From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 10:53:28 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Husband/Wife jailed for saying Clinton Sucks
Message-ID: <ae40eda80f0210043236@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 6:47 PM 8/21/96, Brian Davis wrote:
>On Tue, 20 Aug 1996 Scottauge@aol.com wrote:
>
>> Rush Limbaugh reports:
>>
>> That a husband and wife are being jailed for yelling to Clinton "You Suck".
>>
>> The Secret Service states additional words (yet un-uttered to the rest of us)
>> were mentioned that they deemed threatening.
>
>
>"I hope you die."  And the couple was arrestd for disorderly conduct by
>Chicago police.  Any possible federal charges for threatening a president
>in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 871 await a determination of the
>seriousness of the statement, in context with the wife's conduct, by
>prosecutors.  I predict no action.

Well, I agree that saying "I hope you die" is a tad bit more serious than
"You suck, and those boys died."

If these additional words were spoken, why didn't the SS reveal them early
on? (Or, if they did, why did the news reports not mention them?)

Personally, I would never utter such words, even to Clinton. Or Dole.
Tacky, even if one dislikes the Prez.

But I agree that "no action" is pretty likely. "I hope you die" has been a
time-honored insult at least since I was a kindergartner, and presumably
for many decades prior to this. Hardly an active threat.

--Tim May

We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Licensed Ontologist         | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."