Stephen Cassidy

Stephen Cassidy is the current Mayor of San Leandro. He was elected in 2010 and is expected to run for re-election in 2014. He is a partner at a large class-action law firm, but specializes in public relations.

Cassidy has, overall, been an absent an ineffective mayor. His major focus was on bringing pension reform to San Leandro. He campaigned on a platform of forcing city employees to pay their own share of pension contributions, and thus saving the City $3M a year. While he managed to get the employees to agree to pay their share, they did so in exchange for raises of an equal amount, leaving the City with higher payroll tax obligations but no actual savings.

Cassidy has also been frequently criticized on this blog for his attempts to do away with transparency of City operations. He did away with minutes from City Council meetings, so that now the only way of knowing what was said at a meeting is to listen to the audio recording. The recordings are of such bad quality that they don’t work with transcription software. Cassidy has also consistently violated the Brown Act and, under his administration, the City has started to also violate the California Public Records Act.

Cassidy’s administration has been plagued by examples of Police corruption and abuse, including the conviction of an SLPD narcotics officer for selling drugs to an informant, the persecution of men thought to be seeking homosexual encounters near a public park, the killing of an unarmed mentally-ill man and the growth in surveillance of citizens. Cassidy has a been a big supporter of the Chief of Police and advocated that she be given a large race and multi-year contract.

Cassidy is also criticized for his lack of leadership, his inability to forge friendly relations with City, community and political leaders, and the lack of time and concern he spends on the City.

On the plus side, Cassidy is significantly more intelligent and somewhat less petty than former Mayor Tony Santos, whom he defeated in 2010.

Chris Zapata Looks at Moonies for Policy Hints

Chris Zapata Looks at Moonies for Policy Hints Short Notes 3 Responses »

Jul 102013

Last year, City Manager Chris Zapata abrogated his responsibilities for running much of the city by giving carte blanche to the Police Chief to set public policy both for her department, and the City. Now, he has decided to become the Chief’s propaganda minister.

In today’s City Manager Bulletin, Zapata direct readers to an article praising the use of surveillance cameras that appeared in the Washington Times. As I’m sure he knows, the Washington Times is a Moonie (as in Rev. Moon’s church) owned newspaper, founded with the expressed goal of disseminating Moonie and far-right propaganda. In comparison to the Washington Times, Fox News can actually make a case for being “fair and balanced”.

That said, it perhaps should not surprise us that Spagnoli and Zapata would look at the arch-conservative Washington Times for support with their own arch-conservative public policy. The Times position on gay-rights (against them) seem consistent with the anti-gay policies that have gotten the SLPD sued; but they are not positions that reflect a majority of San Leandrans.

Meanwhile, in the last couple of weeks there has been a plethora of newspaper articles, by trustworthy publications, on how police surveillance of individuals violates basic civil liberties. Several of those articles, including one by the San Francisco Chronicle and one by the Oakland Tribune, referenced San Leandro. As you would expect, neither was mentioned in Zapata’s weekly bulletin.

I don’t expect much of our current City Council. Neither Mayor Cassidy nor City Council members Michael Gregory, Ursula Reed, Benny Lee, Diana Souza and Pauline Cutter have much of a backbone, but 2014 is around the corner.

2014, Weep or Run? Candidate Field for San Leandro offices looks dismal.

2014, Weep or Run? Candidate Field for San Leandro offices looks dismal. Politics No Responses »

Jun 302013

The 2014 elections are just around the corner, and I can’t believe how dismal the candidate field is in San Leandro. Actually, “dismal” is putting it lightly.

Mayor
Mayor Stephen Cassidy will be seeking re-election. His pitch of “I’m not as incompetent as Tony Santos” narrowly won him the seat in 2010, but he now will have to run on a record that is only marginally better than his predecessor’s. He did balance the budget – but only because voters passed Measure Z -, and he ended up getting the police union to agree to pay into their pensions, but only in exchange for raises. His biggest accomplishment so far was giving the green light to the Lit San Leandro project, but he handicapped it by making zoning code changes incompatible with the “live-work-play” concept he now realizes the city needs to spouse. Even then, there is nothing scarier to anyone seeking to invest in a town than a capricious regulatory system. Still, Lit San Leandro has potential and if it can hook in a couple of big companies into town, his chances at re-election look good.

Councilmember Diana Souza, who is being termed out in 2014, and former councilmember Surlene Grant are giddily waiting on the sidelines preparing to jump in if something handicaps Cassidy – or, more likely, if he decides he doesn’t want to go through the rigors of a second campaign in which he will have to defend himself and his record. While neither Souza nor Grant is particularly well positioned for defeating him by herself, rank choice voting opens up the possibility that they will both run, team up, and attack Cassidy from two different angles.

Neither Souza nor Grant, however, seem likely to be much of an improvement over Cassidy. Neither can point to many accomplishments while in office, and neither has a history of leadership while in the Council. I was not very active in politics while Grant was in office, so I cannot totally dismiss her yet – but Souza has proven herself unable to do anything but follow directions in the 7 years she’s been in office.

I am hoping that someone else will jump into the race, but I don’t know who it could be. Councilmember Jim Prola seems unlikely to do it at this point and nobody else in the City Council has much to offer. The School Board is mostly made up by new members without the experience to take on the reigns of the City. The only exception is my husband, Mike Katz-Lacabe, but he has pulled papers to run for City Council District 1. Former School Board President Morgan Mack-Rose was just narrowly defeated on her bid for the District 2 City Council seat, so she is likely to be out of the political picture for a while. It’s possible, however, that someone will rise up from the community – though I haven’t seen much noise from anyone who might become a serious candidate. Dan Dillman, of course, may decide to run again and this time do it seriously. Depending on how badly Cassidy falters in the upcoming year, he might actually have a shot.

If no one else pans out, however, I might actually consider running myself. I’ve never had political ambitions of my own, and this would really be a last-ditch solution; I hope it does not come to that. But I do believe that this city needs to have someone at its helm that takes the responsibilities of the Mayor and its duties towards the community seriously. Our Police Department needs to be audited and brought under civilian control – it is unconscionable that we have narcotic officers selling drugs of dubious origins, officers with a record of brutality killing unarmed civilians without any repercussions, false child porn charges filed against established members of our community, persecution of gay men and a Chief that lies to the community and the Council and tries to manipulate the political process, without any consequences whatsoever and, of course, turning San Leandro into a surveillance state. This needs to be a campaign issue. There are, unfortunately, many others.

Districts 1 , 3 & 5

San Leandro has a hybrid type of district elections. Council members must live in a particular area of town, but they are voted on by residents of the whole city.

Michael Gregory is terming out from District 1 . So far the only person I have heard that might be running for that seat is my own husband, Mike Katz-Lacabe. He pulled papers last November.

Diana Souza is terming out from District 3 herself, so that will also be an open seat. Board of Zoning Adjustments member Lee Thomas has already indicated that he will run for that seat. I tried to meet with Thomas to get an idea of his political philosophy, only to find out that he doesn’t have any. I give him credit for his honesty in refusing to engage on policy discussions before he has spent the time to learn about the issues and figure out what he thinks (though he might have considered putting off running, until he becomes acquainted with these little matters). But if someone is unwilling to answer the question: “on a scale from one to ten, how progressive are you? “, then I can only conclude that he either has no political views at all or that he is unwilling to stand up for them. In either case, that’s not what I want in a City Council member. I much rather have someone who is conservative, but who is clear and honest about his political philosophy, than someone who will decide on issues as the wind blows or his pockets are filled.

This means that I am actively looking for someone to run for that seat. In my view, the requirements for office are intelligence, integrity and a real commitment to the public good and the democratic process. A tall order, any day.

Finally, Pauline Cutter seems likely to seek re-election for District 5, and I haven’t heard of anyone poised to challenge her.

School Board

Just like with the City Council, School Board members run for a district but are elected at large. The School Board has 7 members, only 2 of whom faced a contested election – the other 5 just walked into the office. Katz-Lacabe has been trying to reduce the number of members from 7 to 5, to make it more likely that those serving are actually elected, but he has gotten little traction.

Three seats will be up for election in 2014. Lance James, who represents the north-eastern area of town will be running for re-election. Ron Carey, who represents the area south of Davis St., east of 880 up to the first railroad tracks, has said he’s not running. He had been appointed to that seat. If Mike Katz-Lacabe runs for City Council, then his School Board seat (adjacent on the east side to Carey’s, extending up to East 14th.) will be open. So far I haven’t heard of anyone interested in running for either.

If you know more political gossip, if you’re interested in running for office and want to announce here or seek my help, or if you just want to gossip, please comment here or in Facebook.

Prelude to a Lawsuit: Mayor Cassidy Condoned Public Humiliation of Men in “Gay Sex” Arrests

Prelude to a Lawsuit: Mayor Cassidy Condoned Public Humiliation of Men in “Gay Sex” Arrests Community, Legal, Police No Responses »

Jun 112013

The City of San Leandro and the San Leandro Police Department were just hit with a class-action lawsuit for false arrests and issuing malicious press releases in their botched sting operations meant to catch men soliciting non-commercial homosexual sex in public areas. Last year, when the Police Department issued a press release announcing one such sting operation, I wrote to Mayor Stephen Cassidy expressing my concerns with what appeared to be illegal and discriminatory behavior in the part of the Police. When Mayor Cassidy expressed his approval of the SLPD’s methods, I spoke up at a City Council meeting.

One thing is clear: both Cassidy and the City Council well were aware that the SLPD’s actions were not only illegal, but they exposed the City to legal liability.

—

Official e-mail correspondence between me (Marga Lacabe) and Mayor Cassidy, all from 6/24/12

My first e-mail

Dear Mayor,

As you know, last week two older men were arrested near the bathrooms at Marina park for “loitering in or about a public restroom for the purpose of engaging or soliciting lewd or lascivious acts.” This was done as part of an undercover sting operation, and the two arrests were unconnected to one another. The operation took place during a school day/hours. The SLPD promptly issued a press release including the name and pictures of the two men who were arrested, one of whom was 76 years old.

I’ve been reading about the phenomenon of “bathroom sex” and talking to older members of the LGBT community about it. One of my sources summarized the phenomenon like this:

“[Bathroom sex is] very much a phenomenon of the closet, which in turn is a phenomenon of oppression and stigmatization. The guys who cruise the rest rooms are guys who don’t dare be seen (or are scared to be seen) at normal gay social gatherings. And presumably they’re too marginalized to hook up via internet — the old, the poor, the uneducated. It surprises me that there’s still much rest room action going on. Back in the 70’s, when I lived in backward, ultrahomophobic [midwestern state], it was virtually the only available contact for gay men. In 2012, in the bay Area — really sad the practice still persists, and particularly sad that it’s the best these poor guys can do..”

It is just as sad that Police departments have used the anti-loitering laws (even in their very weakened state) as a tool to harass and shame men who are in the closet. The fact that our Police Department rushed to publish their pictures shows that that was exactly their intent. But this type of behavior should not go unchallenged.

For years, you have been outspoken about your support of gay marriage. I would hope that you would be just as outspoken about your condemnation of the oppression of gay men by our police department.

You may also note that this is a lawsuit waiting to happen. While the penal code criminalizes loitering around a bathroom with the intent to engage in lewd conduct, the meaning of this has been narrowed dramatically by the courts. Basically, in order for the charges to stick, you need to have a sex act between the defendant and someone else which involves sexual touching, and it must be observed by someone other than a police officer. The lawyer who argued some of the key cases on this issue has written a quick guide for defense attorneys that explains how the law plays out: http://www.brucenickerson.com/primer.html It’s worth a read. It would also be worth it to read the police report and see exactly what took place and find out whether charges were filed. If it turns out that the police is entrapping gay men just to put their pictures on the internet, that can cost the city some. Nickerson is in San Carlos, which I think is not too far away.

I appreciate you taking this case seriously, and doing whatever is necessary to stomp out any homophobia at the SLPD. I will also appreciate if you pass a policy that requires the SLPD to inform the public of the legal disposition of any case in which they’ve issued a press release that is still available at the city’s website. These men were arrested over a week ago, if they have been charged that information should be posted.

Thank you,

Marga

Cassidy’s response

Ms. Lacabe,

Thank you for your message and expressing your concerns on this important matter. I will inquire further into the question of the SLPD informing the public of the disposition of any case in which the department issues a press release. However, I see a number of practical constraints, including that the disposition of a case can be months and sometimes years from the arrest, and the prosecution is handled by the District Attorney.

No city wants their public restrooms – particularly ones in public parks frequented by children – to be used as a meeting place for engaging or soliciting sex or lewd acts, which is way there is a provision in the state penal code prohibiting such activity. Arresting individuals who have allegedly committed such an offense, and publicizing their arrests, is a means of seeking to deter others from using our public restrooms for similar illegal acts. I appreciate that the nature of this alleged offense – and its publicity with the release of photos – can be deeply stigmatizing and lead to vilification of those arrested. However, no basis exists to support the conclusion that the arrests and press release were part of an attempt to harass or oppress persons based on their sexual orientation.

Stephen Cassidy
Mayor
City of San Leandro
835 East 14th Street
San Leandro, Ca 94577

My response

Mr. Mayor,

I appreciate your candidness as to the fact that the City is publicizing the photos of the accused men in order to “deter others from using our public restrooms for similar illegal acts”. Under the law, of course, the men are to be presumed innocent which makes your statement particularly troubling.

You state that the harassment of men seeking to meet other men at a public park was not based on sexual orientation, I wonder if you have any evidence that it was not? Can you tell me if there has been a sting operation in San Leandro in recent memory aimed to enticing men to have sexual relations with female cops or women to have sexual relations with male cops, so as to then expose them? I’m, of course, referring to circumstances of non-commercial sex.

Finally, I would encourage you to read the book Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States which deals exactly with these issues. Chapter 3 (which you can access at http://www.scribd.com/doc/49120847/Queer-In-justice-The-Criminalization-of-LGBT-People-in-the-United-States-excerpt) deals specifically with the tactic of “policing public sex” as a way to oppress this most marginalized social group.

I can only hope that you will change your mind and will put an end to these bigoted practices in San Leandro. San Leandro has already too ugly a history about dealing with all kinds of minorities for you to want to continue with that pattern.

Sincerely,

Margarita Lacabe

Cassidy’s Final Response

Ms Lacabe – I referred to the arrestees as persons who allegedly committed the offense. As a lawyer who served as a deputy public defender, I am fully aware an arrestee is innocent until proven guilty.

And my final response

Mr. Cassidy,

In your statement you expressed support for a policy of releasing the name and photographs of men who have been arrested for loitering so as to warn others that this is what it will happen to them if they do something the police deems illegal. You recognize that the men must be presumed innocent, and thus may not have done anything illegal, but you still believe it’s proper to “out them” to their communities and the worlds to accomplish your policy goal. That is an immoral policy that I would have hoped you’d be above.

The fact that you were a former deputy public defender, and therefore know full well how little evidence the police needs in order to arrest a person for a crime, makes your position particularly troublesome.

Take care,

Marga

—

Public Comment before the San Leandro City Council – July 8, 2012 (these were my prepared remarks, I might have changed them slightly while presenting them).

My name is Margarita Lacabe. I’m a San Leandro resident and an international human rights activist.

Today I’ve come to talk to you about a human rights issue.

About two weeks ago, the San Leandro Police Department arrested two men during a “sting operation” at Marina Park. According to the press release the Police issued, the men were arrested for “loitering in or about a public restroom for the purpose of engaging or soliciting lewd or lascivious acts.”

The Police Department has refused to release the police reports on the arrests so we don’t really know what the men in this case actually are accused of doing. We do know that California law does not prohibit either solicitation or sex in a public place, unless those involved could reasonably believe someone could observe the sexual conduct and would be offended by it.

The Supreme Court ruled on the “loitering” section of the Penal Code back in 1988, but this has not stopped Police Departments statewide from carrying on raids like the one in San Leandro. The purpose of those raids – invariably carried out against men looking for homosexual sex, never heterosexual – is not to enforce the law but to use it as a tool of harassment against one of the most marginalized and oppressed populations still around: closeted gay men.

“Bathroom sex” is a creature of the closet. It arose because until recently gay men could not be public about their sexual orientations or preferences. Men who came out risked being ostracized, lose jobs and careers, be beaten up, even imprisoned. Things have improved but too many men carry the scars of all those years and are still in the closet. Even here, in the gay-friendly Bay Area. According to the research I’ve read, many of the men who still visit “tea rooms” as the bathrooms are known, are men who are still in the closet.

Now, I don’t know if this is true of the two men who were arrested, but I will note that they were both older men and one was 76!

The San Leandro Police did not just arrest these men, it also issued a press release with their names and photographs. Mayor Cassidy indicated over e-mail that he believes outing octogerians is justified by the greater goal of stopping whatever “illegal behavior” supposedly took place. I don’t agree.

The legal issues surrounding this arrest will be played out in court. I’m confident the men have access to a competent attorney and that justice will prevail.

But the ethical issues remain: people have a right to privacy, even beyond that protected by law. And that includes men and women in the closet, whether they hang out public bathrooms, the Police Station or City Hall.

I don’t have a formal request at this time, but I hope that this is an issue that you will keep in mind. This is 2012, we should not be outing people in San Leandro!

Is Head Librarian SLPD’s Chief Next Target?

Is Head Librarian SLPD’s Chief Next Target? Police No Responses »

Jun 102013

A scene from the movie “Flowers in the Attic.” The SLPD considers the book to be “child pornography”.

An Open Letter to Chief Sandra Spagnoli

Dear Chief Spagnoli:

You have requested that the public alert you about “similar incidents” to those concerning the charges for child pornography filed against SLHS teacher Rick Styner.

According to court documents, as reported by the media, these charges arise from “more than 200 pornographic stories” found on his computer, including one about a 14-year-old girl having sex with her brother, reportedly accompanied by the naked picture of a girl that looked to be underage.

The story mentioned in court records sounds very much like “Flowers In The Attic

“, the best seller by V. C. Andrews. The novel – which was made into a very bad movie

– concerns four siblings that are raised hidden in an attic and repeatedly abused. As the children enter puberty, the older siblings start to develop sexual feelings for one another, and they consummate that relationship when the girl is 14 years old.

I have checked the San Leandro library catalog, and it would seem that the library does have multiple copies of this “pornographic story”. It would thus seem prudent that the SLPD get warrants to search the homes and computers of all library personnel responsible for distributing such “child pornography”.

“Flowers in the Attic” has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, and it’s a favorite among teenage readers. It would therefore seems likely that the book is also present in San Leandro school libraries and English classrooms. The SLPD should not take any chances and start investigations into all SLUSD librarians and English-language teachers. Perhaps the SLPD should get a court order to have Amazon.com and other booksellers disclose the identity of everyone in the city that has bought a copy of this “pornographic” novel, so the investigation can become even more inclusive. Who knows what other untold crimes people who read this story may be committing?

Of course, I understand that the problem is not only this “pornographic story” in Mr. Styner’s computer, but the fact that it was illustrated with a picture of someone who appeared to be underage. While there may be a question about the age of the model in that photograph, there is no question that actress Thora Birch was only 16 when she appeared nude in the Oscar winning film American Beauty. The main library, and undoubtedly hundreds of San Leandrans, have a copy of this movie and thus, according to SLPD standards, seem to be in possession of “child pornography.”

As you probably also know, when I wrote my article on the Styner investigation, I linked to pictures of Brooke Shields in Pretty Baby
– a movie in which she appeared nude when she was barely 12 years old. Not only should the SLPD thus be able to arrest me, but everyone who read my story and clicked on the link. I should be able to provide for the Chief the IP addresses of everyone in that situation. Will arrest warrants follow?

Thank you, once again, for your commitment to keep San Leandro free of any real crime. I support your crusade to clean the bookshelves of San Leandro’s citizens. It’s definitely a much more important endeavor than paying attention to pesky little things like robberies, actual burglaries, domestic violence and, the peskier of them all, corruption and misconduct within your own department.

Sincerely,

Margarita Lacabe

—

This letter was e-mailed to Chief Sandra Spagnoli and copied to Mayor Stephen Cassidy, the other members of the City Council, City Manager Chris Zapata, Assistant City Manager Lianne Marshall and City Attorney Richard Pio Roda.

SLPD Hit with Class Action Lawsuit for False Arrests and Issuing Malicious Press Releases

SLPD Hit with Class Action Lawsuit for False Arrests and Issuing Malicious Press Releases Legal, Police 5 Responses »

Jun 062013

Is High School Teacher SLPD’s latest victim?

Earlier this week, the San Leandro Police Department issued a press release announcing the filing of charges for “possession of child pornography” against Rick Styner, a teacher at San Leandro High School. In one day, the reputation of a man that, by all accounts, had been honorable and respectful of his students, has been destroyed, possibly beyond repair. I don’t think any of us can imagine the social opprobrium the Styner family is experiencing right now. And yet, a careful reading of the facts as reported in the news stories do not show any actual criminal conduct by Styner. Regardless of what happens to the charges, whether they are dismissed or whether Styner is tried and found innocent, his life and career has been ruined by Chief Sandra Spagnoli and the San Leandro Police Department. And he is not the only one.

False Arrests at Marina Park

Last year, the SLPD issued another press release, featuring the pictures of two older men and accusing them of loitering around the bathrooms at Marina Park to solicit men for sex. The community reacted immediately, calling these men every name in the book and instantly assuming they were guilty. Even I, while arguing that their conduct was not a crime unless they actually intended for someone else to unwittingly witness a sex act, assumed that the basic facts of the press release were true: the men were hanging out around the bathroom hoping to pick up other men for sex. I was wrong in making that assumption. Simply put, the SLPD’s press release was a lie.

The lie was most egregious in the case of Michael Woody. Woody had stopped at the parking lot near the Marina Park bathrooms with the intention of using the facilities for their intended purpose. An undercover SLPD officer was loitering around and tried to engage Woody in conversation. When the officer followed Woody into the bathroom, Woody became understandably uncomfortable and decided to leave. The officer followed him to his car and arrested him as he was turning on the engine. Woody had never indicated any interest in engaging with the police officer on any activities. No charges were filed against him.

Steven Mengel, on the other hand, did show interest when a twenty-something plain-clothes officer Matthew Barajas approached him as he was sitting inside his car, parked in a public street, and propositioned him. They made a date to meet the next day at noon near the bathrooms. When Mengel arrived, Barajas showed up with a “friend”, now identified as Sargent Brian Anthony. They agreed that Anthony would serve as a “look out”, making sure nobody came, while Mengel gave Barajas a hand job in the bathroom stall. Before he had the opportunity to do so, he was arrested.

As I mentioned after the men’s arrest, California law only criminalizes sexual conduct in public, when it’s done under the reasonable belief that it could be witnessed by others who would be offended at the sight. Clearly, that was not the case in this case as officer Anthony’s “job” was precisely to make sure that nobody would witness the act. Disregarding the law, the SLPD officers not only arrested Mengel but they issued a press release falsely accusing him of loitering with the intent of engaging in illegal acts. He was actually charged with this offense – which suggests to me that we should give little credence to any charges the Alameda County District Attorney levies against anyone -, but the charges were dismissed by the court.

Unfortunately, it will ultimately be San Leandro residents that have to pay for the SLPD’s misconduct – the city has been hit by a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Mengel, Woody, and all other men who have been subjected to similar actions by the SLPD. While the lawsuit does not specify an amount for damages, similar lawsuits have resulted in settlements in the six and seven figures. So much for Mayor Cassidy’s argument that the City should give Chief Spagnoli a raise because she would save the city money on lawsuits.

The Styner Case

(Update: the actual court documents in this case show that the charges are bogus).

What happened in the Marina Park should warn us against jumping to conclusions on the Styner case as well. Indeed, a close examination of the facts on this case show that it’s not only weak but suspicious.

Rick Styner is a Computer Science teacher at San Leandro High School. On April 16, he was teaching his class how to transfer files between devices, when he accidentally clicked on a file in his dropbox folder, opening a nude photograph of himself. The police have not described this photograph, but according to what a student of Styner’s wrote on Facebook, it actually focused on the tattoos that Styner sports on his thigh – he gets one after he completes a marathon -, and only incidentally showed his genitalia. *Update*. After writing this part I looked through Styner’s facebook page and found a picture of the tattoo. It’s actually on his right hip, and while this particular picture is cropped, it’s reasonable to believe that the original might have shown part of his genitalia and might have been the one the students were exposed to. It’s clear that the purpose of this picture was to show off the tattoo. Styner got it in August 2012; the little balls signify the marathon’s he’s completed, the number signifies the distance of the marathon (26.2 miles) and the phrase means “will run” in a Tolkien language.

Immediately after this incident, Styner notified the school authorities and surrendered his school-issued laptop computer. An unidentified school district employee proceeded to look through the computer where s/he allegedly found material that s/he considered to be disturbing. The district notified the police, without first notifying the School Board.

The material in question seems to mostly consist of written erotica and is fully protected by the first amendment. According to news reports, one of these stories concerned incest between two teenage siblings (update, this story appears to be “Flowers in the Attic” by V.C. Andrews) , and it included a naked picture of a woman who looked like she might be underage. The Police has not said whether they have identified the woman or confirmed that she is, indeed, underage. The picture has not otherwise been described, so we don’t know if it is actually pornographic (not all naked pictures of minors are; “Pretty Baby” can still be shown in theaters in California even though it shows a naked, pre-pubescent Brooke Shields. Did you click on that last links? You are now in danger of having the SLPD arrest you for possession of child pornography.).

The police have also not stated whether the story had actually been authored by Rick Styner, or whether he had downloaded it. If the latter, the police must show that Steiner actually knew the story contained a pornographic picture of an underage girl. After all, it’s extremely common for people to download large story collections, and not necessarily read or examine every single one. It’s also very easy to unwittingly receive material – specially via a dropbox account – that one did not seek or is aware of. And it’s not always easy to be able to tell the age of a model by her picture alone, much less determine whether the picture is actually pornographic. Is this picture of Brooke Shields child pornography? You tell me – but if you look, beware that the picture will be downloaded to your computer and you’ll be potentially just as guilty of possessing child pornography as Rick Styner. Which is likely, not at all. “Possession of child pornography” is an intent crime, so unwittingly downloading pictures that you don’t know to be pornographic is not a crime.

My personal feeling is that if Styner was, indeed, interested in child pornography, there would have been hundreds of child porn pictures in his computer, not just one of someone who looks like she may be underage and who is not apparently engaged in actual sexual conduct.

The second charge against Rick Styner is even more bizarre. He is accused of going into the home of a friend, who had given him the key, and taking pictures of her underwear and running clothing. He is also accused of putting the picture of the woman’s head on pictures of naked bodies. Apparently, he also took something from the woman’s home, which the police would not identify.

Now, I understand that the Police is trying to suggest that he took pictures of the clothing because of some weird sexual kink – but I find it interesting that the pictures also included the woman’s running gear. Could it be that Styner – a marathoner – was actually more interested in the brand and style of the clothing? I don’t know if he actually removed an item of clothing from his friend’s house – the police has shown that it’s not above lying in print and they might have made this up so that they can charge him with burglary -, but could it not have been for a similarly innocuous reason, such as showing it to his wife to see if she’d like one like it?

As for the photographs – putting someone’s head on someone else’s body, however disturbing, is definitely not a crime, which begs the question of why the police would make such a big deal about it.

I have not personally met Rick Styner – though he is a facebook friend of this blog -, and I have no insight into who he is. I do know, however, that when I googled him, what I first found about him (other than stories on these charges) were stories about how when SLHS teachers were protesting having to put anti-LGBT-bullying posters on their classrooms, Styner said he would put two. Given the clear anti-LGBT bias that the SLPD has shown, and which still lingers at the school district, it makes me wonder if there could be a connection there.

In any case, so far it does not appear that Rick Styner has committed any crime, at least no more than what I did when I googled images of “Brook Shields Pretty Baby” and automatically downloaded several of her underage and naked into my computer. Then again, I would not be surprised if the SLPD was knocking at my home next.

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