# Threatening Legal Action Gets You Banned? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 5, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881 "2014-08-05T16:37:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/41 "2014-08-08T07:48:09Z")
Is that true, moderators? Just suppose the following scenario occurred: 1. Poster A issues a threat against poster B. 2. Poster B goes to the police. 3. The police take the threat seriously. 4. The police come to the Straight Dope, asking for information to trace Poster A. In such a circumstance, would you really ban poster B, the victim? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/42 "2014-08-08T09:09:01Z")
See, you now post the scenario I was trying to think of. I doubt the moderators know, that decision probably resides with Ed and the owners. I’m sure they don’t want to be pinned down by a pre-stated ruling on situations that haven’t come up, and we hope never do. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/43 "2014-08-08T10:52:20Z")
As **Irishman** notes, if such a horrid thing should happen, it would be up to Ed what to do. Generally speaking, if a legal action is underway, lawyers advise that it shouldn’t be discussed in public (including Message Boards) since people have a tendency to say things that get them into trouble – even victims of the original act can open their mouths and cause problems to their case, if not opening a new case for libel against the alleged perp. So long as the discussion is hypothetical, we shrug our shoulders because there’s lots of possibilities. To be clear: in **Peter Morris** ’s scenario, the SDMB certainly co-operates with the police. As **Colibri** noted above, the threat was not the only way in which this person was behaving badly, it was just the last drop that overflowed the camel. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/44 "2014-08-08T16:15:03Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > …the SDMB certainly co-operates with the police. Uh oh. Might it be a good idea to disappear one of **Hal Bristons’** more famous posts? A charge of beastiality might be bad. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/45 "2014-08-08T17:44:03Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Uh oh. Might it be a good idea to disappear one of **Hal Bristons’** more famous posts? A charge of beastiality might be bad. He’s fine. He’s from NJ and it’s not illegal here. [Yet.](http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/06/beastiality_would_be_outlawed_under_assembly_bill.html) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/46 "2014-08-09T01:37:32Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Uh oh. Might it be a good idea to disappear one of **Hal Bristons’** more famous posts? A charge of beastiality might be bad. You mean baaa-a-a-d. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881.md?page=2)