Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 21:55:00 -0500 (EST)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Good news from Fairfax County Libraries
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Warning:  This message contains (non-partisan) politics.  It does
*not* contain criticism of any WSFA member.

Good news from Fairfax County Libraries:  Due to numerous complaints,
they've retracted their new policy that their Internet terminals can
only be used with a library card.  I was far from the only one who was
concerned that this meant that all of my online activities could be
tracked.  (Since my home account and home terminals are text-only I
occasionally use the library's terminal.)

Speaking of which, on October 28th, Ron Kean wrote:

> That type of story would, if true, be of interest to any number of
> established news organizations, e.g. CBS's 60 Minutes.  If no such
> news agency has reported it, after some months, ...

I still don't know whether that specific case was made up or not.  But
similar and far worse stories occur with such frequency that they're
barely even newsworthy.  For instance in today's Washington Post,
there was yet *another* DNA exoneration, this time after nine years in
prison <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35228-2004Nov8.html>.
It didn't even make the front page.

In the Metro section of the same paper, there's also an article on
a settlement between PG County and three women who had been wrongly
jailed for three weeks
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35257-2004Nov8.html>.

I see such stories almost every day.  It haven't noticed that they're
more common when one party is in power than the other.  Neither party
has made them an issue.  Nor have the Libertarians.

Also, since I'm "out of the closet" as a falsely convicted felon, many
people confide in me.  I wish all such people would also come out of
the closet.  If they did, I believe it would remove the last trace of
stigma, as everyone sees how many of their trusted friends, relatives,
and coworkers have similar horror stories.

It's not just arrests.  For instance one woman I used to know, who
worked as a waitress to put herself through college, was accused by
the IRS of not declaring all her tips.  They took more money than she
had.  She had to declare bankruptcy, quit her job, move back in with
her parents, and drop out of college.

That is why I fear government far more than criminals or terrorists,
and why I take steps to reduce my chances of once again becoming a
victim, and why I recommend that others take similar steps.