As much as we’re all appalled and disgusted by what McCain campaign worker Ashley Todd did this week in Pittsburgh, she’s not a criminal. She’s a person who likely has some mental health problems. We really need to get over this notion that everyone who offends us or does something that we find morally reprehensible needs to go to jail. No one was victimized here. No one had any money or property stolen from them. At worst, write her a fine to cover the administrative costs of having the police pursue the case and suggest a good mental health facility for her to check herself into. We’ve got too many goddamn people in jail already in this country.
UPDATE: Richard Pope in the comments provides some excellent perspective:
Isn’t $50,000 bail a little bit excessive for a misdemeanor? If Ashley Todd had really been attacked in the manner that she falsely claimed, I wonder whether the hypothetical attacker would have received anywhere near that amount of bail.
For example, a man “charged with robbery, burglary, giving false identification to law enforcement, loitering and prowling at night, simple assault, making terroristic threats, theft, receiving stolen property and false imprisonment” in Pittsburgh (Allegheny County, Pennsylvania) was only held on $10,000 bail.
There’s been some discussion about her action being a Class D Felony; that would forbid her to vote. Seems like a good consequence. There should be one, regardless of her mental health.
But ever since Reagan dismantled our community mental health system, this is what we DO with the mentally ill. And drug addicts. Treatment? Hah!
Making a false police report is illegal in every state.
Funny thing is, it sounds like she would benefit from Obama’s health plan.
Great post. She’s someone that’s freaked out and needs some help. End of story.
I’m with Lee. More pity than scorn is due here.
HA trolls: note well what happens when your unhealthy need for attention crosses a line.
Ditto what batbird said: she filed a false police report. That’s a crime. But yes, she obviously needs help, and I hope she gets it.
I feel sorry for Ashley Todd and also feel she should be forgiven.
But it was the McCain campaign that got behind this story and got it to go nation wide. They pushed it on the media through their usual outlets: Fox, Drudge, wingnut bloggers, and the trolls on this list and elsewhere. All wanting this story spread far and wide.
“I accuse.” Obama is guilty of something so don’t vote for him.
Now all the the wingnuts have gone silent. Do they apologize? Nah. They are only sorry the story wasn’t true so they could push it some more.
Actually, she is a criminal, and should be prosecuted, but I don’t see the point of jail time.
Isn’t $50,000 bail a little bit excessive for a misdemeanor? If Ashley Todd had really been attacked in the manner that she falsely claimed, I wonder whether the hypothetical attacker would have received anywhere near that amount of bail.
For example, a man “charged with robbery, burglary, giving false identification to law enforcement, loitering and prowling at night, simple assault, making terroristic threats, theft, receiving stolen property and false imprisonment” in Pittsburgh (Allegheny County, Pennsylvania) was only held on $10,000 bail.
The rethugs pushed hard on Pittsburgh to do something about this “horrible crime.” The rethugs raised it to national importance. Now Todd is getting the “benefit” of this national attention.
Hey rethugs, now that you helped get her into this mess, why don’t you try to help her out? Maybe pay her bail, hire her a good defense lawyer, and get her the medical help she needs.
Oh, that is right, you eat your own.
@3
Making a false police report is illegal in every state.
So is driving over the speed limit, but you shouldn’t go to jail for it. It’s about the severity of the crime.
@9
Thanks Richard. That really puts it in perspective.
Yes, $50,000 is totally excessive. If this had been a crime that wasn’t all over the news, she might have gotten away with personal recognizance. Unfortunately some people are influenced by media attention and set higher bail for crimes out in the public eye.
If it were set too low, some people would complain about preferential treatment.
She needs mental help; but it may be too expensive for her to get unless she goes to jail, where it would be paid for. Not a great choice for her by any means.
I was none too happy about this stunt, but yes, she doesn’t quite deserve a $50K fine (which I suspect is in place to discourage copycats and some perceived sense of embarrassment by the local police, though why I wouldn’t know – they didn’t do anything publicly unseemly or overboard regarding their reaction to this case, did they?), and I do hope she gets some counseling or more as necessary and specific to her case.
It’s fun at times to be partisan, it feels good to be fighting for what you think is right and just, but not at the cost of losing your basic humanity. And metaphorically beating up on this poor young lady is definitely not to my taste.
She’s a person who likely has some mental health problems.
We’ve known all along that most wingnuts are mentally ill. The rest are duped or just plain dumb.
Really, doesn’t the road to using suicide bombing as a political tactic start with things like “crazy people” hurting themselves and others?
I think the reason to take this seriously is maybe here in Seattle we see this in mental health terms.
But I bet the local government in Pittsburgh is worried about other “crazy” people pulling stunts before the election. So, in the interest of public safety, yeah,threaten a big fine,a big jail term as a warning to others.
After the election, it all goes away. President Obama could even show his mercy, and pardon her with his first act in office.
That would sure get the wing nut conspiracy theories flowing.
“We really need to get over this notion that everyone who offends us or does something that we find morally reprehensible needs to go to jail. No one was victimized here.”
The judicial system shouldn’t evaluate people on the actual result of their actions it should evaluate people on the intent of their actions. So someone who planned and failed to kill his wife is just as guilty as someone who actually killed his wife.
So lets then evaluate the intent of the actions of this woman who -in your words- “had no victim.” She wanted to implode Obama’s chances in PA through connecting Obama to a racist stereotype.
If she didn’t get caught she would open a racial can of worms and add to the dangerous racial tension that already exists in the far-right circles. She would smear all supporters of Obama and reinvigorate the fears about big black men attacking white women.
And most important of all, she described her attacked as a tall black man and if her story was to be believed, some innocent guy who fit her RACIST description could have been picked off the street and sent to prison for years.
As for the notion that she is mentally ill. She -as far as I know- doesn’t hear voice or have visions that disconnect her from reality. She wanted attention and she was extremely dumb in the way she sought it. She is a criminal and she should face consequences.
She is an obama supporter and should be treated accordingly.
The trouble with all of you, is that you are looking at this with white liberal eyes. African-Americans at worst have been lynched or at
best spent long times in prison because of the words of a white woman who later was found to be lying. You liberal whites need to get your heads out of at your ass and face the truth, this was racially charged attempt to get PA back into McCain column. The Ashley Todds of the world like the Susan Smiths, need to be punished harshly. Your sheep like bleating about poor Ashley is reason why a good number of us in the minority community have a contempt for white liberals who think you can speak for us.
Remember Susan Smith and Charles Stuart? How many black men were arrested and stalked because those two attributed their own crimes to a big scary black man? Stirring up this kind of racism is vile, and their should be consequences.
She could have hurt a lot of people very badly. She should get some help and I’m perfectly fine with the courts dropping any jail time in exchange for her being evaluated and treated. But perhaps a $50,000 bail will help her think about the tall black men who might have been arrested, beaten and possibly murdered because they fit the profile.
All it took was a handful of young girls to start the Salem witch trials. We don’t need this.
@19 You’re taking up fiction writing? Is this a career change from investing? Investing not work out for you?
I think this young woman thought she was going to win the presidential election for McCain all by herself. Then revel in glory. Nuts, yes; a vile criminal? … yes to that, too. I’d call it borderline treason. No mercy for wingnuts!
Republican Terrorist Jailed
“(CBS/AP) An Ohio man has been charged with making a death threat against the state’s top elections official.
” … Dana McArtor was charged Friday … [for] a telephoned threat to the office of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. …
“Her office says it has been inundated with threats …. [T]he state filed a motion to set a $1 million bond for McArtor and order a psychiatric exam to determine competency.”
(Quoted from CBS under fair use.)
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Brunner is a Democrat. According to the Richmond Democrat, McArtor is a registered Republican. I wonder how many Republican candidates pal around with this terrorist?
The lines between mental illness, criminality, bind loyalty, sheer evil and utter supidity often is elusive.
is GWB utterly stupid or a criminal?
is Colin Powell a criminal or blindly loyal for his role in the iraq war?
was Lenin a criminal or deliuded by the end justifying the means?
If this lady is truly mentally ill, then she should be committed .. with no bail at all, since her actiona obviously COULD hurt others.
Of course, I would say the same of Karl Rove, AG Gonzales, Lee Atwater, Dick Chaney, and the pers at abu Gahraib ……
False reporting is a serious crime, especially when it involves attempts to use or exacerbate race based hatred. Her actions here could easily have led to serious retaliatory violent hate crimes.
The bail issue is a separate issue. If you all want to get on your hi horses about bail, go down to Seattle Muni court in-custody first appearance court and watch the losers plead out guilty or innocent because they can’t make any bail amount and can’t afford to lose their job or life sitting in jail 30 days or more to go to trial on a crime that would get them less than a week in jail on conviction.
This gal is guilty as sin and if she rots in jail waiting for trial and getting her psych eval she’ll plead out on something for time served. But she won’t. You watch she’ll have her bail re-set or be bailed out by some soft hearted souls.
The backward’s B was a nice touch. Like she had done it in the mirror. Didn’t exactly have to be Monk to figure that one out.
I’m in total agreement with #24, except for one thing: it didn’t take a handful of young girls to start the Salem Witch Trials. It took spoiled, moldy wheat made into bread that made the poor girls hallucinate when they ate it, that’s what started the Trials.
I agree with Goldy at 8, except that bail is not jail. The bail secures her reappearance in court. And the cost may relate to her obvious undependability and possibly out of state ties or what the value of a dollar is to her. We don’t have the details of her situation to assess the propriety of the bail amount.
If the bail is bondable, either a family member or the campaign can bail her out at a fraction of the cost. Or she can plead guilty immediately (which she ought to since she clearly made a false statement to police and has admitted it) and be sentenced to her fine and some mental health treatment, and she need not spend a day in jail. What holds her in jail, then, would be her refusal to plead guilty, not any sentence.