I think this feigned inability on the part of security to tell the difference between a joke and an authentic threat is completely stupid and inexcusable. Fuck these “no joking” rules. Being humorless and ruthless with utterly harmless people is not providing security. 15 years for ajoke? Give me a break. Rapists and child molesters don’t get that much time. They need to let this girl out and apologize now. Fuck 'em if they can’t take a joke. Fucking Gestapo bastards, man. :mad:
I really, seriously think we need to enact something at the airports like Miranda but call it your “Joking rights.” What she did was beyond idiotic, but there should be some kind of standard, “If you are making a joke, declare that it was a joke at this time or be held subject to fines, imprisonment, and most importantly, revocation of ability to watch Jerry Springer.” Seriously, there should be some kind of formal “out” before the feds are brought in. (and, of course, the jokester’s luggage should be picked apart and said joker should be detained as long as that takes).
They have always taken this stuff seriously. When I was 16, (over 25 years ago) I declared a bomb while going through the check through in a canadian airport. My grandfather told me to and so I did. It is the only time I ever have had my bags searched, and we were running tight on time. My mother was livid ( which may have been my grandfathers intent) but said later she was really glad I did it in Canada and not when we got to the US. Even then it was a serious offence, and it could have involved jail time if i had said it a couple of hours later when we got to the US side.
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. In all seriousness it’d be ridiculous to actually make her serve time over this. Still, that kind of egregious stupidity does deserve some kind of punishment. Maybe a small fine for pissing everybody off, delaying the flight and sullying her good family name.
People need to understand that organisations like the FAA have absolutely no sense of humour whatsoever. Nor do they want one. Don’t even care to begin speculating about the meaning of the concept. Everyone should know that by now.
I too worked airport security like Bosda, but back in the 80’s. The same rules were in place then. For those of you who say “well, of course she was joking!”, etc… . Just how is someone supposed to tell? Laff-meter? For most of the security folks, they’re trying to get people through as quickly as possible while still conducting searches and x-ray screening. People are in a hurry to get on planes, and most consider the security screening to be a major inconvenience and treat the screeners accordingly. Making a “joke” in such dangerously poor taste HAS to be taken seriously; it’s the screeners job to do so. And how would you feel if the person in front of you made such a joke? How would you know if they were kidding? Wouldn’t you want them checked?
Also- how do you think the people felt who were delayed or possibly even missed flights while this ass-pony’s joke was investigated?
I don’t advocate 15 years, but a year plus a gigantic fine is certainly in order.
Go back about 20 years…
My dad was in the U.S. Navy Reserve. It was time for his reserve unit to go on their yearly two-week training duty, and this time, they had to go to San Diego (from Pennsylvania). The Navy was sending them via a domestic commercial airline, so they’re at the Pittsburgh airport, and they’ve just passed through the security gate…
One guy jokes, “Ha! Good thing they didn’t find my GUN!”
His last syllable was barely past his lips when six security personnel appeared out of nowhere and had him spread-eagled against the wall.
Since this was in those innocent days way before the clear and present danger of the ‘War on Terror’, they only frisked him, gave him a stern verbal reprimand, and let him board the plane.
What was that girl thinking?
‘They’ll just say “Bombs? AH! Ha ha ha ha ha!”’
Maybe she likes having her body cavities searched?
Sorry, no sympathy here. You don’t fuck around in front of the people with uniforms and guns. I don’t think it’s asking a lot to say “Hey, people, no stupid jokes about weapons.”
This is just stupid. Were giving fines? jail time? for some dumb joke?
If that girl gets sentinced to anything more then a verbal “don’t do that again” I am going to write to every elected official I have a say in their employment and let them know 2 things.
- I vote every election
- As long as the law remains unchanged to make it so harsh for such a minor thing is as long as my vote will go to thier closest competion unless I’m convincd they have done everything in their power to change it.
I don’t think this alone will do much but if enough people do it will.
the joke was dumb, the reaction even dumber.
netscape_6
Good luck with that. Let’s see what happened here:
- Girl made stupid joke.
- Stupid joke is rather clearly against the law.
- Authorities must take joke seriously (can you imagine the outcry if someone did say, “Yes, I have a bomb in my bag” and they didn’t treat it seriously and it turned out he/she actually did?).
- Thousands of people who didn’t make stupid joke are delayed and inconvenienced (I mean, have you ever been in the Miami airport?).
Where do you not see that she should be punished?
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Well, a little jail time won’t hurt, a night or two to let her know just how stupid that was. Beyond that she should just be sent home and her visa renewal rejected.
Even if she doesn’t do jail time for her horrendously stupid “joke”, she’s really screwed her future. The article says,
Sure hope they weren’t talking marriage, ‘cause she ain’t returning to Charlie’s lovin’ arms any time soon.
I can’t believe how many of you think that just because she was making a joke she should get off with no jail time! This brings to mind the classic “yelling fire in a crowded theater ‘joke’”. “Oh, so sorry someone was crushed to death in the panic, but you see, I was just making a joke! It’s not my fault they took me seriously …”
Yes, it is your fault! Saying something is a joke does not relieve you of responsiblity of whatever it is you did.
Now, that having been said, the punishment should fit the crime, and it should be well publicised in order to bring attention to the effects of making such ‘jokes’. While 15 years is well out of order, certainly between a few weeks to six months in jail is not outrageous. Remember, folks, she has not been tried, convicted, and sentenced yet, so we should hold back on ranting about the punishment until it has actually been meted out.
What an idiot. Joking about bombs, guns, hijackings has been a felony for years (anyone remember the “Hi, Jack” bit from Airplane!?). There are and have been signs to that effect all over airports for years.
Not only that, she repeats it 3 times?? “I was just following orders to repeat it” my arse.
That said, 15 years is too much. 60-90 days and a large fine (one that she’ll be paying for the next 10 years or so) seem about right. For those in this thread that are advocating “slap on the wrist”, do you really want to go through airports that have to sort out what’s a joke from what’s maybe, possibly real from among the 25 bomb threats they get per day once it gets out that “jokes” are not a big deal? No, thanks.
Maybe she should:
–Be forced to spend 90 days at Amateur Night at her local comedy club to learn what is funny and what is not and,
–Be forced to work airport securty for an additional 90 days to give her sense of humor some context.
Punishment, sure. Jail time? Beyond a night in jail, what good does that serve?
She didn’t shout fire in a crowded theater. Nobody’s life or limb was directly or indirectly threatened by what she did. At worst, she delayed some people’s trips, for which she should be scolded and fined, and maybe not allowed back into the country for a year or two.
But she didn’t mean to do harm, and she didn’t do much harm. Let the punishment fit the crime.
Consider whether you think this should be punished worse than:
- DWI
- Child abuse
- Beating someone up in an alley and breaking their nose
- Stealing a car
- Defrauding little old ladies out of their pensions
- Armed robbery
When we talk about a 10-year sentence, we’re saying that what she did was worse than any of these things. Is that logical?
Daniel
Left Hand of Dorkness, I most strongly disagree. A night in jail? What good does that serve? No, it has to be enough time so it severely disrupts her life – a few months would be appropriate. I do not claim that ten to fifteen years is appropriate, but the slap on the wrist you advocate is absolutely insufficient. You seem to think that this is a light little prank with only minor consequences. Bombs are not funny, and telling a trained professional you have a bomb – excuse me, several bombs – sets into motion a whole range of action at an airport. The delays alone caused by the bomb scare probably caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage – extra fuel spent by planes waiting to leave or waiting to come up to their gates comes to mind. Plus any number of other things that go on in a situation like this that we don’t even know about.
I’ll say it again: Despite what she thought was a joke, to everyone else she really really did make a serious threat that had real consequences, and for that she deserves to do some time in jail.
I think the punishment should be exactly enough to deter anyone who knows about the punishment from committing the crime, and no more.
Fill in the blanks: “If I knew that I was facing __ days in jail or a fine of $____, I would never ever make a joke about security in the airport.”
Do you think virtually everyone would be deterred if they knew they’d spend the night in jail? If they knew they’d be paying $500 for making the joke?
I do.
If virtually everyone is deterred by a modest punishment that they know about, then raising the punishment isn’t going to reduce the crime; the way to reduce the crime is to increase knowledge of the punishment.
The one problem I could see with such a system is that a very few dumbasses might think it was worth a night in jail to clog up an airport. In order to deal with that, make a much more serious crime that consists of deliberately interfering with airport security, and charge the dumbasses with that.
Daniel
yes were in agreement about that.
clearly to you maybe, but not to her apparently. The harshness is of the law for such an innocent joke is part of the dispute by the way.
Did they check her luggage for bombs? Did they find any in her bag?
If they didn’t check for bombs and there was one logically the outcry would be justified. However I believe they did check and did not find any. Dropping it down to a dumb joke she did not understand would turn out any worse then a “thats not very funny”.
The whole process of flying is one big delay and inconvenience (I mean, have you ever flown?). She did not know it was going to end up that way anyway.
If unintentionally delaying and inconviencing people should be punished I can think of many drivers who by virtue of their slow driving and inabilty to notice the light changing green must delay and inconvienance over a hundred people every day.
allready covered.
Concerning “… Stupid joke is rather clearly against the law.” …
- Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If she did not know what she was doing was illegal, and I doubt that, too bad.
- That is was an “innocent joke” does not matter. I don’t give a shit what her intentions were. She very clearly and repeatedly claimed to have bombs. Case closed.
I will again allow that 10-15 years is way out of line for a punishment in this case. But punishment is nonetheless necessary. Before you guys get your panties in a know about how unjust her sentence is, remember, she hasn’t even been tried yet, let alone convicted and sentenced. Let’s wait and see how that turns how, hmmm? I would be very surprised if the court does not significantly reduce the sentence.
For all you people who think things like she should be paying fines for 10 years or she should have enough jail time so it severely disrupts her life.
I hope that happens to you the next time you make a joke that was in bad taste.
Put your self in her place. You made joke you thought might be funny instead you get sent to jail for a significant time and heavly fined for ten years.
How would you feel?