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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
I think this is ludicrous. You people that think she did the wrong thing by following the LAW are probably child porn perves yourselves. I commend her for doing the right and moral thing. Her supervisor is obviously an accomplice and a cp advocate. Wake up and smell the coffee people cp is illegal!!!!
#26. Misprision of felony is alive and well; why don’t you think it exists anymore? In South Dakota it’s codified at SDCL 22-11-12, and reads: “Misprision of felony–Misdemeanor. Any person who, having knowledge, which is not privileged, of the commission of a felony, conceals the felony, or does not immediately disclose the felony, including the name of the perpetrator, if known, and all of the other relevant known facts, to the proper authorities, is guilty of misprision of a felony.”
It’s scary that you think this “instance is enough removed to escape the original purpose of the law.” The child is re-victimized every time the photo is viewed. These aren’t actors simulating sex. There are real children forced to perform sex acts for the camera.
#4–SJP==I wonder if that South Dakota law and similar laws elsewhere as they may exist–are actually ever used? It may be “on the books” but that is (hopefully) a far cry from being “alive and well.”
As to related issues, sad that people won’t make a distinction between thought crimes and action crimes.
Also gives evidence to how the Muslim Police can go so far. Appealing to morality suppresses many other natural impulses as well?
Ah, to be and live free.
#34, SJP,
Yes, that may be the law on the books, BUT, as with many laws it is probably unenforceable for ordinary citizens. That is because we have the Bill of Rights. Specifically the First Amendment not only allows us the right to speak our minds, it also allows us not to say anything excepting under a direct court order.
This should not be confused with actively aiding someone in the commission of a felony or their escape.
#28, Laxdude,
Benefits. Usually, with some government agencies, there is some protection against dismissal for unjust cause. In the end though, unless you are unionized, an employee has no protection other than hoping the employer remains a nice guy.
#35 & 36. WTF are you talking about? Misprision of felony laws are used everyday!
#38–SJP==thanks for staying on this horse.===but really??? Do you have a cite to any recent case–and one that does not confuse aiding and abetting with mere misprision?
I have never heard of an instance of its being enforced==but on your say so, I’ll go look for a case just for the heck of it. It is hard to find something that doesn’t exist, so I’ll give up early without your encouragement.
If it is the law anywhere–do we all agree its wrong? Wrong to turn every person into a stooge for the state? Its a good idea to turn in felons if you are convinced of the crime===but the child porn issue is closer to the line of turning everyone into a busy body?
Well, be back in a few for your further direction.
Well, that wasn’t hard. I googled “misprision of a felony” and the first case I found was here:
http://tinyurl.com/2vvydy
and that surprised me–a lady convicted of the crime in 2002! Cripes!!
But on about page 2-3 of the case review is the following: “Under the federal and state statutes embodying the offense, mere silence or failure to come forward is not enough to constitute misprision; there must be some positive act of concealment of the felony.”
So–as stated right from the start==there ain’t no such crime==only a mischaracterization of aiding and abetting.
You are not going to find a great deal of reporter cases on Misprision of Felony. Rarely are misdemeanors appealed, so there wouldn’t be any cited cases. I’ll see if any cases where reported in the 8th circuit, States though for fun.
It turns out the Feds do use the crime. It is codified at 18 USCA sec. 4 and is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Not a lot of state cases on the crime, but, like I said, not to many defendants go through the expense of appealing misdemeanors (esp. somthing like MoP where there are no ancillary consequences).
However, there are few cases on the Federal level. Many of the appeals deal with attorneys being disbarred after being convicted of a Misprision of Felony. (Losing one’s bar license is a great motivation to appeal). One case is IN RE GRAND, 778 So.2d 580, from 2001.
An interesting case I found is, The Florida Bar v. Pavlick, 504 So.2d 1231, 1987, where the attorney plead guilty to (get this) “accessory after the fact to a misprison of a felony.”
Footnote #2 of the opinion explains the charge: “The charge means that the accused heard or knew through a secondary source that a crime had been committed and failed to report it, having a duty to do so.”
Holy crap! I am royally P.O.’d about this. This is “local” news for me.
All, this blog and a few others have appeared prominently in Librarian in Nation’s Headlines; Lindsay Firing Sparks Debate on News Sites and Among Bloggers, by David Castellon, Visalia Times-Delta, March 18, 2008.
SJP–I tried to follow your cases but couldn’t find your case after an hour or so. Lots of other interesting stuff but not the point you raised. Sometimes adding a link does help?
#44–interesting what posts on DU show up on google within minutes, and others not at all. Makes me feel like selecting a unique nickname.
SJP,
The cases you mention were all disciplinary cases brought against lawyers for breaking rules of the Bar. To the best I can determine, they were because the lawyer was engaged in, or, aided in illegal activities.
Misprision therefore, is NOT an everyday occurrence. It is a rare device used to discipline lawyers.
Again, I beg to differ Mr. Catshit.
It is not a disciplinary law, but rather a criminal law. The lawyers were being disciplined because they had violated the criminal law of misprision of felony. Coincidently, a women pled guilty to mop in our county court today…it was a reduced plea from accessory (a felony down to a misdemeanor).
#45, In fairness to me I believe my post supports the point I was addressing. Post #26 states that “misprision is no longer the law”. My cited cases proves that statement is false.
Actually as a county employee (govt worker) she was obligated under law to report a crime being committed, which was child porn. Yes the timing of her dismissal makes it 110% likely it was over this incident. Don’t think for one minute it wasn’t.
The supervisor even tried to keep the police from taking the computer and even called them later urging them to drop it. The supervisor is the one that should have been terminated (in some states like Virginia she would be prosecuted).