z")
> [@bup](#): > > [nitpick]He spelled his name S_y_mon Siegfried[/nitpick] > See, and I think we need both Symon Siegfrieds and Herbert Morrisons in the world. I don’t think either one of them deserves being ragged on. > > Although, come to think of it, I’d peg Herbert Morrison more like the kind of guy who’d lose control in a stressful situation and wail on his daughter with a belt. > > Symon, while not a great radio announcer, is more like the kind of guy I’d like on the bench - someone who can remember the rules even when dealing with an extreme emotional situation. No, no. You’re thinking of Symon Ziegfeld, the early consumer rights crusader, who valiantly took CBS to task for misleading the audience about the identity of the leader of the orchestra during an Orson Welles radio broadcast in October, 1938. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577/200 "2011-11-03T18:26:44Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > If you have never been abused, you simply don’t know what you’re talking about. > > He was a judge, a powerful man in their community. Do you think the mother felt she could simply “walk away” (or, as you implied, kill him) and she would be safe? He would come after her, and he had the resources to do it. It’s very likely he threatened to take her kids, and it’s probably a threat she had reason to fear. And she may have known that with her around, able to calm if if she could, to diffuse it when she could, to step in if she had to- he wouldn’t kill her children. But if he had full custody? What then? > > You have no idea what that mother has been through; none of us do. But some people have glimpsed what can go on behind closed doors, the way abuse ruins people. It breaks you down. It makes you helpless. Things that seem simple (“just walk away”) aren’t, and not just because people aren’t willing to try. Women who leave abusive husbands get murdered. Their children get murdered. > > If you have never been abused, you simply don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s not true, and that’s a good thing. There’s enough research out there to support what you’re saying, and talking to a victim of abuse or reading their accounts is certainly enough to get a picture of what it’s like, so please, don’t play that card. All of us make decisions, conscious or subconscious, every day, about what we will make out of our lives. Sometimes, we lack the strength we need to do what we want. It doesn’t change the consequences, and we are all of us - myself included - are better off when we are honest about that. I’ve endured emotional abuse, and I’ve been in situations where it could have become violent. I know how difficult it is to walk away from a man you love and desperately want to believe will treat you better if you can just figure out how to keep him happy. I also know that when the stakes are high enough, you throw all the petty shit out the window, and you do what you have to do. When I say that I will kill or die to protect a child from harm, I am not making some idle boast. I reflected on it. I decided that these were my convictions, and that if it came down to it, I would carry through, and face the consequences. If that meant telling a child to run for it while that asshole strangled me? Totally worth it. If it meant calling my mom and saying “hey, remember that hypothetical conversation we had about five years ago, and you said 'should it ever come up, call me, and I’ll be right over?” I’d be on the phone in a heart beat. If it meant giving my daughter up to a friend or family member and facing the death penalty for murder, then that’s the price. And when the dancing is done, you pay the piper, and thank him for the privilege. I feel very sorry for that woman - that she was so damaged by her husband (and probably her father before her) that the best defense she could give her child was playing for time. I’m glad she was able to do as much as she did. I wish she could have done more. I’ll bet she wishes the same too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aransas-cty-tx-judge-beats-daughter-for-downloading-from-the-internet-2004-incident/601577.md?page=11)