Originally published at: Massachussets police search school for copy of "Gender Queer" book - Boing Boing
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Police say a complaint had come from some
onearsehole “who witnessed what they perceived to be concerning illustrations,”
Fixed. If this dope actually read a book now and then, they’d know the better way to get what they want is to call the firemen.
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It looks like the standards for a false report in G.L. c. 269, § 13A are high enough that whoever kicked this off would probably be hard to touch on those grounds; but I have to wonder exactly what the report was.
“I have witnessed what I perceive to be concerning illustrations!” doesn’t sound like the sort of thing that would normally get the attention of any police officer not already raring to hunt some gender traitors; that’s even lower on the apathy scale than the sort of property crimes where they treat providing a police report for insurance purposes as an imposition. If, on the other hand, the actual report was “zOMG child pornography!” that would be more likely to get actual attention; but also be more likely to count as outright false.
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This is the age where making something a taboo and a big deal about it almost guarantees that every kid in that school is going to read the book, if for no other reason than to be ‘in the loop’ as to what is going on.
Nothing will ferment desire to get the forbidden as much as adults trying to hide it from kids that are entering puberty. I remember when they had to add warning labels to albums over lyrics - I know kids that never even would have known they had the radio edit seeking out the ‘pure’ version of songs.
I don’t get it. I’ve only read a few pages available via a google search but the story seemed interesting enough to me that now I’m going to find a copy.
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armed agents of the state searching schools for books they don’t want people to read
You know, I’m sure I’ve read a book whose plotline was something like that …
Another publication that was not a fucking manual!
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That’s true. The problem is that eventually some of these people gain real power, to the point where the authorities will do their bidding in violent and coercive ways.
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Seems to me that these sorts of attacks on books that are written for and about a minority group still have a negative impact… I’m sure the kids who were there during the search are likely feeling upset and anxious, for one.
This kind of thing is about targeting a minority group, and making them feel afraid and marginalized… it has real consequences for the people who are being targeted, even if some kids do go out and seek out the book. It’s not worth the actual damage done to actual people…
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It’s a show of power.
If this is what they would do to a book about you, imagine what they would do to you!
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I didn’t know about this book until just now. Ordered a copy. Thanks Great Barrington Police Department!
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Given the police were involved - I’d say we have already crossed that Rubicon.
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Not for all things. Straight kids weren’t seeking out gay banned books to read at all.
It didn’t make them more popular- it just hurt queer kids.
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If I were a school librarian, I’d be tempted to call in a report that there was a copy of “Gender Queer” on the shelves, and when the cops show up it’s just nothing but copy after copy of “The End of Policing” and “Our Enemies in Blue”.
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Under what legal pretense did the GBPD conduct a search for this book at all? Let’s say the accusation was that there was a graphically pornographic book in the middle school’s library, and that the accusation was true. Under what law is that a matter for the police to get directly involved with? At most, there should have been a phone call to the principal, forwarding the complaint to the school for them to deal with. I just don’t understand how the police felt this was something at all in their purview.
Ok, I found another story on this incident, and it included the following:
Storti (GBPD Chief) told GBH News that because the complaint was made directly to the police department, police were obligated to respond.
They absolutely are not obligated to respond to every complaint made to them. If someone calls and says, “My neighbor is watching porn. I can see it when I look through their back window with my binoculars,” are they going to send a cop to investigate? Of course not. There’s no crime. Having certain books on school grounds may violate some school policy, but it would never be criminal, per se. Maybe, if a kid was seen with a book on making home made bombs or something, that might be an appropriate intervention for police, but this? No.
In the wake of that visit, the Great Barrington Police Department and Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue have determined that no criminality was involved, and referred the matter back to the Berkshire Hills Regional School District.
No shit. There never was any criminality involved. An officer should never have been sent to the school to investigate.
Julia Sabourin, a spokesperson for Shugrue, agreed with Storti that a law enforcement response was required once the initial complaint was made to police.
“Police are duty bound to investigate reported criminal acts, and they can’t choose when to respond and when not to,” Sabourin said. “‘Gender Queer’ is the most banned book this year … but just researching [that context] doesn’t complete what officers are bound to do.”
Ok. What’s the reported criminal act? A banned book is at the school? Was it banned by your town? I’m guessing no. And investigating that didn’t require a visit to the school.
But Ruth Bourquin, senior managing attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts, took vigorous issue with that assessment.
“We are deeply concerned about the overreach by law enforcement in going down this path at all,” Bourquin said. “These are the tactics of a police state. … There is no serious argument that this book would give rise to the basis for any criminal investigation.”
Last week, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed two public records requests for materials connected to the complaint and its aftermath.
Ok, good. I’m not crazy.
Miles Wheat, the principal of the DuBois, characterized the school’s relationship with the Great Barrington Police Department as excellent and largely echoed the description of the visit offered by Storti, the police chief.
However, Wheat added that the complaint and police visit have been “very unsettling to the school community” and prompted concern about censorship.
“I certainly don’t want to imply that’s what the Great Barrington police were attempting,” Wheat said. “But I do think that … we have some work to do to kind of get things back on track.”
I repeat, no shit.
ETA: Source
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Also this and other attacks on books make publishers less likely to even consider books they think will be “controversial”. A ban on an existing book might give it a boost in sales but it also harms writers whose works haven’t had a chance yet.
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This is just such exculpatory BS.
They aren’t under any duty to investigate. And they absolutely can choose when to respond and when not to.
And this is supposedly a statement on behalf of the DA?
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time to start breaking out the laws like “no one shall have a pig within city limits after midnight on a sunday” and explain to the cops they’re “duty bound” to investigate.
( of course, they’d double their budget to comply, and still only target groups they don’t like. so there might be a small issue with my plan… )
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Yes, that was a statement from the spokesperson for the DA. I suppose they’re trying to play CYA, but that’s just an asinine thing to say.
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Probably from a small group of people in other states, spamming complaints.
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From the WGBH article:
The complainant has not been identified, but [Police Chief] Storti said they are a member of the school community.
I would guess a conservative parent who was in the school that day. And probably someone who is friends with the police chief.
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