In Maryland, a Soviet-Style Punishment for a Novelist

[Batman]

One does wonder why it suddenly becomes a concern now when the guy wrote at least the first of the novels before you ever hired him though.

[Terralthra]

My guess is simple: because some parent found out about it and hyperventilated to the school board/principal/etc., leaving out any context whatsoever. The person who answered the phone didn't stop to research before calling the police and saying "One of our teachers wrote about shooting up a school! Help!" and the rest is as you see it.

20:1 that's what happened.

[Ahriman238]

I agree, it's worrisome when someone can be vanished by law enforcement, circumventing all legal protection so easily, and the locals seem to support the sheriff which concerns me even more. At most, this is something that should have been handled in-house, have the principal or department head talk to the teacher so they can reassure whatever parent was worrying over nothing.

[Raw Shark]

This really makes me think twice about my Why Johnny Can't Speed / Taxi Driver crossover novel.

[Irbis]

You know, which hasn't happened yet but will in 900 years in the future

And this matters why exactly?

Fiction is fiction, the date of setting it completely and utterly meaningless. Yes, the case is stupid and possibly a sign of state paranoia, but not because of a single number.

[Darth Holbytlan]

Mental health issues, not books, led to teacher's suspension

Reports circulated this weekend that a middle school teacher in Dorchester County, Md., had been placed on administrative leave over his two futuristic novels about school violence. That is not that case, authorities tell the L.A. Times.

"It didn't start with the books and it didn't end with the books," State's Attorney for Wicomico County Matt Maciarello told The Times. "It's not even a factor in what law enforcement is doing now."

Concerns about McLaw were raised after he sent a four-page letter to officials in Dorchester County. Those concerns brought together authorities from multiple jurisdictions, including health authorities.

McLaw's attorney, David Moore, tells The Times that his client was taken in for a mental health evaluation. "He is receiving treatment," Moore said.

Because of federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations mandating privacy around healthcare issues, he was unable to say whether McLaw has been released.

McLaw's letter was of primary concern to healthcare officials, Maciarello says. It, combined with complaints of alleged harassment and an alleged possible crime from various jurisdictions led to his suspension. Maciarello cautions that these allegations are still being investigated; authorities, he says, "proceeded with great restraint."

More at the link.

The short version is that law enforcement denies that the books had much if anything to do with this guy being sent to a psych ward. I have no idea if this is a backtrack by the police/DA or a shitty reporter making stuff up, but I did notice that the article in the OP links back to this article from WBOC, which has no direct quotes supporting its claim that the investigation was based on his books.

[Simon_Jester]

One observation:

It's easy to determine as a matter of public record that McLaw has written a book; if you Google his name references to the book would probably come up. So it would be easy for the media to say "he wrote a book about a school shooting," and easy for individuals talking to the media to find that information out and reveal it. This might lead the media to state (or imply) that the books are the cause of McLaw's removal.

Meanwhile, accurate information about people undergoing treatment for mental health issues is usually confidential, so it's harder to come by.

Proverbially, a lie can get around the world before the truth can get its boots on, and that's doubly true in the Internet age.

[Flagg]

God the media sucks.

[paladin]

media reports in Maryland were stating that the teacher had submitted a letter of resignation. That may have been a factor for his mental evaluation.

[Borgholio]

Since when is a letter of resignation grounds for a mental evaluation?

[TheFeniX]

I hope this is a case of yellow journalism because the alternative is a lot worse.

[Simon_Jester]

Since when is a letter of resignation grounds for a mental evaluation?

If the letter comes 'out of the blue' or its text suggests that the author is mentally disturbed, perhaps?

Suppose I write a letter saying I'm resigning because the spiders in the math department book closet know my name now and I can't deal with them chanting it during my planning period. This might indicate to some that I am a little... perturbed. And that I probably should see a mental health professional for my own good, rather than simply having them wave bye-bye to me on the way out the door.

[Borgholio]

Since when is a letter of resignation grounds for a mental evaluation?

If the letter comes 'out of the blue' or its text suggests that the author is mentally disturbed, perhaps?

Suppose I write a letter saying I'm resigning because the spiders in the math department book closet know my name now and I can't deal with them chanting it during my planning period. This might indicate to some that I am a little... perturbed. And that I probably should see a mental health professional for my own good, rather than simply having them wave bye-bye to me on the way out the door.

Sure if it contains something unusual like that...but I didn't read anything about it being abnormal. If it's just a common resignation then they really have no grounds to look at him like this.

[Simon_Jester]

Again, the contents might well be confidential, and/or the statement released to the press may not have contained all the information.

I mean, I would HOPE that if I did submit such a kooky resignation letter and was taken in for psychiatric evaluation, that my employer would NOT tell the press about what was in the letter.

[Dominus Atheos]

Nope, still looks bad.

SALISBURY, Md.- Two weeks ago the superintendent of Dorchester County Schools announced Cambridge school teacher Patrick McLaw had been placed on administrative leave. The 23-year-old eighth grade teacher at Maces Lane Middle School was also banned from school property. Since then his story has gained national attention.

Multiple law enforcement agencies worked together in making the decision to remove McLaw from Dorchester County Public Schools. Dorchester County Sheriff James Phillips told WBOC that McLaw authored two fiction books, using a pseudonym, with one depicting a "futuristic school shooting." But authorities say it was not just the books that caused alarm.

In McLaw's hometown of Salisbury, Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said a four-page letter caused concern, as well as a handmade model of a school, which deputies found in McLaw's house.

"We had received a couple of phone calls from concerned colleagues and members of the community that had been recipients of a four-page letter written by Mr. McLaw. They believed he was reaching out for some help," Lewis said. "And then we got calls from some individuals early in our investigation that he had constructed and or fabricated a couple of models that appeared to be models of schools in the local Dorchester County area."

WBOC spoke with McLaw, who is currently in a mental health facility on the other side of the bay. He told WBOC that he does not belong in a mental health facility.

"Law enforcement have not tried to contact me, they have been misinterpreting information, they have been disseminating information incorrectly to the psychiatrists and to the medical professionals up here who have been making diagnoses that are invalid and irrelevant," McLaw said.

As for the model of the school, McLaw explained that building models is just a hobby.

"I used to be in architecture and engineering and as a result of that, as a hobby I built miniatures," McLaw said. "And I built a miniature of a cruise ship, a miniature of a house, and a miniature school. Now given the situation, they have only focused on the miniature school."

Lewis again emphasized that the four0page letter, obtained by WBOC, is what really concerned law enforcement officials at first, not McLaw's books.

"There are certainly things that are said, certain things that are referenced in this particular four-page document that cause me some concern, but this is all part of our investigation right now," Lewis said.

But McLaw insists the allegations are false.

"This entire situation is a complete and total misunderstanding," McLaw said. "And it's unfortunate that it has come to this and it's unfortunate that I won't be able to share my skills and talents and teaching capabilities that I did with my students last year with my students I was going to have this year."

As of now, McLaw is not under arrest and is not charged with any crime.

McLaw said aside from being detained, he is doing all right and is working on six new books..

Under no circumstances is a vaguely suicidal letter of resignation grounds for search warrant for his house, or a forced admittal to a psychiatric facility when the person claims he is not suicidal. Other sources also report that the police were accusing him of sleeping with a student, and I swear I remember reading that it was supposedly a male student but I can't find a source that says that right now.

I'm still going with soviet-style punishment for some guy the police didn't like for various reasons, including (but not limited to) a book he wrote.

[Block]

Without knowing the contents of his letter that caused colleagues and other members of the community, I don't see how you can make that statement.

[Darth Holbytlan]

This seems to be the article DA is quoting. It's a remarkably uninformative article—still no information on where the notion that McLaw's books were a major concern came from. All this reporter says is that the Sheriff told him McLaw wrote the books. There is also a video at the page that is much more useful, with some video of the Sheriff explaining his concerns. It also includes some shots of the letter, and it's possible to make out a few details from it.

It looks like the police swept the school for guns and bombs (video), so apparently they were worried that he might have been planning violence.

First, the beginning of McLaw's letter mentions his pseudonym and says, "Consider it my memoir. Consider it my farewell address. Consider it my resignation. Consider it what you will. But I just need someone to listen to me."

The end of the letter is clearer in the video, although the right side is cut off:

...I'm sorry that I wasn't the boyfriend you wanted and...I'm sorry that you felt as though you needed something that I was apparently unable to give you. And...I'm sorry that I'm unable to trust you. Saying goodbye to you, right now, is harder than saying goodbye to anyone else...and please know, that I will always love you.

...clear up any misperceptions, this is not a suicide letter. I'm still very much alive. I'm sure I've been declared "Missing"...point, and if not, will be in the near future. But I doubt that will guarantee my return. Of the recipients of this letter...two will most likely hear from me. But for now, I'm not sure how many days, weeks, months, or years that may be...for now, on this day, the Fourth of July, Two Thousand Fourteen, I'm declaring my own independence.

Farewell for now,
Patrick W. Kameron McLaw

Several people called the Sheriff with concerns about the note. And the Sheriff claims they were concerned about the model they found in the house. They did know about the books—not surprising since the letter at least states McLaw's pseudonym. And they swept the school for guns and bombs.

Looks like the fears about his books aren't an invention of the reporter. And looking at what I could see of the letter, it's hard to say if there was something in it that would convert this into a reasonable fear. But I can see the possibility.

Ignoring the rest of their reaction, the school board's decision to put him on administrative leave seems pretty reasonable seeing that his letter said that he might be gone for "years".

[Irbis]

WBOC spoke with McLaw, who is currently in a mental health facility on the other side of the bay. He told WBOC that he does not belong in a mental health facility.

On the flip side, not a lot of people who belonged in mental health facility or planned something bad were ready to admit it, were they?

The quote Holbytlan linked sounds a lot like a final manifesto from right wing militia member would look like, and while that in itself wouldn't be reason enough for concerns all other details of the case do make it look rather suspicious. In EU state that could be overreacting, in USA, with its trivial access to 2nd amendment implements I can see why they would be concerned.

Pretty much the only thing the other side of the debate has is 'book was set 900 years into the future' which means absolutely nothing as you can easily write book set 9000 years from now that will have more in common with present day than book set in 2022.

[Darth Holbytlan]

Pretty much the only thing the other side of the debate has is 'book was set 900 years into the future' which means absolutely nothing as you can easily write book set 9000 years from now that will have more in common with present day than book set in 2022.

The book being set 900 years in the future is just evidence, in lieu of actually reading the book, that the story might not be applicable to the real-life school. The fact that it was written a few years ago for sale—instead of being found recently written on his computer, for instance—also makes this less suspicious.

If the school in the book is not comparable to current schools, or the plot of the perpetrator is not realistic (possibly due to the access of fictional technology), then the book may be of little relevance. OTOH, if the book presents a realistic plot in a school laid out just like a school McLaw's actually taught in or attended, clearly sympathizes with the perpetrator, or draws a large number of life details of the perpetrator from McLaw's real life, that would be quite a different matter. It would also be a big concern if the note clearly compared McLaw to the fictional perpetrator.

[Irbis]

The book being set 900 years in the future is just evidence, in lieu of actually reading the book, that the story might not be applicable to the real-life school. The fact that it was written a few years ago for sale—instead of being found recently written on his computer, for instance—also makes this less suspicious.

It might not be, yes. On the other hand, maybe it's just my cynicism, or reading too many sci-fi books, but I'd say even something seemingly alien and futuristic often is plainly thinly disguised present. Fantasy writers in Soviet zone often did that, in fact, to avoid censorship or publishing denial, so it might just be cultural difference.

[Darth Holbytlan]

I've seen that kind of thinly-disguised sci-fi. The point is that without actually reading the book—something I have no plans on doing—we really don't have the information to judge if the content is something to be concerned about either way. Even if we read the book, without knowing the actual schools or the contents of the letter, we'd still be missing key information in evaluating it.

Not that I trust the authorities here not to have overreacted. Just the fact that they didn't find any weapons in their searching—there's no way the Sheriff wouldn't have mentioned this given that he brought up fiding the model of the school—is good evidence that the fears were unfounded.