Tag: you

Brianna Boston Arrested: “Delay. Deny. Depose. You People Are Next!” Free Speech or True Threat?

This will shed a little light on what I’m talking about.

To be completely fair, I haven’t reviewed the Florida statute that she’s charged under. But basically she calls Blue Cross Blue Shield about some denied claims. Gets angry. Says “Delay, Deny, Depose, you people are next!” And gets charged with terrorism or something like that, with $100,000 bail. Apparently she’s a mom with no history of violence and no criminal history.

My gut reaction? The authorities are in fear mode. They know that there were a lot of people happy about the recent shooting I blogged about, and they think they can contain that stuff by making people afraid of what the law might do to them if they step out of line.

But screw my gut feeling. Let’s be real. Under American law, speech is not protected by the First Amendment if it is a true threat.

So I googled true threat and let the AI do the work for me.

A true threat is a statement that a reasonable person would interpret as a serious expression of intent to commit unlawful violence against another person.

Well, I can kinda see problems with this prosecution already. Does a reasonable person believe “you people are next” from a mom that’s angry about her claim being denied really mean she’s going to commit unlawful violence against them? I see how we could get there. But I also think there are much more “violent” statements that the police would never arrest anyone for.

For example, I was once told by the relative of someone I was dating that if I hurt her, they would kill me. And you know, when he said it, I was actually a little scared. Now, I didn’t run to the police. But I know the vibe of cops on Staten Island, and I have a feeling that if I went to them and recited this, they’d laugh at my face and tell me to go away. I’ll never know for sure.

But I know for a fact that when a doorman called the NYPD during my medical incident in Manhattan years ago, where that doorman obviously felt the situation required police intervention, they just never showed up. So, you know, for us little people, at least anecdotally and from stories I’ve heard over the years, it’s hit or miss on whether the cops are going to help you, shoot you, or no show. But when you make an off comment to an insurance company employee? Boom. Arrested. 100k bail. I know it’s different states. I concede that.

I think the hinge here is intent. Did she intend to communicate a threat of violence? And I guess that depends very much on the definition of intent.

Did she intend to threaten the person on the other end of that phone?

What will the courts ultimately decide? I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer and I could easily see myself arguing it either way.

But my gut, again, is telling me this is a not guilty situation. It’s more a crime of stupidity than any actual terrorism.

Then again, we live in a country where people who post legal annotations online have been called terrorist.

Maybe I’m a terrorist too?

The Truths of Employability

For this purpose we define employability generally as ability to work and be “employed” as employees and independent contractors. There is no secret that I often write about how court reporters need to ask for more money, be confident, and negotiate for better benefits or conditions. It’s true. We constantly have market forces exerted on us to lower our expectations in terms of earnings, or make our deadlines tighter, or make our work harder. We are the polite opposition to those market forces. No, we will not work for free. No, we will not give away expedites. No, we will not reprint the entire transcript because your client disagrees subjectively with the potential interpretations arising from the placement of a comma.

But today there’s an important addition to all of that. Today it’s time to say out loud: In addition to demanding you be paid what you are worth, you must make yourself employable. It struck me as I read this Quora answer to the question, “What is the saddest truth about smart people?” The answer itself has a simple theme: Smart people can be the smartest people in the room, but can be unsuccessful and unhappy if they do not take on risks or new opportunities. Now I adapt to this to court reporting. Imagine you are now the fastest, most knowledgeable court reporter in all the world. Imagine you have nothing more to do or learn. Imagine that you are undoubtedly the best. Now imagine that you cannot write a resume or cover letter. You make great transcripts but your cover letters are just awful with misplaced words or rambling ideas. Who will an employer hire; the best court reporter in the world, or the one who knows how to write a resume? In all likelihood, the one who knows how to write, because they have the skill of being able to write, and that makes them employable.

So now it is my time to urge every student, every current reporter, and every non-reporter to do what a theory teacher once taught me: Never stop learning. You don’t have to learn to be the best x, or y, or z. You don’t have to discover new technologies or be a genius. You need only apply yourself to things that interest you. Take a step back and look at a job you really want. What kinds of things make a person employable for that position? You may find that there are a bunch of tangential qualities that can actually make you much more likely to land a position or career. Indeed, basic life skills, like writing a cover letter, go a long way to landing work. Be sure to spell check, double check, and/or have an honest friend review submissions you will make to an agency. I fondly recall a time when I applied to work at or with Reporter’s Ink (as of writing proper spelling) as a freelancer, and before that, I worked with Jaguar. They wanted a sample of my work, and so I provided it to them. They immediately insisted I use their layout, so I applied their layout, and sent the whole thing without checking. Turns out the swap from Jaguar to Reporter’s Ink’s layout stacked the lettering into one another. Succinctly, I lost myself a job opportunity because I didn’t check myself. Don’t be me, get the job, be employable, check yourself, and succeed!