Man receives 25 years for insulting creators of stupid, unfunny show

[angus]

...unlike family guy, which only targets special needs people.

and Asians, and hicks, and Jews, and homosexuals, and black people, and Southerners, and paranoid conservatives, and tree huggers, etc., etc.,


I agree that the title of the thread is misleading and that the article is poorly written.  Just to be clear, this guy is not being charged with, or sentenced for, insulting the creators of a show.

That said, I also think the sentence was harsh.  All he did was speak something, write something, and maybe attempt to enjoy his right of free association with a group of people.  Somewhere in Virginia, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson must be rolling over in their graves.  Most of the time I think opebo's diatribes against the "bad place" are silly, but I'd have to agree when he calls it a Police State.

[angus]

the charge of providing material support to a terrorist organization  carries a harsher sentence

It should have read "attempting to provide material support" since that was the charge, according to the FBI website.  I'll stand by my post.  I've never agreed with the law that makes giving money or time to an organization a crime.  I don't know whether the supreme court has ever ruled specifically on the law--and I don't imagine such a ruling would be the result of this case since this guy freely admits his guilt--but it'd be interesting to see their opinion, whichever way they would rule.  I'll admit that as a non-lawyer person, I may not understand the subtleties of the law, but it just seems to me that this "material support" charge is a desperate, catch-all phrase that flies directly against the spirit of our constitutional freedoms.  If I take up arms against the government, that's another matter, and I could reasonably expected to be imprisoned or executed for that, but I ought to have the right to give time and money to any organization I want to give it to.