Big Friender

For your "shouldn't the police have something better to do?" files:

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Adam Bauer has nearly 400 friends on Facebook. He got an offer for a new one about a month ago. "She was a good-looking girl. I usually don't accept friends I don't know, but I randomly accepted this one for some reason," the 19-year-old said.

He thinks that led to his invitation to come down to the La Crosse police station, where an officer laid out photos from Facebook of Bauer holding a beer — and then ticketed him for underage drinking.

The police report said Bauer admitted drinking, which he denies. But he did plead no contest in municipal court Wednesday and will pay a $227 fine.

He was among at least eight people who said Wednesday they had been cited for underage drinking based on photos on social networking sites.

Thanks to Thom Roethke for the link.

Comments

[Xeones]

Good to know that La Crosse is 100% free of actual crime!

[J sub D]

Nope! No big brother bullshit here. Just move along.

[Tulpa]

Let's not get melodramatic. This young man could have thwarted the entire machinery of the police state and all its jackbooted thugs -- by clicking the fucking IGNORE button on the friend request from someone he didn't know!

It's there for a reason, you know.

[Adam Bauer]

But dude, she was hot!

[DK19]

http://stossel.blogs.foxbusine.....za-slices/

[sage]

Pigs Shouldn't Rule.

[Alice]

neither should people, but whats the diffrence. I think George Orwell would agree. I suppose it's a little insulting however to put pigs and cops in the same catagory. Pigs deserve better.

[wylie]

I vote for letting robots rule. We need a good millenia or two of some serious oppression to get our shit together. All these half-assed human tyrants just aren't teaching enough of a lesson fast enough.

[Skynet]

I agree.

[Omnius]

Seconded.

[kinnath]

Police waste time and resources; dipshit with no brains get caught; hard to decides which deserves the most derision.

[Lucy]

Dipshits over police, but I do always have to wonder how long it will take for kids to stop posting photos of themselves underage drinking on facebook. My one friend is too paranoid to post photos of us drinking in a country where it was legal for her...After reading this, I feel like she might be right.

[JB]

How do these dickless pigs prove it was alcohol in said container?

[Libertymike]

Why should you pose such a question? To the extent that you suggest that there is an equivalence, you bend over and exclaim, "give it to me, damn it, give it to me, give me your pulsating police state, throbbing totalitarian, member!"

[kinnath]

I have an ever increasing animosity for the youth that post intimate details of their lives to public forums. And I have no sympathy for them when the actually break the law and then document themselves doing it.

So overall, the state should get out of the business of regulating private behavior and criminalizing vice.

However, dumbshits that photograph themselves breaking the law and posting the photos to a public forum deserve whatever they get.

[JW]

Because the law is never as ass, kinnath?

I'd settle for the cops actually arresting people who commit actual crimes.

[TrickyVic]

Then you shouldn't have a problem with this situation. Underage drinking is a crime.

I'm mostly with kinnath on this. If you are going to break the law, don't be a dumbass and post evidence of you doing so.

[Libertymike]

Underage drinking is not an actual crime. The prosecution of those who engage in underage drinking is, at bottom, the work of totalitarian losers.

[Libertymike]

I am not arguing that the kid used good judgment. However, that is not the point.

[kinnath]

Depends on the jurisdiction. Here in Iowa, a parent may serve alcohol to a minor in the home.

Underage drinking at a college party is in fact a crime.

[TrickyVic]

""Underage drinking is not an actual crime.""

No minimum age requirement for drinking in this country? It doesn't matter who it's the work of, a law is a law, like it or not. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it any less of a law.

It's nice to see Iowa has an exception for the home.

[kinnath]

Varies by jurisdiction. Sales to under-21 should be forbidden everywhere due to federal tinkering. Not clear on how possession is handled in all states. Many places are starting to create laws that say any non-zero blood alcohol level means possession.

[Brian Courts]

A law is a law?? Are you serious? That is the extent of your ability to think about this issue? Nobody doubts it's a law, the question had to do with whether it's worse for the police to be wasting time surfing for pictures of college students having a beer or for those students to be posting pictures of themselves violating an unjust law. If you have even the most trivial passing concern for individual freedom this isn't even a close call. Sure it may well be stupid for those students to post those pics, but that pales in comparison to the misguided exercise of a state's police power not to mention a complete and utter waste of resources that could be used to investigate and purse, yes, real crimes.

[kinnath]

Also note, I said the police deserved derision as well. I just find it difficult to decide who is the greater asshole in this specific case.

[JW]

That's easy: the cops.

The kid is just being a kid, IOW, dumb as a rock.

NO ONE should have to face prosecution for breaking a law where no actual harm is committed simply be dint of a Facebook picture or a tweet of #Im17andgettingdrunkoffmyass.

[Brian Courts]

If you really think it's that difficult, then you either haven't really thought about it, or you really do lack a serious appreciation for individual freedom. It's just absurd to suggest the two are even in the same league. Misguided use of a state's power resulting in criminal conviction versus individual stupidity? What the hell? Doing stupid things is not even close to an utterly unjust application of state power.

[JW]

Sorry, but no victim = no crime.

You'd return those runaway slaves if they tried to bed down in your barn for the night, wound't you?

Yes, I'm being a smart ass.

[JW]

That was to TrickyVic.

Pwned by the the threads again.

[Spencer]

exactly and i hardly consider anything that exists on the internet to be evidence of a crime.what if the boy was at a recycling party?

Also, you can't trust anything on a social networking site. i have seen plenty of photo crop jobs done to make a fat girl skinny.

[kinnath]

The law is stupid

The kids that photograph themselves breaking the law and post it on facebook are beyond stupid

[Brian Courts]

So what? That is hardly the comparison anyone who cares about liberty would make. I can't believe it even needs to be said, but stupid behavior is utterly trivial compared to stupid (and unjust) laws.

[Tulpa]

Chill pill, dude. There's plenty of time to criticize both stupid behavior and stupid laws.

And this kid would not have been harmed by stupid laws were it not for his stupid behavior.

[kinnath]

Don't be such a dickhead Brian.

If this kid and a bunch of others called the media, went to a public park, then drank booze to get arrested on purpose to expose the hypocrisy of the laws, I'd be cheering him on -- long live civil disobedience.

But he wasn't, he was just casually breaking the law to have fun. And then left a public record of his casual indifference to breaking the law. So he gets no sympathy from me.

By the way, stupid behavior is almost always the root cause of stupid laws.

[JW]

Sorry kinnath, but that's BOGUS, man.

If schmuck-boy was posting a video of him and his drunk buddies tearing up a Stucky's or something similar and criminally stupid, I'd agree with you. Fuck' em.

He's guilty of violating a pointless law, one that is easily circumvented, as evidenced by his Facebook page and by every other kid who can get a hold of booze with very little effort.

So, in comparison, the Drug War is OK, so long as they only bust idiots who should know better? Not buying it.

[Alice]

Id settle for a country without cops, and nothing else.

[plutosdad]

they are just dumb kids. when you were a dumb kid, you didn't get "what you deserve".

[Alice]

Youre right. no more cops or stupid laws!

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

Sure, thats an accurate summary of what JW, Tulpa and Brian Courts said. Because opposing laws criminalising victimless behaviour = opposing all laws.

STFU, Edward.

[kinnath]

I'm still waiting for the first date-rape prosecution based off drunk-chick photos on facebook.

[Daniel]

With 400 friends.....damn, I got nuttin'.

[MP]

FB makes a nice casual gaming platform. This can skew friend counts. My friend count is 1735. But only about a 100 of them are real friends/family.

[But]

"I randomly accepted this one for some reason," the 19-year-old said.

Reason? Is that why people collect their fake "friends"?
I did not know that.

[sage]

Drink!

[But]

"Reason." As in the quote. Better?

[But]

"Drink!"
Still silly after all these years.

[nigger]

Because he's a shallow little faggot who just wants to increase is friend count and/or fuck some random FB slut.

I have nothing but the greatest contempt for fuckfaces like this. Throw the book at him.

[hmm]

I see a potential job for Kurt Greenbaum. Here's to hoping he needs a new job soon.

[BeesInTheBrain]

Shhhhh, I'm in the process of the securing the rights to "Too Catch a Drinker".

[Mister DNA]

According to Wisconsin's Killdozer, The Pig Was Cool.

[Timmah]

Simple as "Let them charge you and take you to court. Ask them to prove that the contents in your glass was actually alcohol or even if you were in a country that it was not legal." After that you can file a lawsuit for wrongful detainment.

[TrickyVic]

Agreed, but considered what that investigation would be like, similar to Michael Phelps. They would try to interview everyone that might have been at that party. It would have been ugly.

[nigger]

Still no proving that he wasn't drinking just water. I've never been to a party where everyone goes around checking to see what's in other people's cups.

[Alice]

If only courts actually gave a damn about justice.

[Johnny Longtorso]

THREADJACK!!!

http://camirror.wordpress.com/.....-deletion/

Phil Jones, Dec 3, 2008:

About 2 months ago I deleted loads of emails, so have very little ? if anything at all.

Phil Jones, Nov 24, 2009 Guardian

We've not deleted any emails or data here at CRU.

[R C Dean]

About 2 months ago I deleted loads of emails, so have very little ? if anything at all.

Unless Jones has administrative rights to the email server and archives, and to the backup system, he didn't delete anything at all. The fact that he thinks he did shows that this so-called "scientist" knows virtually nothing about how computers work, which is kind of odd, since he is supposedly an expert at computer modelling.

[Tulpa]

Computer modeling and network management have very, very little to do with each other. That's like saying a car washer should be able to replace a bad universal joint.

[libertytexan]

What was this kid thinking? He actually went to court and plead no contest? Plead not guilty my friend they have absolutely no proof that what was in your glass was alcohol, eye witness statement by a cop and no measurement of your blood alcohol content.

True story of how I had a minor in consumption ticket thrown out: I showed up in court and the police officer didn't! This despite the fact that the police officer caught be running in my underwear and I admitting to having "a few beers." Luckily it was the campus police so I didn't have to go to jail but still.

[ChicagoTom]

They don't say in the article, but if what he was posing with was a beer bottle rather than a cup/glass of beer, it might get trickier.

But I still agree...don't plead no contest. Fight it and make them prove it. You could easily claim that there was nothing but water in the beer bottle or you were just posing with the beer to look cool or something.

[bigbigslacker]

There aren't enough shootings at police stations. That oughta be a crime.

[Alice]

It really should. Theese cops need to get thier asses out.

[Just Sayin']

Foolish exhibitionists reap what they sow in our mad, mad world.

[hmm]

Yet another reason I like my privacy.

[Sal Paradise]

What idiot goes down to the cop shop to talk to the police?

[hmm]

kid

[Brian Courts]

It's the product of too much indoctrination with an unreasoned "respect for authority." Kids are taught to trust the police and defer to authority (teachers ect.) from day one. Teaching kids a little healthy skepticism of authority would go a long way.

[Hey You]

The same way thieves target the weak to steal their money, the cops target college kids to take their money. So what's the difference between a cop and a thief again?

[Alice]

Cops get paid to abuse people.

[Sean]

Amen to that.

Summer of 2006, I was 21, and walking back to my Dad's house after having perhaps four beers at Old Chicago's. (Jefferson County, CO...the burbs...what can ya do?)

I run a little up the embankment, then back down. Silly, yes, but not excessively dangerous or anything.

Jeffco Sheriff's deputies start asking me questions. After a while, I ask them, "Excuse me, officer, what's the probable cause?"

Big mistake. They immediately put me in cuffs and dump me at the drunk tank, where I get to spend the whole night on a lousy cot with ~30 other guys, occasionally getting vitals checked, before I finally call my parents and they pick me up.

I ended up paying $200+ for the "service" of getting treated at the drunk tank, and a court date two months later. I show up to court: no hearing, because Jeffco pulled the plug on the case--without telling me.

I was less than 0.08 BAC, and the cops wrote up completely false reports. And bilked me of $200+. And scared the crap out of me.

FUCK the cops. 'Specially dipshit sheriff's deps with nothing better to do on a Saturday night.

[I, Kahn O'Clast]

This is why I think my nephew's casual discussions of his pot use on MySpace is foolhardy.

But isn't facebook supposed to be private-ish?

[TrickyVic]

"""But isn't facebook supposed to be private-ish?"""

They want you to believe that. But how often is what you do on someone else's web site covered under privacy? All you have is a privacy policy that has little to no weight in law.

[kinnath]

facebook allows each member to set certain privacy parameters. The default is wide open.

if you are part of a "community" the values sharing your life experiences on facebook, you are gonna use the default settings.

Many fortune 500 companies have confirmed they do facebook/myspace searches before they interview candidates.

The young are gonna learn a lot of painful lessons over the next few years.

[Mad Max]

If this cop registered for Facebook under a false identity, then the question arises: did he violate Facebook's Terms of Service? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Mad Max]

Defective link; try this one.

[kinnath]

So he's a murderer!

[anarch]

Cross-posted from Radley Balko's theagitator.com in order to maximize the chances receiving an educated reply:

What about all the boomers who've written about having done weed and more in the 60's? Or if someone posts a message saying he did an illegal U-turn or drove 56 in a 55-mile zone? Or claims to be the one who really shot Kennedy? Or that he shot, I dunno, Eisenhower?

Would some informed person here please explain whether all these talkative persons are, without further ado, subject to prosecution, let alone conviction? What about the rules of evidence, let alone screening out false confessions?

[Alice]

the court of law makes a court of justice impossible. Rid the wourld of courts and govrnments.

[Tulpa]

I'd imagine the statute of limitations ran out a long time ago on those things.

[creech]

Reminds me of the time my underage brother sat on the front steps with a cold beer. Nosy neighbor lady called cops, cost him $100. So he then sat out there with ice water in a beer bottle.
After the cops came a few times, and had to concede he wasn't drinking alcohol, they stop bothering him altogether and he eventually went back to enjoying beer with no hassle from the neighbor.

[Clich? Bandit]

Did he live in St. Louis? Sound like about 5 of my friends.

Ahhh the good old days

[Alice]

awesome

[Caesar's wife]

Wish that worked for me.

[Paul]

How is Mrs. Cravitz, by the way?

[John Solomon]

That actually makes pretty good sense to me dude!

RT
http://www.complete-privacy.se.tc

[Bergholt Stuttley Johnson]

I'm sorry, but you're a substandard bot. Can we have the Beanos back please?

[Martin Owens]

The police should beware this tactic.

It is absolutely inviting someone to spoof and embarrass them- likely enough on Internet blogs that the MSM won't dare ignore.....

[Boston]

Stenholt said. "You feel like you should be able to trust cops."

Well, now you know.

And you've got to love the cops presumed thinking on this. "Well your average college male has the intellect of a house plant, pretend to be a hot chick. That should work."

[Paul]

And you've got to love the cops presumed thinking on this. "Well your average college male has the intellect of a house plant, pretend to be a hot chick. That should work."

And work it does, every. single. time.

[Paul]

If you can't test the beer for alcohol content, how can the court 'prove' he was drinking an alcoholic beverage? What say you, legal scholars?

[Paul]

Never mind. I saw TrickyVic's comment above. Touche'. Yeah, what was I thinking? When an overactive, workaholic prosecutor is on the case, they'll find a way... they'll find a way.

[TrickyVic]

Of course I'm not saying he shouldn't have plead not guilty, it's a tough call. You have to weigh the doings of law enforcement against your friends against getting the best plea you can. I think you're decision would largely be based on if you did it or not. Hopefully he, and his friends learned a lesson about posting photos on a social network.

[Brian Courts]

What is your (and others) fixation with "teaching them a lesson"? Who cares that people post photos of themselves doing what everyone in college does? Is that really such a bad thing that they need to be taught a harsh lesson by the police power of the state? What the fuck?? The only reason it is even considered stupid is because of an unjust law, not because of anything inherent in the act of posting the photo itself. But I definitely detect from many of the comments here and elsewhere on similar topics a palatable disdain for these students apart from any legal issue. Like somehow there is a resentment towards students having a good time and daring to post photos of that. I just don't get why there is such a desire on the parts of some to see this as somehow a "they got what they deserve" situation.

[Tulpa]

I don't think anyone here approves of this prosecution or the laws it enforces.

It's just like when your kid touches a hot iron just to see what it feels like and gets burned...the fact that you hope they've learned not to touch hot things doesn't mean you wanted them to get burned.

[TrickyVic]

At least this isn't an instance where the kid is looking at prison time and a sexual offenders list for posting something stupid.

[JW]

No, he just has a criminal record now. That won't hurt his job propspects at all.

Of course, his answer could be, "Convicted? No, never convicted."

[Tulpa]

You don't have to list misdemeanors on job applications.

[Kolohe]

Depends on the application

[Hadley V. Baxendale]

This is just too funny -- don't post pictures of yourself breaking the law; how stupid can one be. LOL Pleading nolo contendere means he won't have a record. Let's hope the University educates its students -- and why didn't anyone fight this by saying that it was not beer in the glass? There must be some attorneys in LaCross who would take these cases pro bono, just to have fun.

[Tulpa]

Yes, he should argue that he was posting pictures on Facebook of himself drinking urine. I'm sure a jury of his peeers would have reasonable doubt.

[JB]

Balko or someone...

it's time to start a blog publishing every known fact about these fucking pigs. Home address, phone number, weight, where their kids go to school, etc.

This is out and out insane and I want to know everything possible about these fuckers.

[nigger]

I like you

[Peanut]

This is what i call karma. So hardcore. What kind of guy just adds girls because "dude, she was hot!" Oh yeah i know what kind of guy, THIS KIND OF GUY. haha totally deserving of this ticket. Everything about this story is just so funny. You have a picture of yourself at a party, with a cup and/or can in your hand and you are going to DENY you had any alcoholic beverage in that said cup? What do you think that people are stupid? Do you usually go to parties grab a red cup and drink water?! come on dude. grow up.

[mbt]

hi,
everybody, take your time and a little bit.

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