facts: It costs $12k per year to educate a student in my public school. Mr & Mrs X decide to sneak their son into the school system from a not-so-good neighboring town. Every time I presented evidence to the school board, Mr. X trumped it with authoritative-looking documentation. I then had to go and refute that documentation (e.g. I showed the school board a recent declaration-of-homestead in the neighboring town). It took three months. Eventually, the school board tried to kick SON out of school, but Mr. X pleated that it was November of his senior year, so the school board allowed him to stay if he paid “tuition”. It took me another 8 months (using the state’s equivalent of the Freedom-of-Information-Act, including appeals), but I finally ascertained that Mr. X paid a paltry $8k for a $48k education. So I built a web site detailing all the facts, including the names of the mother, father, son.
Now son is about to graduate college and Mom is afraid my web page will be seen by potential employers. She wants me to take it down. She originally threatened me with legal action, but my defense is that my web site was truthful.
So … Is it blackmail if I ask her to reimburse our town the $40k she stole (my opinion, of course) before I remove the web page?
It’s not blackmail, it seems to me… but why are you doing this? Does this kid deserve any of this hassle, even if his parents might have done something wrong, especially considering that he’s about to go out and start his own life?
Wow, what a thing to do. Presumably these folks were paying taxes to their official neighborhood that they weren’t going to, so they weren’t getting anything for free.
Personally, I think it’s so screwed up how people in poor neighborhoods get lousy schools and privileged people get excellent schools. Good on them for getting their child the best they can get.
One common definition of blackmail is a demand for money (or at least something of value) under threat of disclosing something harmful if the money isn’t paid. So I’d say what’s described in the OP probably qualifies.
I find it hard to believe anybody could be that big of an insufferable busy body, let alone that they could be that blissfully unaware of what a turd they come off as. It seems like more of a hypothetical situation about a really unpleasant person than anybody would would be that awful in reality.
Yes. I find it literally unbelievable that the mother would voluntarily contact someone like the OP, who is clearly insane. If she does exist, I would comfort her with the assertion that no employer would refuse to hire a recent college grad just because a mentally unstable person created a website devoted to the supposed wrongdoings of his parents.
He says he has already put up the web site, so that cat’s out of the bag. He’s already disclosed the harmful thing for everyone to see.
It seems to me that this is similar to those arrest records and mug shot data bases all over the internet. They post public records disclosing arrests. They allow the person featured in the records to request that they be deleted for a “processing charge.”
I am not a lawyer, but it seems very clear to me that the OP is: (1) accusing someone of a crime or offense; and (2) intending to compel an act against the other person’s will. The only ambiguity in my mind is whether the OP’s actions meet the legal definition of “maliciously” accusing someone of a crime. If I were a juror, I’d probably vote to convict.
But holy fucking cow, get a life. Take down the website. You aren’t the school district police. The school board decided they didn’t care that much about this, and you’ve spent a year of your life fighting this family? Seriously, get a grip. IMHO, you might need to consult a professional about this unhealthy fixation/vendetta.
ETA: I see on re-reading that the son is about to graduate from college, meaning this has been going on for at least five years. Even more reason to see a therapist.
I think you should take the content off your website, but I think you should leave the site up. What you should do is document all of the time and effort you’ve spent on this issue and post that on the site. You should include a narrative that gives an account of your thinking on this matter. I think you should present your town government with a detailed bill for all of your services.
I think you should publicize this so that everyone can see the kind of person you are.
You’re doing the Lord’s work OP, and i think it’s a brilliant plan. Keep us informed how it goes. I’d enjoy seeing someone get their comeuppance out of this story.
More like 4 years. It started during the kids senior year of high school and now he’s getting ready to graduate college. But time flies when you’re following, obsessing and harassing a kid and his family.
The impressive thing to me is that this poster has been around since 1999. I expected this to be one of the … more unusual drive-by postings this board gets, but apparently bizerta has been around a while.