Where is my America

[Buxtehude]

This is outragious, that this would happen in America. It just proves that we are, in deed, living in a police state.
This woman did everything by the book and now she is being villified for it. Where is Common Sense, where is Justice?

Thursday, June 22, 2006

By MERRY FIRSCHEIN
STAFF WRITER



HASBROUCK HEIGHTS -- Library Director Michele Reutty is under fire for refusing to give police library circulation records without a subpoena.

Reutty says she was only doing her job and maintaining the privacy of library patrons. But the mayor called it "a blatant disregard for the Police Department," which needed her help to identify a man who allegedly threatened a child.

Reutty, the director for 17 years, now faces possible discipline by the library board. Members of the Borough Council have suggested she receive punishment ranging from a letter of reprimand in her personnel file to a 30-day unpaid suspension. But the Library Board of Trustees said it would reserve judgment until a closed-door hearing next month.

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz

[rosesaylavee]

1. Her decision is the right one and the decision will be

upheld in a court of law. She is right in not wanting to set legal precedent and is a very brave and courageous person. Wasn't the library issue removed from the Patriot Act last time it was revised and voted upon?

I don't abide children being threatened but there must be another way of getting the guy than harassing the librarian. Sheesh.

[Buxtehude]

2. Thats true

The crime was that a man said something to a child that was inappropriate, however the issue changed as soon as the authorities asked this woman to break the law.
I just hope she comes out of this as the hero and not the goat. With mayor siding with the police something tells me she'd better move out of town.
One thing that came to mind was what if the child had been lying or misinterpreted what the mans said?

[rosesaylavee]

5. No way of knowing what happened without

the police digging a bit further. Most child molesters are repeaters - if this guy was doing something there, he most certainly was doing stuff elsewhere. And as for moving out of town - if I were the mayor, I would rethink my position of fighting a librarian over constitutional issues. The tide is turning back in our favor and it just may be him that's ridden out of town due to his willingness to jump on that woman's decision. May be she needs to run for mayor on this issue?

Humans are flawed but very interesting and it just may be that this story has multiple legs and who knows how the story will end. That librarian has guts tho. I have increased appreciation for the role librarians play in our town's life since 9/11 and the Patriot Act rolled into our lives.

[Buxtehude]

10. That's why I put it here

I saw this and didn't want it to get buried somewhere. I hope this story grows legs. It's a shining example of things to come when you "stay the course".

[lectrobyte]

15. Why don't the police get a subpeona. Something smells fishy

here.

[Buxtehude]

16. It seems the mayor is upset

about who she contacted for advice. I'll bet anything there is some history here.

[Buxtehude]

17. It almost sounds like a setup.

This exerpt from the story sounds out of line.

But borough officials say Reutty intentionally stonewalled the police investigation by putting the library first. They also charged that she did not follow procedure by contacting the borough's attorney when she received the subpoena. Instead, she called a lawyer from the state library association.

The whole episode is "shocking," Reutty said Wednesday. "I followed the law. And because I followed the law, at the end of the day, the policemen's case is going to hold strong. Nobody is going to sue the library and nobody is going to sue the municipality of Hasbrouck Heights because information was given out illegally."

[Ready4Change]

3. Here are some places to look for your America.

Your America is in a jail cell in Guantamino.

It is echoing in the segments that have been sliced out of the Constitution.

It is buried in the sands of Iraq.

It is a spot on a ballot that, try as you might, you just can't punch a hole in, or make a mark on, or, if you can, that hole or mark disappears before your eyes.

Your America is in an unemployment line. But it's been there more than 3 years, so no one counts it anymore.

Your America is alone at home, because it isn't allowed to marry its love.

Your America is watching others insert their religious dogma into its government.

Your America is trying to not be crushed by all the SUVs on the road with "Support Our Troops" magnets on their bloated behinds.

Your America does NOT care more about Britney Spears than about all these things, but its flipped through all the cable news channels, and nothing else is on.

[acmejack]

6. It is supporting those troops by refusing them treatment for mental issues

resulting from combat.

It is refusing those veterans promised benefits for their service.

Your America appears to be welcher, reneging on promises made to lure youngsters into performing onerous duties that most preferred to shirk. Promises easily made, broken without a second thought by those who are the first to mouth the most patriotic of platitudes, the first to question others courage, even if they have demonstrated their personal valor in the face of the enemy while their accuser hid. That is the America in which you now live.

Just an observation from an old disillusioned veteran. I hate to write these words, I actually volunteered to serve during a time when it was very unpopular to do so.

[Buxtehude]

14. It's your America to

I have tried to do what is right and get this country back on track. But no one can do it alone. I volunteered for one of those wars too, all the more reason not to give up.

[Buxtehude]

13. Isn't it our America?

But you are correct. The problem is, this is nothing new. We have let the Republicans twist and sharp America, for 20 out of the last 28 years, into what it is today.
GW Bush should never be President, but we let it happen. He should never have been President again, but we let it happen.
So what are we going to do between now and November of this year to make sure those mistakes are rectified?
We should never take our Democracy for granted!

[HeeBGBz]

4. She's been raped and left for dead

The corporate buzzards are picking her clean of anything that remains.

[FLICKA]

7. Anybody here thinking about the kid?

[annabanana]

8. sure. . what in the library is going to

get that guy off the street?

Do they want to see who took out "How To Threaten a Child" last week?

[Buxtehude]

11. Sure

but all they have is a child who said a man said something inappropriate, she identified a library book that the library didn't have. We are still innocent until proven guilty. Nothing was done unlawful here, thanks to this librarian and maybe it can get resolved without everyone going off on innuendos. I think the police were trying to take advantage of a panic situation, thankfully a cool headed librarian stopped this before it became a constitutional issue.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

9. WHY DIDN'T THE POLICE HAVE A SUBPOENA?

SOMETHING SMELLS HERE.

[Buxtehude]

12. Thats what I'm getting at

Sure I've seen enough child molestation story's. No I don't want this guy on the street. But this doesn't look right to me either. and to trample the constitution on this kind of evidence.

She complied once the proper paper work was done. But something interesting about who she contacted for advice. It would sound like a labor issue if they had a union.

[rosesaylavee]

18. Weclome to DU btw

:hi:

[Buxtehude]

19. Good to be here!.n/t

[midnight]

20. True patritism means not trading the law for what has become...

an invasion of privacy via fear. Thank you Ms. Reutty for being so brave.