I think it is inappropriate for the person getting the death threats to be tasked with evaluating the mental health and credibility of the anonymous person who posted the threat.
Just as you don't joke about bombs in airports, you should not joke about murdering people.
I didn't say that the person receiving the threat should evaluate the state of the sender.
I'm just not convinced it's possible or reasonable for the police to be expected to arrest all nasty but ultimately not very dangerous idiots and take all of them to court to be fined or imprisoned: I think that could divert resources from other areas that are more important.
Would you agree, though, that if the person giving the threat is known to the person being threatened and also known to be mentally unstable that the police should take the threat seriously?
Yes, of course. I think I would consider that to be one of the more important things that the police could usefully spend time on, instead of trying to enforce laws on people who say stupid things that they don't really mean, about people they don't know and will never meet.
So who is in charge of evaluating whether the person making the threat is not a credible threat? Who evaluates whether they are personally known (even though the comment is anonymous) or whether they are in good mental health so *of course* they don't mean it?
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philmophlegm) wrote2012-08-01 11:59 am
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Just as you don't joke about bombs in airports, you should not joke about murdering people.
Yes, I think it should be against the law.
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I'm just not convinced it's possible or reasonable for the police to be expected to arrest all nasty but ultimately not very dangerous idiots and take all of them to court to be fined or imprisoned: I think that could divert resources from other areas that are more important.
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