aspie facing 55 years for non-violent emails and phone calls

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This new case is for separate incidents, so it is not double jeopardy.

I will be the first to say that these cases were poorly handled by both the police and the courts from the get go on all levels, but the fact remains that Jason's repeated offenses are completely unacceptable and cannot be blames on Aspergers.

And let us please keep in mind that jails and prisons in the United States are generally horrendous, horrific, with violence, sexual violence, with everything else, long stretches of boredom punctuated by occasional craziness, with maybe the chance to do something positive like read or work out, etc.

And many of my fellow citizens vaguely support this as some kind of informal punishment, thinking prisoners are not punished enough.

On the positive side, there is a coalition of civil libertarians and social conservations trying to reduce rape in prison.

I think it's bad enough that the following is good simple advice:

Stay out as long as you can on bail, trial delays, etc. Use this time to study boxing, marital arts, and get yourself in strong muscular shape.

Be prepared to pre-fight. An evenly stated, "Don't mess with me." And whatever the person says, just repeat "Don't mess with me." Be prepared to fight, even if the other person is bigger, even if you "lose" the fight, as long as you hurt them enough or fight hard enough, you're not consider easy game. But don't kill them or hurt them too much because then you'll be brought up on charges. Get with a marital arts instructor regarding exacting what you're trying to achieve. And make sure he or she understands this, because some standard marital arts techniques will sometimes kill a person if you get it just "right," or "wrong" depending on how you look at it. Again, you don't want to kill a person while in prison. Bruising or breaking a couple of their ribs, which is a hidden injury which does not humiliate them, that's more what you're after.

And if someone has better advice, please give it. Obviously, the world should not be this way.

On a more positive note, maybe if you're a story / narrative thinking, maybe if you're interested in the law just a little bit, consider becoming a courthouse attorney where you help inmates file appeals and that kind of thing. Don't overpromise. That's important. Look up stuff and if you can directly show the person a sentence or phrase. Don't embarrass them if they're a poor reader. Emphasize it's all a crap shot. Be matter-of-fact. This will eventually, but of course not at the beginning, buy you some protection, but probably not enough. Because coalitions shift and that's just a fact of human nature. You still want to develop fighting skills even if you're a smaller person. Think of it more in terms that you're doing some human good and you're keeping your mind sharp.

Maybe Norway has decent prisons. But not too many places in my United States.

Some campaigners for different Republican candidates were recently in front of the library. I wish I had taken the opportunity to say, okay, my three big issues are jobs, education, and prison reform, what is your candidate going to do about these?

Statistically, and although I can only speak for the UK, but there is a high percentage of us that cannot cope with employment and out of work. It does affect cognitive understanding vis a vis the Theory of Mind side of it.

At least here the police are gaining a good understanding of ASC, and particular praise should go to my former constabulary I had dealings with.

I don't think I know enough to comment on this particular case. In general Aspergers is an explanation not an excuse. I am not in favor of the attempts to make Aspergers a legitimate reason for an insanity defense. We think differently. As with NT's if thinking differently means you think criminally and act on that thinking you need to be punished because. 1. You deserve to be punished for your criminal actions. 2. The punishment might dissuade you from acting criminally again 3. It might dissuade other Aspies from acting criminally.

If Aspergers is a legitimate reason for an insanity defense then it logically follows that Aspies should be separated from the general population or at least looked at with suspicion and monitored by the state. That would be horribly wrong because most of the evidence shows that being an Aspie does not make one insane.

^This is the biggest reason that I hope this does not gain national attention. This is the sort of case where the facts in this particular situation will irrationally make society fear us more. This is the kind of thing that would give S.B. Cohen a huge erection.

I agree. This is full-fledged stalking. Plus, it's threatening the woman's family, at least with a campaign of public embarrassment. Not cool at all, on any dimension.

And his family put up a petition which in fact is kind of crummy. It certainly doesn't follow the seasoned lawyer's advice of telling the most unflattering facts first, because you'd rather the jury hear them from you than from the other attorney, and then going forward to building your case.

In this case, it looks like he's being threatened with an excessive sentence. And I'm not sure the door's open for him to get help if he wants to get help. (and I say this even though I have a pretty modest view on the skill and respect of many mental health professionals)

All the same, in a way the family is kind of asking for help from the broader autism spectrum community. We may not be able to agree with them across the board or even on most things, but let's take a deep breath and try and keep this door open a little.

Just like if someone is a doctor. Well, the hard cases, the messy difficult cases is exactly why you are a doctor. And same for someone who is an accountant, etc., the clients with the hard, difficult, messy tax cases are why you are an accountant.

If a family member came here, there's a good chance we would try and give our best advice, try and help. although not all posts get responses.

Now, one more thing, helping out of some self-imposed sense of obligation, that's dry as dust and is not likely to be very motivational. But if the spirit moves you, then helping with the best of both the head and the heart, can be something positive.

Daniel Jason has been stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend since 2006 and this is his THIRD conviction! He threatened to send compromising photos (sexually explicit) to his ex's employer and her parents!!

Daniel's father, Joseph M Jason, minimizes his son's criminal actions on his blog -- that Daniel "only" made a few phone calls and sent an email or two and didn't "mean it" when he made death threats against various lawyers.

Does the ex-gf not deserve to live in peace and free from harassment and humiliation by Daniel?

(As an aside, much of Joseph Jason's blog is horrendously inappropriate -- specifically the 2-3 posts from earlier this year where he posts PERSONAL PRIVATE health information about Daniel's ex -- that she supposedly had abortions, etc -- all over his blog. The ex deserves not to have her health info publicly posted without her permission. Joseph Jason, who isn't on the spectrum and is a grownup should know better).

I certainly hope that Daniel's conviction is upheld (3x stalking / harassing / threatening the ex and others) -- his ex deserves to live free of harassment!!

I agree on these specifics.

The only question is what response now.

In fact, I had a previous post where the legal system should have done something sooner:

i find it annoying that they are attempting to link stalking to autism.

i agree the prison system is terrible, doesn't work well at all and most of the people locked up shouldn't be, but stalkers? seems like the only thing you can do. putting them in an institution would be too easy to get out and continue stalking. tbh, i think a top down reform is needed, not people making cases that one person is the exception.

it seems like stalking has a high correlation to future violent acts, no? i'm also not aware of anyone being cured of stalking. possibly through anti-psychotics? personally, i think locking someone up is more humane than drugging them and drugs aren't what i'd consider a cure, but a management technique.

i dunno, my opinion on it is colored by the fact that being a victim of a stalker seems like it'd be quite horrific. i think'd i'd be in a constant panic myself. with online culture and intersecting with the "real world" more and more everyday, i think going after stalkers seems like a reasonable thing. i mean, what are the most aggressive trolls and bullies other than stalkers?

stalking isn't a momentary lapse in judgment or going against arbitrary societal norms, it's a pattern of disregarding other people's lives and perceiving your wants and desires as above theirs. if you're going to lock anyone up, they are up there with serial killers in my mind.

Yes - exactly! Stalking also isn't being "slightly" socially clueless or not quite getting the message that so and so is no longer interested in dating or being friends with you. Asking an uninterested person out, say, three or four times doesn't constitute stalking -- heck, that probably isn't even grounds for a restraining order (nor should it be). Like in the case of Daniel Jason, he contacted his ex hundreds of times after 1) she specifically told him to stop contacting her and 2) the college/law enforcement told him to stop contacting her before a restraining / no contact order was issued!

While I'm not especially good at reading subtle social signals (a common enough trait amongst Aspies), there's zero ambiguity about being served a no-contact order. There's no way to misunderstand a judge sentencing you to probation or jail for repeatedly violating that no-contact order.

I also find it really, really disturbing that Daniel's father is *justifying* the stalking as part of Aspergers (which it clearly isn't) and minimizing his son's clearly criminal behavior, repetitive criminal behavior as "a few emails and to phone calls".

And Joseph Jason's not the only parent who really, truly, scarily believes the law shouldn't apply to their Aspie offspring -- author Caroline Crane justifies her son Ryo's harassment of a colleague the exact same way. Ryo took an interest in a female colleague (who wasn't interested and told him so), continued to contact/harass that colleague after being formally directed by management to stay away from her and was eventually fired for refusing to so. The mom feels her son was unfairly dismissed as a result of his autism:

(Google Caroline Crane Wordpress Ryo In His Own Words for the link to her blog)

No, just no. It sure sounds like Ryo was fired for insubordination - failing to stay away from a specific colleague. Again, there's no ambiguity here. Even with zero ability to read social signals, this guy had been explicitly directed to stay away from Person X.

I get that parents like Joseph Jason and Caroline Crane mean well and wish to help their now-adult children with Aspergers... but they're going about it the wrong way! Like Foodeater said, stalking / harassment isn't a one-time lapse in socially norm behavior -- it's straight up over-entitlement, an individual's belief that their wants trump everybody else. That's not an Aspie trait -- that's a straight up personality issue! I can't think of anything more harmful than the perpetuation of the fallacy that stalking/harassment is a characteristic of autism... because it isn't!! !! !

I do not agree with you. The Internet was made for people like us. Just use a nom de plume, nom de ordenateur all the time. And, do not get obsessed with other people. What that guy did is typical of Asperger's.

I get these SPAM text messages quite a bit,where they try to sell you pills,everything from Viagra to Oxycontin.

I text back that I just gave your number to the police and your about to get raided and your going to prison,I am not going to say in this message what I tell them is going to happen to them when they get to prison.

This thread is necrobumped from 2014. Most of the people commenting on it are not on WP anymore so no need to reply to them.

IMHO The only reason to necrobump a news thread is to provide an update.

That's some serious harassing to make her crap her pants.

That's some serious necro-bumping to resurrect a 6-year old thread!