WARNING: Due to the adult nature of this subject, there is adult terminology contained within this post.
Recently a new publication has hit the market. Although there are mixed reviews about it with some pretty strong sentiments on both sides of the issue; I do not believe that anyone can say that “HardTimePress.com” has not made an impact one way or anther on the people in this area.
This is the first of what I can already foresee as many posts in defense of this publication. I for one absolutely love it and have become a “Fan” of them on Facebook. Why? Because in a lot of ways and for a lot of reasons I think it is long over due.
I currently work in a convenience store that carries the publication and I get it from all sides of this issue, most of which I find so completely hilarious that it borders on stupid! It’s the ones that come in the store every day and bitch at me for carrying it that really gets me. Excuse me!! I am not the storeowner and I do not decide what does and does not go on there. Now that we might have that clear maybe a few of these folks can sit back and take a moment to really look at what they’re actually pissed off about.
Personally I think that one guy hit the nail on the head when he came in and stated that he wished he had thought of it first. Because you know what, let’s face it; everything that is published through HardTimePress is in fact public information. All of it is published on a daily basis in all of the local newspapers. The only exception is that with HardTimePress you also get to see the beautiful police mug shots as well.
HardTimePress comes out every two weeks and currently covers the tri-county area of Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. The demand for the publication has been nearly overwhelming throughout the area, purchased regularly by many Police Departments, Prisons and individual Law Enforcement Officials.
I think the most idiotic reason I’ve heard lately for objecting to this publication is on the grounds of “invasion of privacy” can you believe that?! Criminal activity has been reported as public information for well over 50 years. Personally my feelings about the HardTimePress is that it is like having our own version of the hit show “Crime Stoppers” with a little bit of “America’s Most Wanted” mixed in; only it’s all locally oriented.
As far as privacy goes, I don’t think so! I don’t know how many (if any) people share my opinion on this matter but regardless I think that once you commit a crime, you have just forfeited a certain degree of your privacy. The greater the crime; the higher the level forfeited, period. But then again I’m also one of those who seriously oppose the decades long housing of convicted murderers, feeding, clothing, educating, etc them all on our tax dollars. I make no apologies for my views because you know what, hard times makes for hard people. I realize that if a lot of these prisons were to actually shut down, then there would also be a lot more unemployment. However, I think these guards would do a better service guarding the boarders of this country than playing nurse maid to these people.
Getting back to the ‘invasion of privacy’ issue with regards to public information, which is something that has irritated me beyond words since my return to my home state of Ohio. If anyone wants to talk about invasion of privacy, let’s talk about the reality of that right along with criminal activity, certain financial information is also considered public information.
This is a topic that caused a certain individual to interject themselves (rather defensively) into my conversation on this very topic. How many people reading this are actually aware of the fact that when you sell your house it is considered public information? Did you know that this information is also published in the local newspaper? Did you know that it is not just the fact that you sold your house that gets published? The information that actually gets published is far more detrimental in my opinion. Because what is published is your name, the physical address of your home, the name(s) of the individual(s) you sold it to and EXACTLY how much you sold it for!
You want to talk about invasion of privacy, that’s invasion of privacy!! The individual who just happened to interject themselves into the conversation mentioned above, did so based on the misguided concept that this information is used to moderate or to make known the market value of the neighborhood. BULLSHIT! It’s used by the various components of tax collecting agencies as one of the factors in determining the property taxes for your neighborhood.
So, based on that ideology let’s take another look at HardTimesPress if you will. Correct me if you want, if in addition to wanting to know the ‘current sale value’ (notice I did not say actual current or fair market value) of a specific home in your neighborhood; would it not be wise to also want to know the type of person who is living right next door to the house you might be thinking about purchasing? Or maybe who the person is that just bought the house right next to you after you've been living there for more than half your life, building equity into your home. Hell yes it would matter to me!!
Much the same way that a storeowner would want to know that a known/convicted thief has just walked into their store; local residents should want to know if he/she is also their neighbor! I know I would! If you have grandchildren, wouldn't you want to know if a known/convicted pedophile has just bought the home next to yours? Or that there was one already living there next door to the home that you are thinking about purchasing? As long as there are no children actually living in your home and you do not live within the prescribed distance from areas frequented by children, that pedophile is NOT breaking and/or rules or laws by living there.
In the bygone days of yesteryear an individual’s reputation was something that was treasured, built up through years of hard work and honest ethics concerning those with whom we did business. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore and it hasn’t been for a long time. Yet at the same time our reputations still follow us everywhere we go, much like our credit scores; neither of which should not be taken lightly.
I am in full support of this publication primarily because of everything that has already been addressed in this post. It is not so much just for the alleged serious crimes of murder, rape, aggravated assault/menacing, etc but for the lesser ones as well. I’ve also heard complaints from the one’s I call the “Pickers and Choosers” as far as what should and should not be published in the HardTimesPress.
People seem to take offense at the fact that speeders are listed right there along side the previously mentioned more serious crimes. The reality of that fact is that the publication covers ‘arrests’ and cannot pick and choose whom it is going to identify. Legal reasons would prohibit that practice because it would then lay the groundwork for a harassment lawsuit based on the fact that the plaintiff could then state that the publication was specifically targeting certain individuals. If you were arrested for a crime, your information gets published. Who you are and what your crime was is of no concern to the publication, which is as it should be.
Similar to the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” All of this boils down to the simple fact that there will be many battles fought in the war against the invasion of privacy before it is over. People are going to have to decide exactly what the dividing point is between ‘the right to know’ and ‘the need to know’ before the overall issue of individual privacy can be fully addressed.
Gives a person a little bit to think about in my opinion.
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