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Old 03-04-2009, 23:26   #1
Patriot007
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Professor Calls Police on Student Who Discussed Guns in Class

"A professor in Connecticut reported one of her students to the police after he gave a class presentation on why students and teachers should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. Now, free speech activists say the professor’s actions are what really need to be investigated." FOXNews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504524,00.html


I think even more outrageous was that the police asked the student to come to the station for questioning. It seems the department might have been covering their butts by responding to the "perceived threat" but this is undoubtedly a massive violation of rights.
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Old 03-05-2009, 04:50   #2
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I couldn't help but laugh to myself... it would seem the next class after this one has a pretty good subject to do a presentation on.
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Old 03-05-2009, 07:49   #3
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If the kid had presented a paper on legalizing marijuana, would the teacher have turned that info over to the cops?

If not, then she is intellectually dishonest and is unworthy of a teaching position in the schools.

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Old 03-05-2009, 08:07   #4
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I would like to see the guy file civil rights violation on this teacher. In California filing a false police report is a crime althought I doubt a DA could make this one stick. A civil suit might stick however depending on where it was filed. I am amazed the police actually acted on this, although no telling what yarn she spun for them.
"That night, police called Wahlberg, a 23-year-old senior, and asked him to come to the station. When he arrived, they they read off a list of firearms that were registered in his name and asked where he kept them. Guns are strictly prohibited on the CCSU campus and residence halls, but Wahlberg says he lives 20 miles off-campus and keeps his gun collection locked up in a safe. No further action was taken by police or administrators."

How does that amount to a violation of his civil rights?

What "false police report" did the professor file?

While I believe the teacher overreacted, I think the same is true of some people here.

Last edited by VVVV; 03-05-2009 at 08:17.
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Old 03-05-2009, 08:30   #5
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I would hope there would have to be some sort of due process before a private citizen would be expected to have to comply with a police request such as reporting to the jail for questioning. The student did the level headed thing by showing up and fortunately his local law enforcement was reasonable. What if he showed up at the station without an attorney and circumstances and cooler heads had not prevailed. I could see this situation getting nasty if someone had been having a bad day.
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Old 03-05-2009, 08:53   #6
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I would hope there would have to be some sort of due process before a private citizen would be expected to have to comply with a police request such as reporting to the jail for questioning. The student did the level headed thing by showing up and fortunately his local law enforcement was reasonable. What if he showed up at the station without an attorney and circumstances and cooler heads had not prevailed. I could see this situation getting nasty if someone had been having a bad day.

He was asked to come to the CCSU Campus Police Station not the local jail. The request was reasonable and he complied, why make a mountain out of a molehill? Like the professor, you seem to be overreacting.
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Old 03-05-2009, 08:55   #7
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You don't understand. The constitution is a living document. Freedom of speech is not a right without limitations. You are free to voice your opinion no matter how unpopular as long as the liberal agenda agrees with you. You need get with the times and learn these things.

I would like to see the guy file civil rights violation on this teacher. In California filing a false police report is a crime althought I doubt a DA could make this one stick. A civil suit might stick however depending on where it was filed. I am amazed the police actually acted on this, although no telling what yarn she spun for them.

I would like to hear from some of the experts on what they believe they could be done about this.
My first instinct when reading the title would have been similar to yours, but after reading the entire article I agree with WCH, there is no mention of her filing a police report, she merely phoned in a "tip", which I'm sure the campus police had to take seriously as if they didn't and something happened it's their collective asses in a sling.

From what the article said the teacher didn't give him a bad grade or stop him from presenting his opinion so she really didn't violate his civil rights, as disgusted as I am with her for her overreaction from what I can tell from the info we have she didn't violate the law or the students rights.

Now what really irks me is if he and presented a paper on overthrowing the US government I'd bet the farm she wouldn't have called the secret service, FBI or even her local LE.

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I would hope there would have to be some sort of due process before a private citizen would be expected to have to comply with a police request such as reporting to the jail for questioning. The student did the level headed thing by showing up and fortunately his local law enforcement was reasonable. What if he showed up at the station without an attorney and circumstances and cooler heads had not prevailed. I could see this situation getting nasty if someone had been having a bad day.
I wasn’t there, but if I had to guess they didn’t take him into the jail he probably sat across a desk from an investigator who asked him a few questions, that investigator may or may not have read him his rights, I would bet he probably didn’t, the student would not have been in custody which means the Student could have gotten up at any point refused to answer further questions and walked out, and again from what limited info we have they would not have had any ability to stop him, after all they were essentially trying to enforce a policy not law at that point, the article says guns are strictly prohibited on campus, that says school policy to me not law. This young man spoke to the campus police because he was doing nothing illegal. Here is something to always remember, unless you’re in cuffs or you are told you are being detained you always have a right to walk away and you always have a right to have counsel present at any questioning, personally I probably wouldn’t have gotten a lawyer to go with me on this but I know the laws fairly well, I might have asked for counsel if I felt they were going down a road leading to any type of charges.

To me it appears the campus police did their job, sometimes you have to act on tips from morons, just because of our over litigious society.
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Old 03-05-2009, 09:12   #8
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My first instinct when reading the title would have been similar to yours, but after reading the entire article I agree with WCH, there is no mention of her filing a police report, she merely phoned in a "tip", which I'm sure the campus police had to take seriously as if they didn't and something happened it's their collective asses in a sling.

To me it appears the campus police did their job, sometimes you have to act on tips from morons, just because of our over litigious society.
Agreed. Unfortunately, we live in an age where some young people have brought guns in to schools, and have opened fire. In the case of VA Tech, for example, not enough was done and people died as a result. In this case, as has been pointed out, the teacher overreacted, the police called the student in, and one person was inconvenienced. If the police had actually cuffed him, there would be a serious civil rights violation. If the professor had given him a lesser grade b.c he disagreed with his views, there would be a serious case of intellectual dishonesty. Neither of these, it seems happened.

Of course, it is also indicative of how prone seemingly educated people are to hysteria. In the cases of VA Tech and Columbine, the students wrote pretty explicit stuff detailing how they wanted to kill, hated their lives, etc. This guy just made a presentation on an ongoing legal question. It's as if I wrote a story from the perspective of a woman, my professor would send me to the psychiatrist to see if I was "gender confused."
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Old 03-05-2009, 09:12   #9
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I think the Reaper explained my view.


Maybe it can tell us something. Part of the power of the anti-gun mob is ignorance. Probably like this Prof, ignorance combined with fear (reading to much anti-gun meirda de toro) prompted her to act the way she did.

I think this points to a job we all can do, teach a non-shooter to shoot. Help educate people on firearms. It will help to remove the ignorance and they by lessen the unreasonable fear of firearms.
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Old 03-05-2009, 09:56   #10
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I would also have to agree with T.R. IF the teacher felt that further explaination/clarification of the young man's report was needed, why not ask during class.

I can see some of the points made here, given the society we live in today. But why make this young man make an additional 40 mile trip, just to clarify his statements.

He probably was setting at a desk explaining to campus officers just what he meant by his statements. And, after doing so with the approval of the officers he was let go.

Now, do we have to justify our 1st Ammendment rights every time we make statements that cause others concern?

I dont think the concern was in the statements made, but in the teachers interpretation of these statements.

These are just MOHO.
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Last edited by swpa19; 03-05-2009 at 10:50.
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Old 03-05-2009, 10:49   #11
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I'm a little confused here. The teacher was a jackass, got it. But was it that police were supposed to have done wrong? They got a call that this kid had either a) made a threatening statement or b) had broken some gun law. It's not really clear to me what the teacher said. Either way the the cops have a duty to investigate do they not? They can't just say, "oh well, she's a liberal teacher. She's probably full of crap so we are going ignore this."

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Old 03-05-2009, 10:54   #12
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I'm a little confused here. The teacher was a jackass, got it. But was it that police were supposed to have done wrong? They got a call that this kid had either a) made a threatening statement or b) had broken some gun law. It's not really clear to me what the teacher said. Either way the the cops have a duty to investigate do they not? They can't just say, "oh well, she's a liberal teacher. She's probably full of crap so we are going ignore this."

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We all know of the story of the "Boy who cried Wolf." Imagine if that was to happened today as to how the media and our partisan politicians would handled it.

The Boy was eaten by wolves, he cried for help and no body came. The Police had to act. Maybe they can charge the prof with filling a false report.
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Old 03-05-2009, 10:59   #13
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My only question about the cops is - "where did they get a list of his weapons?" I'm not familiar with CT law but I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to be able to do that without jumping through a bunch of hoops. Otherwise it sounds as though they did what was required. As for the professor - that's liberal academia. I hope he can make a civil suit that will severely punish her and send notice to her like-minded colleagues.
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Old 03-05-2009, 11:04   #14
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I'm currently attending CCSU as a criminology major, and I can vouch for the police department here, they're good, level-headed guys (at least the ones I've been in contact with). I'm sure the tip they received was worded in a way that would cause concern in any LEO.

As for the Professor in question, I'm appalled, but not surprised in the least by her behavior. She wasn't protecting her students from a possible threat, she was shielding them from a viewpoint she didn't approve of, which is unacceptable at a supposed institution of higher learning. Unfortunately, this is what we have to deal with in "Academia".

At least the CRM program is free from most of this BS political indoctrination.
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Old 03-05-2009, 11:14   #15
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Originally Posted by The Reaper View Post
If the kid had presented a paper on legalizing marijuana, would the teacher have turned that info over to the cops?

If not, then she is intellectually dishonest and is unworthy of a teaching position in the schools.

TR
I'm sorry guys but I totally agree with TR on this one...................

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