Earlier today, I told you that
Lee Stranahan filed charges against Bill Schmalfeldt a.k.a. Liberal Grouch for
electronic harassment. Well, just a few
minutes ago, I tried to send the following to his known email address:
Subj: CEASE AND DESIST
Dear Mr.
Schmalfeldt,
As I am sure you are
aware, there is a statute in Maryland prohibiting the use of electronic
communications in order to harass another.
Specifically I am referring to Md.
Code Crim. Law §3-805 which states that:
(a)
"Electronic communication" defined. -- In this section,
"electronic communication" means the transmission of information,
data, or a communication by the use of a computer or any other electronic means
that is sent to a person and that is received by the person.
(b) Prohibited. --
A person may not maliciously engage in a course of conduct, through the use of
electronic communication, that alarms or seriously annoys another:
(1) with the intent
to harass, alarm, or annoy the other;
(2) after receiving
a reasonable warning or request to stop by or on behalf of the other; and
(3) without a legal
purpose.
(c) Construction of
section. -- It is not a violation of this section for any of the following
persons to provide information, facilities, or technical assistance to another
who is authorized by federal or State law to intercept or provide electronic
communication or to conduct surveillance of electronic communication, if a
court order directs the person to provide the information, facilities, or
technical assistance:
(1) a provider of
electronic communication;
(2) an officer,
employee, agent, landlord, or custodian of a provider of electronic
communication; or
(3) a person
specified in a court order directing the provision of information, facilities,
or technical assistance to another who is authorized by federal or State law to
intercept or provide electronic communication or to conduct surveillance of
electronic communication.
(d) Exception. --
This section does not apply to a peaceable activity intended to express a
political view or provide information to others.
(e) Penalty. -- A
person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction
is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $ 500
or both.
As I am sure you can
see, §3-805(b)(2) states that the law is not violated until the person asks you
to stop. And then any further
communication after that request violates the statute if it meets the other
elements of the law.
Consider this email
my request to you to stop. Do not
contact me, do not contact my family, do not contact my friends and associates
with harassing messages. Please note
that the statute allows me to inform you to stop not only on my own behalf, but
on the behalf of others and I am exercising this right.
I cannot give you
legal advice, but I am informing you of how I interpret this statute. I will also recommend that you consult with
an attorney to make your own determination of how the statute might or might
not apply to your conduct. But I will
interpret any form of directed communication to be in potential violation of
the statute, and I will treat it as such.
This includes including emails, twitter “mentions,” facebook messages, even
comments on any blog I administer or administered by any of the people I have just
told you to leave alone. Let me expand
for a moment on this point about twitter.
By “mentions” I am referring to placing the handle of another person in
a tweet causing that person to receive your tweet. So if you simply write “Aaron Walker aka
Aaron Worthing is a jerk,” I do not interpret that as a directed communication
in potential violation of the act. But
if you write, “Aaron Walker aka @AaronWorthing is a jerk” you know that this
causes twitter to send a message to me even if I am not following your feed. The first example, in my interpretation,
could not possibly be a violation of this statute; the second example could be,
if the other elements of the statute are met.
Do not even reply to
this email, because I doubt you will be able to restrain yourself. Just simply stop.
Again, I urge you to
consult with independent counsel to make your own determination of how the
statute might or might not apply to your conduct and how to conform your
conduct to that statute going forward.
Sincerely,
Aaron J. Walker,
Esq.
Well, all three email addresses bounced
back as undeliverable. So literally the
only purpose of this post is so I can deliver this message to Schmalfeldt and
so the rest of you can see what is going on, too. Transparency and all of that. I will tweet out a link to him and we will
see if he obeys the law.
---------------------------------------
My wife and I have lost our jobs
due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an
attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up
to ten years. I know that claim sounds
fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these
claims using documentary and video evidence.
If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin
accountable, please hit the Blogger’s Defense Team button on the right. And thank you.
Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing,
mostly for snark and site updates. And
you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent
History here.
And you can read a little more about my novel, here.
---------------------------------------
Disclaimer:
I have accused some people,
particularly Brett Kimberlin, of
reprehensible conduct. In some cases, the conduct is even
criminal. In all cases, the only justice I want is through the
appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system. I do not want to see vigilante violence
against any person or any threat of such violence. This kind of conduct is not only morally
wrong, but it is counter-productive.
In the particular case of Brett
Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him. Do not call him. Do not write him a letter. Do not write him an email. Do not text-message him. Do not engage in any kind of directed
communication. I say this in part
because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want
that to happen to him.
And for that matter, don’t go on
his property. Don’t sneak around and try
to photograph him. Frankly try not to
even be within his field of vision. Your
behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to
mention trespass and other concerns).
And do not contact his
organizations, either. And most of all, leave his family alone.
The only exception to all that is
that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with
contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might
report. And even then if he tells you to
stop contacting him, obey that request. That
this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that
a person asks you to stop and you refuse.
And let me say something
else. In my heart of hearts, I don’t
believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above. But if any of you have, stop it, and if you
haven’t don’t start.
No comments:
Post a Comment