|
|
Visalia Times-Delta — Librarian Fired
Cripes. No comment.
Brenda Biesterfeld has become the talk of Lindsay. People are saying she deserves a pat on the back, maybe an award, for telling police that a man was viewing child pornography in the city’s library.
Which is why residents were shocked last week when she got a pink slip from her job as a Tulare County librarian.
“They blew it,” said Lindsay resident Anthony Richey, a frequent patron of the Tulare County Library in Lindsay and a friend of Biesterfeld. “When they fired her it was all over the place, and everybody’s upset about it.”
found by Chris Cooling
A rat, is a rat, is a rat!
From Fox6News:
It appears she was fired for disobeying her supervisor.
I though you would want to post this, John.
‘she was told to hand him a note and notate it on his library record.’
Are they serious? They guy was (allegedly) downloading CP on a public library terminal!
Somehow I think Federal law (against CP!) trumps some rule for county employees in SoCal.
She was insubordinate. She was told directly by a supervisor what to do, and, more specifically, what not to do, which she disregarded.
Uppity morally superior people need to know their place.
Apparently the Supervisor knew exactly who this man was since it was known that this individual was deaf. Which further means that the situation was being handled already.
But oh no, this woman was offended so she did what she wanted, not what she was told.
No indication as to reason for termination, she was a probationary employee, no reason needed.
Maybe, just maybe she was incompetent and this had nothing to do with the incident.
I doubt she was fired for this. There were probably other reasons.
I don’t condone child porn but I don’t condone Stasi-like citizen snitches either.
IMO, she got of easy. I would have had her dismembered in the streets.
Rather interesting timing for the termination, don’t you think?
There were two issues here; the alleged DLing of the pr0n and the fact that it was being done at a public computer.
What is the law regarding this in the US? Is it illegal NOT to report CP if you believe you are observing someone in possession of it?
Hmmm. Supervisor orders employee to not report someone breaking law to police. It’s good to have gov’t employees ordering other gov’t employees to not report law breaking on penalty of being fired.
Nothing wrong here, move along to the gulag now.
Nothing at all wrong with the timing of the termination, a week or so before the end of the probation period seems about right. Give them time to get it together and let them go before the end of probation if it’s not working out.
#10 – I agree as I’ve done that. However, it’s too “neat” when considering the “incident” in the library…
I think every termination should go before a public vote on the internet. Yeah.
I would have to think that there is more to this case than was reported. A lot of librarians are pretty hard line when it comes to privacy and the roll they play in protecting it. Think of the self help books that someone might check out, would you want that reported to anyone? It could be about living with an STD, coping with alcoholism, or recovering from sexual abuse.
I can easily see a case where someone was a ‘chicken little’ type “O.M.G.!! Think of the CHILDREN!!!” who thinks that the Patriot Act is just fine and dandy. Exactly the type of person who might think that a ‘lads mag’ site (maxim) is tantamount to porn and would cry “child porn” simply because everyone had already turned a deaf ear (natch) to her complaints.
It comes down to the point that the County is restricted from comments due to privacy issues. She can say what ever she wants about why she was fired, and the only response can be she was terminated within her probationary period. If she really has a case, she will sue and then it will all come out.
And as far as the child porn – we all have heard cases where that is used in the media and then dropped. I find it hard to believe that *anyone* would open up a child porn containing email on a public, shared computer. And isn’t any nude photo of someone that does not link to the model info, proving them of age, get treated like CP? Didn’t they just start enforcing that with a more strict interpretation?
And about the library. They only seized the HARD DRIVE! There is no reason for the computer to still be down.
I am outraged in 99% of cases where moral judgment is involved.
However, child pornography crosses a line and must be dealt with quickly. Unlike legitimate porn, child porn involves the calculated and malicious victimization of children and consumers of child porn are accessories to that.
This librarian performed her civic duty. Now she needs to perform her civil right and hire a lawyer.
I should have added. This is why you make an anonymous call to the Police and DO NOT tell your supervisor.
#14 – Self help books? That has to do with viewing CP how? When I hear this type of screeching I know what is really gong on…
@7: If she was going into people’s homes and snooping through their computers, I’d agree with you. But there’s nothing wrong with reporting a person who is committing a crime in public.
@8: You have no legal obligation to report a crime that you’ve witnessed. Now forbidding someone else to report a crime is a different matter. I don’t see how the library has any right to do that.
I have often been amazed how hard most librarian’s guard and protect our privacy and freedom to read without the government knowing what we are reading. They are under constant assault from the government to reveal who checks out books that talk about things they don’t like and it isn’t just weapons. It’s anything they don’t like. If you value your freedom you probably owe a debt to your librarians and don’t know it.
My freedom, and yours, is more important than an old man looking at porn, even child porn.
In a time when our government is actively taking away all our rights I wish there were more groups like the librarians who appreciated our freedoms and are willing to protect them at all cost.
Apparently it wasn’t naked boys he was looking at but merely browsing the Abercrobie & Fitch web site. And he, being deaf, couldn’t hear her screaming, “HEY, YOU CAN’T LOOK AT THAT SHIT IN HERE!” You know how uptight librarians are. We’ll see her at Wal-Mart next week.
The road to hell is paved with political correctness
It would be a misprision of felony not to report the crime. No way the county can justify telling an employee required by law to report a felony to ignore the activity. Fire up your pleadings, it’s litigation time! (Of course, this assumes the story is accurate in reporting that it was CP).
#14, Laxdude
If she really has a case, she will sue and then it will all come out.
Sorry, but it won’t. In the US, there are no employee rights. As here, she wasn’t given any reason for her firing. Therefore she can’t suggest the reason was because of the reported porn viewing. An employer can fire you simply because he is in a bad mood. If pressed, the Librarian could simply suggest the reason was because she was missing a paper clip and that would be reason enough.
Yes, yes, there are certain laws that forbid the punishing of an employee for a specific act such as reporting an unsafe work place. Proving that was the reason you were fired is near impossible in a court. Even when everyone knows that was the reason why. The Supreme Court has set such a high standard that very few people can prove they were fired in retaliation for something.
Life sucks sometimes. But that is the labor law in America.
I thought that computers were made for downloading porn. Nevermind !
This happens all the time. Some Guy even wrote about his experiences working for a library.
Don Borchert – Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library.
Nice mix of several issues all nicely discussed. How to resolve it all?
Seems to me the supervisor had the right position. If viewing the pictures at issue WAS a felony, there is still no reason to think the librarian catching a glimpse of it over the shoulder of the viewer was in a judgmental position to reach that final conclusion? So–something less conclusionary but still reactionary is appropriate==tell the man to stop AND==note the website to have the library’s porn filter adjusted to prevent its display?
#15–OFTLO==yes, consumption of child porn is illegal because it supports/pays for/encourages the abuse of children. In its purest sense, this is aimed at consumers who pay for porn. That doesn’t include mere viewing of porn for free in a library==so this instance is enough removed to escape the original purpose of the law. How tenuous the ripple affect of supporting child porn should be is debateable?
#22–SJP==along with failing to cast spells on marauding dragons, misprision is no longer the law. No One had a duty to report felonies except as specifically required by statute in a few situations usually involving a connected duty of care in some sense. Course with BushCo–who knows what laws have been recently passed?
#23–catshit.===Amen. The pendulum has swung too far against the working class (ie==99.9% of us). Once again, we are left to the mercies of those who think it is “romantic” to fight in Iraq and other such anti-humanity, born in a vacuum and happy about it, political state of affairs.
11, 14, and 20; did you not read the article?
She stood behind him long enough to see that is was clearly pornography of boys aged 9-13. Police later searched the man’s home, where they reported finding more images of child pornography.
# 23 Mister Catshit: Being a Canadian, I am not up on US labour practice, If there is no cause needed to be fired, why was she probationary then?
# 27 dvdchris
There is a difference between real child porn and what a cop can *say* is child porn. It *could* be something as inconsequential as a photo of someone of an abiguous age that has become seperated from the context of the age statement. Or something that was totally legal in the Western nation that created it (Canada, Europe, etc). Hell, a lot of Harry Potter fan fiction can be considered Child Porn. If this guy did have CP then he clearly is the lowest hanging of fruit or has recently suffered a brain injury.
I am reading between the lines of the story. If this woman was credible to her boss, the CP would have been reported.
Like I said…her problem was that she TOLD her boss she called the cops. She should have just kept her trap shut and called the cops from a burner she bought with cash while wearing sunglasses and a hat. I just think the reaction indicates she was a up-tight wingnut that had cried wolf before.
The county is screwed on this one should Biesterfeld decide to sue.
Having read the article, the situation is:
A) The Guy in the past has used a public computer in a public setting to receive porn through email.
B) According to county law, there exist a “statute in California’s penal code making it illegal to show pornography or other offensive material in view of the general public”
C) Ergo, the guy was breaking the law and the library, if it did not stop him, would become an accomplice to the crime.
D) In fact, the library was already complicit in the crime at the time of Biesterfeld’s actions because of the library continuing to allow him the use their facilities for the purpose of viewing porn in a public place.
E) THEREFORE: The Librarian (Biesterfeld) was placed in the difficult position of either becoming an accomplice to the criminal activities of the library (allowing him to view porn) or having to report the crime.
Biesterfeld reported the crime. It was her only legal option.
My personal take on this is that particular library is being run by a comedy of idiots who should have simply documented his abuse of the system and disconnected his account the first time he was caught doing it. Because they didn’t to this they created the circumstance where Biesterfeld legally had to do what she did.
All these supervisors should be fired immediately, if for nothing more than being terminally stupid.
Perfect! Could not have said it better!
John don’t you ever read your blog? Of course this was the right thing to fire her! Next you’ll want the librarian to report Muslims plotting terrorist plots or something.