Mr. Wadden,Patrick Wadden wrote: Let's not gloss over the fact that she can post anything she wants no matter how crazy or full of billshit. And the person or business that she posts about is required to come to the Observation Deck and be a breath of fresh air and clear their name. That's bullshit and it's arrogant on the part of the Deck.
Please tell me you see the flaw in this model.
So I can go to some site that you don't visit and I can make a bunch of shit up about you and Essi. Three or four people then get behind my post and give it some steam. They start to post about the lies. Now it's your job to find the website. Maybe your friend tells you about the Rumours and bullshit that someone is posting about you.
By the Decks' logic. Dan and Jims logic. It's your job to go to that site and put out the fire of lies and bullshit.
First of all, Happy Easter!
Since many believe that the folks who drafted the First Amendment were inspired by Christianity, it seems to me that some might think your post last night and mine this morning are very timely on the important subjects you raised above.
Your questions and observations tug at the fundamental principle of the First Amendment and its limitations.
The Deck is not at all unique among web-based forums and the like in the ability of posters to post things that are not true about others.
While the First Amendment does not prevent any of this conduct from occurring in the first instance, the law does afford the victims of wrongful conduct a legal remedy if the conduct crosses the proverbial legal line.
For example, while you posed a hypothetical about me above, it is a fact that others in Lakewood have made up a lot of things about me and even my wife's business that are malicious and false and they have posted them on others web based sites. Please recall that in October, 2015, some of these people even went so far as to make bogus police reports about me. More recently, someone has made a police report against me claiming to be in fear of me and my dogs walking 100 feet across the street from his front yard. Rest assured that folks concerned about me, my family and my wife's business are cataloging these matters on social media and websites I just don't waste my time viewing. Legal action can and will be taken when and if needed.
I applauded Chris Perry for coming on the Deck and doing what he did--I was not defending Mrs. Allen. It seems to me that if Mrs. Allen has crossed the line, there are clear legal rights and remedies afforded to the victims.
While I raise the question in title to this thread in a rhetorical way to promote discussion here in Lakewood, may I suggest that similar questions are being raised about the misuse of web based media throughout the country and in the legislatures and courts of all 50 states.
It seems the First Amendment is working in Lakewood.
Exactly how would you change things?