For the Sake of Science

Christ.

Today’s moment-of-pause has been brought to you by Wal-Mart and the city of Peoria, Az. Apparently, some photo-clerk vigilante, diligently on the lookout for child pornography, saw photos of kids during bath time and decided to call the cops, according to a story on Good Morning America.

Next thing the parents of these kids knew, the children were removed from their home. For an entire month. Mom got suspended from her job for a year and both — Anthony and Lisa Demaree — were added to a list of sex offenders. The judge in the case said the pix were harmless.

“I don’t understand it at all,” Anthony Demaree told GMA, with his wife by his side. “Ninety, 95 percent of the families out there in America have these exact same photos.”

Now they’ve got another shot to take. This time it’s directed at Wal-Mart and their hometown.

I’ve long railed against the stupidity of rule internalization. This is where someone is aware of a rule or law and applies it to inappropriate situations; they ignore the reason for the rule in favor of the rule itself. It is an exercise in infringing upon the rights of others for no other reason than to be a tattle-tale.

The above case is awful. No sexual deviancy was at hand. No harm was present for anyone. There was no issue. All that happened was that someone noticed a rule and sought to enforce it without any good reason. Perhaps the Wal-Mart clerk was being overly cautious, not maliciously stupid. But the police? And child services? And Lisa Demaree’s employer? None had concern for reason. They have all apparently reached a point where the very ideas of rules take precedence over what is right, what is just, what is good, what is reasoned.

Filed under: News | Tagged: Anthony Demaree, Lisa Demaree, Peoria | 1 Comment »

Christ.

Today’s moment-of-pause has been brought to you by Wal-Mart and the city of Peoria, Az. Apparently, some photo-clerk vigilante, diligently on the lookout for child pornography, saw photos of kids during bath time and decided to call the cops, according to a story on Good Morning America.

Next thing the parents of these kids knew, the children were removed from their home. For an entire month. Mom got suspended from her job for a year and both — Anthony and Lisa Demaree — were added to a list of sex offenders. The judge in the case said the pix were harmless.

“I don’t understand it at all,” Anthony Demaree told GMA, with his wife by his side. “Ninety, 95 percent of the families out there in America have these exact same photos.”

Now they’ve got another shot to take. This time it’s directed at Wal-Mart and their hometown.

I’ve long railed against the stupidity of rule internalization. This is where someone is aware of a rule or law and applies it to inappropriate situations; they ignore the reason for the rule in favor of the rule itself. It is an exercise in infringing upon the rights of others for no other reason than to be a tattle-tale.

The above case is awful. No sexual deviancy was at hand. No harm was present for anyone. There was no issue. All that happened was that someone noticed a rule and sought to enforce it without any good reason. Perhaps the Wal-Mart clerk was being overly cautious, not maliciously stupid. But the police? And child services? And Lisa Demaree’s employer? None had concern for reason. They have all apparently reached a point where the very ideas of rules take precedence over what is right, what is just, what is good, what is reasoned.

Filed under: News | Tagged: Anthony Demaree, Lisa Demaree, Peoria | 1 Comment »