December 13, 2000

1:38 AM

One lone nut, one vote.It's nice to see someone who feels like he can really make a difference in politics. It's even nicer to see them sent to jail.
posted by daedsiluap (6 comments total)

Appropos of nothing: am I the only person who finds it interesting (in the "that's bizarre" sense) that it is a different crime to make a threat by telephone to someone in another state than it is to make the same threat by phone to someone in the same state?
posted by Dreama at 3:22 AM on December 13, 2000

Someone's gonna say "Dreama, you obviously just don't understand how the Federal system works" but, face it, folks, it *is* bizarre. The Federal system is bizarre.
posted by rodii at 5:59 AM on December 13, 2000

The Federal Government has jurisdiction over anything which crosses a state line. If the call had been intrastate, it would have been necessary to charge him under state law for that charge.

The "threatening a member of the family of the VP" law, on the other hand, I think would have applied in any case.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 7:36 AM on December 13, 2000

"[The affidavit] also says the caller identified himself as the King of England and 'advised that he has declared war on the enemy and that Judge LaFon is the enemy.'" Love that deadpan delivery.

posted by redfoxtail at 9:00 AM on December 13, 2000

So is "declaring war" a threat to a *person* these days?

Really?

(Well, I suppose if the caller*was* the King of England, he'd be the sovereign, and *entitled* to declare war...)
posted by baylink at 10:00 AM on December 13, 2000

I believe the declaration of war was just one small part of the whole threat package.
posted by redfoxtail at 10:12 AM on December 13, 2000