Clearwater pregnant woman jailed for overdue books! The horror!

The BBQ Pit
1

Oh, please.

This is just a rant against the TV news media folks, which through my bagel and coffee this morning were snickering at the silly Florida people who arrested a pregnant women (who spent eight hours in jail) because she had overdue library books.

“It’s great,” one commentator snidely observed, “that the Florida authorities have solved all the serious crimes, so they have time to focus on things like this.”

When I first heard it, I was amazed and a little outraged. - this was idiotic!

I couldn’t find any web stories on this… but the more I thought about it, the more it didn’t make sense. Why would the cops go to such lengths?

So I called the Clearwater sheriff’s office. I spoke to a very nice lady who told me that although this wasn’t actually her job, she could say that the woman in question was not arrested for failing to return library books. She was arrested for failure to appear.

That is, at some point the woman was served a summons (presumably about the overdue books) and ordered to appear in court. She didn’t appear for that. She was then probably served with a show cause order, and didn’t appear for that. Then and only then was she arrested.

How DARE the television media not report this? That changes the whole story! It’s a matter of legitimate debate if “Failure To Appear” merits an arrest and jail time. But to represent this as, “She had overdue books and was arrested for them!” is very deceptive.

Disclosures: To be fair, I am extrapolating the “show cause” step I mention above from Virginia courts. It’s possible that Florida doesn’t have that step. The woman claims she moved and was never notified about the books. Presumably, that means she also claims was never notified about her court date. Again extrapolating, in Virginia, an arrest for failure to appear doesn’t happen unless the respondent is personally served with the summons. It is possible that Florida allows “service by posting” or something, although I doubt it.

In any event, even granting the truth of all the inferences above, it is still very deceptive to report she was jailed for overdue library books when she was really jailed for failure to appear.

  • Rick
2

Well Rick,

Lets Put it like this… would the headline have grabbed your attention if it had have said Woman arrested after refusing summons and a court order?
The Media do this all the time, and we cant stop them

John Larrigan

“82.35% of all statistics are made up on the spot”–Vic Reeves

3

Yes, you can; simply stop watching and listening to them. If everybody were to do so, and their reported ratings dropped sufficiently, they would change their methods.

“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather

4

I’d love to stay and argue this one but I gotta run.

Crime and Punishment is way overdue…

If your head is wax, don’t walk in the sun.
-Benjamin Franklin

5

One problem: how is the general run of mankind (read: not as crazy as I am, to call long distance diretory assistance, get the number of an out-of-state sherrif’s office, and call them long distance just to clear up a niggling confusion) going to even know about such abuses?

We depend on the media to tell us what’s going on. This is a role with presumably great value (witness the First Amendment). If they don’t… how will people even know that something’s wrong?

  • Rick
6

You’re dead right, Bricker. We had a similar case here that was reported as “Mother Jailed for Failure to Pay TV Licence Fee”.

Turns out she didn’t have a licence, was given three warnings and still failed to get one. She was then taken to court for non-payment, ordered to pay, fined and given the option to pay the licence fee and fine in small weekly installments. She still refused to pay and was imprisoned for, IIRC, contempt of court (i.e. failure to pay the fine which the court imposed).

When you put it like that, what else could the judge do? But it’s not much of a story, is it?

[TV licence fee = annual fee of approx. £100 payable by every household with a TV set, the proceeds of which go to fund the BBC]

7

This is the whole problem with the news. The news is not there to inform you, it’s there to make a profit, like any other publicly-traded company. Newscasts that include stories like this are this industry’s product, one that they want us to consume day after day. This industry has no choice but to totally decontextualize (or at least downplay the context) every “story,” to make it seem more important than it is, and to attract your attention.

8

decontextualize - The process where the innder thigh area of corduroy pants are made smooth by the rubbing together of the wearer’s legs.

Hm? This isn’t the Amutterance thread?

Sorry 'bout that.

9

Similar story on “Today” this morning about a dimwit who got tossed in the slammer for ignoring overdue notices and a warrant for library books.

The schumuck played it “cool for laughs” but the point was made that the FL city library loses over $180K per year in unreturned items. That’s tax dollars, folks, your money. And frustration when you can’t get the book you want because some amoral jerk can’t be bothered to play nicely.

I hate when scofflaws get played for laughs or “outrage on demand”. Cheap, cheap shot.

Veb

10

i’m not sure if this is on or off topic, but i have a library book that was due in 1973.
it’s a children’s book, which i imagine was actually checked out by my parents.

anyway, i think i’ll return it in 2003. maybe 2023 would be better. 50 years overdue seems kind of cool.

11

“Can’t-stand-ya! Can’t-stand-ya!”

12

Hmmmm. Horrors! The NEWS MEDIA not TELLING all of the truth? Stooping to sensationalism?

Who would have thought it?

I have a couple of library books a bit over due, from when I went to college in 1970. Gee, I wonder if THEY will track me down? By now the accumulated fines might pay the national debt.

What? Me worry?’

13

Just so I have all this straight…

The local media mis-represented the case to get your attention…?
hmmm…
Isnt that exactly what YOU did to get us to read this thread???

Just wondering.

14

Er… ah…

No. No, my title was sarcastic. Yeah, that’s it.

I have to go now. My wife, Morgan Fairchild, just came home.

  • Rick

OK, maybe I did…

15

Hey, Bricker, doncha worry. You called attention to this not to perpetuate the scam but to expose it. Good on ya.

Go hug your wife, Morgan Fairchild, and bask in her tears of grateful admiration. I will limit myself to a respectful Doper-like arm punch and a hearty handshake. We greatly respect and admire those who eschew bullshit.

Hey, you and Morgan free for dinner sometime? My SO, Sean Connery, would like to split a chicken and a bottle with you two.

Let me know.

Veb

16

Bradd (Pitt) and I will bring the lobster!

17

Great! I have a liitle place in the Hamptons. It’ll be perfect. I’ll fire up the grill!

18

::snotty sigh::

I do so hope that the media and hoi polloi don’t get wind of this!

It’s just so drearywhen Matt Lauer and Stone Phillips and those tedious media types try to crash the party. Do you remember when we had to hoist Peter Jennings out of the beluga?

You and Morgan, Kelli and Brad, me and Sean…perfect. (bored sigh) This life in the fast lane is just so tiring, isn’t it?

Veb

19

Oh, please! Stone Phillips is SO last month. He couldn’t get invited to his own party.

By the way, let me just say that you are much more interesting than your namesake; in certainly hope you will bnot be decrying conspicuous consumption! :slight_smile:

  • Rick
20

VEb, if we all rotated parteners, it would be a VERY interesting party!

I want Morgan Fairchild!
Um, er, Sean Connery, yes, thats it, thats the ticket!