Petition to Free Jailed League of Legends Player Reaches 100,000 Sigs

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Petition to Free Jailed League of Legends Player Reaches 100,000 Sigs


A petition calling for the release of Justin Carter, the League of Legends player who's spent almost five months in jail for making a sarcastic comment on Facebook, has broken 100,000 signatures.

On February 14, 2013, Justin Carter was arrested for making "terroristic threats" after a Canadian woman reported a message he'd posted on Facebook to authorities. "Oh yeah, I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still-beating hearts," he wrote in response to another League of Legends player who had called him crazy and "messed up in the head." He followed with "lol" and "jk" but the authorities took it seriously anyway, jailing him and setting his bail at $250,000. After several weeks in prison, the court determined that the county in which he was being held didn't have jurisdiction, but instead of being freed he was transferred to a different county, where the judge doubled his bail.

According to his lawyer, Carter has been assaulted multiple times by other inmates and is thus now being held in solitary confinement; he's also fallen into a depression and is now under suicide watch. He rejected a plea bargain offer of eight years in prison, and so on April 10 was indicted on charges of making terroristic threats "with the intent to cause impairment or interruption of communications, public transportation, public water, gas or public supply or other public service" and to "place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury."

Unable to afford his bail, Carter's mother Jennifer launched a petition at Change.org, calling on Comal County District Attorney Jennifer Tharp to release her son and to "change the laws on what constitutes a terroristic threat and create a criteria for investigating these crimes."

"Justin Carter was arrested on February 14, 2013 for a statement that he made on Facebook," the petition says. "He was not questioned by the police until March 13th, 2013. His home was not searched until a week after his questioning. The only item seized from his home was his personal computer. No weapons of any kind were seized. If he had posed a real terroristic threat, shouldn't the police have questioned and searched his home sooner than a month after an arrest?"

"My son Justin is a good kid who made a stupid joke. That doesn't make him a terrorist, it makes him a kid who made a mistake," his mother said in a separate statement. "No doubt it was a very poor choice in words, but my son shouldn't have to face eight years in prison for an errant comment on Facebook."

The petition is attracting support from all across the U.S. and today broke 100,000 signatures, well on the way to its target of 150,000 signatures. Nonetheless, the Comal County District Attorney's office said it could not comment on the matter.

"Because of the nature of the case, we are aware that there is a significant amount of public interest in the case," it said in a statement to MSNBC. "However, ethical rules prohibit a prosecutor from making any statements to be disseminated by public means that could prejudice a pending criminal proceeding. Therefore, because this is a pending case, there is very little information we can provide at this time."

Carter's next hearing is scheduled for July 16. A website detailing the Justin Carter case is up at change.org [http://freejustincarter.org/].

Source: MSNBC [http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/07/09/texas-19-year-old-in-prison-for-sarcastic-facebook-post/]


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Elfgore

Your friendly local nihilist
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Dec 6, 2010
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This is a very complicated case for me. He without a doubt, did something incredibly stupid but... does he really deserve eight years in jail for it? Hell after that school shooting in Newtown or whatever that school was called, some kid from a neighboring school said he could do better on facebook and was arrested. He got away with a slap on a wrist from the judge and was expelled from his school. That should be this guys punishment. Give him some community service or something because this kid will be most likely murdered in prison.

What he did is not right and he deserves to be punished, but eight years in jail is to extreme.
 

CriticalMiss

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Jan 18, 2013
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So they took his threat seriously enough to throw him in jail for months but not so seriously as to actually search his home for a weapon for over a month after locking him up (and finding nothing)? Behold the wonders of the US justice system! They're probably hoping that in the event that they can't give him a death sentence they'll be able to get away with releasing him with an insincere apology. Hell, they've probably done more to make him in to a violent person than videogames ever could have done!
 

emeraldrafael

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Jul 17, 2010
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I dont think he needed an 8 year sentence, but he did need something for that completely dumbass comment. you cant just say jk or lol after something like that in the recent events of newtown and the boston bombing and think thats alright.
 

Andy Shandy

Fucked if I know
Jun 7, 2010
4,797
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Count me as one of those 100k. Unless there is something that nobody is being told at all, him being locked up and put away for possibly 8 years is disgustingly idiotic.
 

Phrozenflame500

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Dec 26, 2012
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So we're jailing kids now for saying sarcastic comments on the internet?

Damn, the terrorists really did win in the end.
 

night_chrono

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Mar 13, 2008
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Why is he in solitary confinement for getting beaten in jail? Shouldn't those who beat him be in solitary?
 

CardinalPiggles

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Jun 24, 2010
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Just signed it myself. This kid got shit end of the stick didn't he.

Terror threats are something to be vigilant about but when they're followed by "lol jk" then people need to take a step back and realise the stupidity of the situation. The kid is hardly a terrorist.
 

Canadish

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Jul 15, 2010
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B-But we need to enforce the i-internet...y-you need to be held responsible for what you say...


His post s-scared me and hurt my feelings...his rights end where my feelings begin!


Good to see 'Murrika's finest overstepping their bounds and abusing emergency terrorist laws once again due to perceived public paranoia.

I have no idea how this got beyond the first law enforcer reading the message in-context. It should have ended in a laugh, an apology and funny story for everyone at the water cooler the next day. Instead, a kids life looks like it's going to be ruined because the police are either deluded morons or stubborn bastards trying to keep up appearances.
 

NinjaNikki

New member
Jun 25, 2013
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This is complicated for me as well. He posted a statement on Facebook saying that he's crazy and go shooting people at a school. And then a woman read it and took it way too seriously and actually found out where he lives and reported him. He deserves to be punished for doing something incredibly stupid, but eight years in jail is not the kind of punishment he deserves.
 

Doom972

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Dec 25, 2008
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Sounds like that they already ruined his life. If he'll eventually snap because of this and actually commit a crime they'll blame videogames instead of this retarded "justice" system. Making a Facebook comment shouldn't get a guy arrested.
 

Ferisar

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Oct 2, 2010
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emeraldrafael said:
I dont think he needed an 8 year sentence, but he did need something for that completely dumbass comment. you cant just say jk or lol after something like that in the recent events of newtown and the boston bombing and think thats alright.
Yes, it's called parents. They slap you on the wrist when you're being an idiot instead of a batshit government overreach.

Him being sentenced to -anything- is absolutely neurotic.
 

Rednog

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Nov 3, 2008
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Sigh I don't understand how people can say he should be punished in any way shape or form.
Some people have a really dark sense of humor/personality, you either roll with it and realize that it's in jest or you just don't associate yourself with that kind of person. Society is really fucked if we suddenly start just chucking people in jail for inane comments.
This guy pretty much sums up my stance on the issue, really hope the poor guys gets out of this bs.
 

Grabehn

New member
Sep 22, 2012
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Elfgore said:
This is a very complicated case for me. He without a doubt, did something incredibly stupid but... does he really deserve eight years in jail for it? Hell after that school shooting in Newtown or whatever that school was called, some kid from a neighboring school said he could do better on facebook and was arrested. He got away with a slap on a wrist from the judge and was expelled from his school. That should be this guys punishment. Give him some community service or something because this kid will be most likely murdered in prison.

What he did is not right and he deserves to be punished, but eight years in jail is to extreme.
They might even try on... I don't know, putting him in front of an actual judge instead of throwing him in jail. I thought that was how "justice" worked, but it seems that in the US you can run across the street, call a guy "terrorist" and they'll give him a "couple" of years. (This... is a joke btw :D)

If I'm not mistaken, he was taken in, and had a hearing only after three months or so. Thought they called it "land of freedom", but I guess that ends when some paranoid dumbass stalks you over the internet and calls the cops. "an unidentified woman looked up Carter?s personal information, found an old address located near an elementary school and called the cops". If it was me, I would've researched that woman first.
 

kael013

New member
Jun 12, 2010
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emeraldrafael said:
you cant just say jk or lol after something like that in the recent events of newtown and the boston bombing and think thats alright.
Yeah, he should have used the /sarcasm tag instead. (It would have gotten the point across better at least)

Seriously, 8 years? And not only after he was jailed in a county with no jurisdiction on him (doesn't that mean they have to release you?), but after a search that turned up [i/]nothing[/i]? I'll agree he needs a punishment but then again: he was held for a month before the police did anything with him then held 4 more months during which the other inmates assaulted him enough times that he was put in solitary confinement [i/]for his own protection[/i]. It's no surprise that he's on the suicide watch to boot. I'd say that if you've been able to break someone down enough that they think suicide is a good option you've punished them enough.
 

MCerberus

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Jun 26, 2013
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I'm surprised that they haven't found a lawyer willing to take this pro bono. This is pretty much cruel and unusual punishment.
 

Caiphus

Social Office Corridor
Mar 31, 2010
1,181
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How outrageously idiotic. The comment is bad, but it's hardly in the 99th percentile of dumb things that get said on the internet. Even if it was, an eight year sentence would be obscene and wrong in every sense of the word. I have a kid brother his age. The authorities are ruining the life of the kid, and hurting the family for no good reason.

Whoever ordered the investigation should be told to lay off the hair trigger, and whoever continued it should be reprimanded and demoted.