The obnoxious creationist is not being sued for being a world-class ignoramus, however — that’s perfectly legal. She’s being sued for interfering with the education of children.
She’s been on a bender of offense because her local library provides open internet access to the public, and apparently she once saw someone viewing porn on a library computer. Most normal people would point this out to a librarian, who would politely ask the person to move on, but no, not Megan Fox! She is outraged! So she’s been harrassing the library staff.
She’s upset that the library provides unfiltered access to the internet (sounds like a good library to me). The legal documents (pdf) list a great many of Fox’s offenses against truth: she has posted photos of the librarian’s home (creepy!), has falsely accused her of drunkenness at work and of making anti-gay slurs, and has disrupted library board meetings. But the real nuisance is how she’s been abusing the law to torment librarians.
She and Kevin DuJan — who promotes conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama’s birthplace, drug use, and sexual history — have filed hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests on library policies and employees.
They have also filed at least 34 complaints with the Illinois attorney general alleging transparency law violations by library staffers.
Fox and DuJan have written numerous blog and social media posts and posted videos of themselves hounding library employees for information.
All of this has cost the suburban Chicago library more than $125,000 in legal fees and keeps two library employees busy for about 35 hours a week, according to spokeswoman Bridget Bittman – a primary target for criticism by the conservative pair.
You can buy a lot of books for $125,000.
If you really, really want to hear Megan Fox’s side of the story, here you go. Warning: she’s extraordinarily irritating. First she’s mad because they won’t let her use the computers in the children’s section — they’re reserved for the kids — and then she’s pissed off because she had to fill out a form to get a library card for that branch and she had to leave her soda outside, and then she’s really angry because someone was viewing breasts on the adult computers, and then she is furious because the librarian in that section was helpful and made it easy for her to get online. Why? Because he might also make it easy for pedophiles to use the computers. She’s demanding and impossible to satisfy.
I know it’s not proper legal criteria, but she is so annoying I hope she gets slammed hard in court.
Good click-bait there PZ – I for one initially thought about another Megan Fox.
btw, you are being quoted over at Andrew Sullivan’s place: http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/11/30/unbuckling-the-bible-belt/
This Megan Fox is currently a lot more on my radar than the other one.
If Fox had really been lucky she would have found some teenage girl looking for birth control information on one of the computers. Or naked pictures of One Direction.
I wonder how long it will be before wind of this gets to the famous namesake, and if she’ll force this one to call herself Megan H. Fox or whatever to avoid confusion.
This woman is the plantiffs’ lawyer’s dream witness.
I think *maybe* she had a point about her original complaint: no computer access for adults near the children’s section of the library. It would be nice if they could make at least one computer available for parents where they could keep an eye on their kids while their kids read books or whatever–maybe with 20 minute windows so you don’t have the kids left to their own devices for too long. I found it strange that she complained both about getting a temporary access number (because it makes ephebophiles luring 15 year olds untraceable) and about having to show id and fill out a form (because it’s a bureaucratic time waster). Why she thinks harassing the librarian is a good solution to her problems is beyond me.
The library she is suing is the Orland Park public library and it is a fine regional library. They have regularly scheduled book discussions (Along with many copies of the book available to read.), a permanent art show and regular talks given by published authors. Also, there are dozens of computers available for use. Not only that, they have free wi-fi with easy access to outlets at the many tables set up within the aisles of book stands. I state this because it is not even clear if the person she is complaining about was using a library computer of using their own.
As for filling out a form in order to get a card, doesn’t every library do that? While it is true that the Orland Park library recently left the large organization of south west suburban Chicago libraries, they allow all holders of a SWAN card to join their new system and with out issuing a new card. Also, the librarians are very helpful. No need to even fill out a form to be added on/
As for not have a soda, there is a large seating section at the entrance where one can finish their food and drinks. But I am grateful that they are strict about not allowing food and drinks within where they can be spilled on the books.
Yes, I do use that library branch regularly. I like that library. For a regional library, they get a lot of new books in. It a very pleasant and well lit place. And the librarians who work there are very helpful and knowledgeable. I had no idea that a crank has been making things difficult for them.
I wonder if the “pictures of breasts” was someone looking up information on breast cancer or some other non-pornographic use.
If there is ever an Olympic event for eye-rolling, she will get the gold.
This must be one of those new economy positions: Professional Nuisance.
Gads, what a child.
The children’s and adult’s sections are on different floors. Though the young adult’s section is part of the adult wing of the library. Though I have never been in the children’s section, I cannot see what could stop an adult from using their own laptop in there.
@ #7:
A goodly number of the world’s great paintings and sculptures show breasts. And – gasp – penises.
microraptor (#7)
Maybe they were catching up on their Tumblr feed after one of their followees decided to post something NSFW. Which could have been anything from actual porn to a feminist critique of the portrayal of women in the media.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Janine (#11)
Well, not owning a laptop might.
Just started watching the video. Half way through and I had to stop.
The staff there is not inept, everyone I have dealt with there have been very helpful.
The reason why her card does not work there is because Orland Park left the large organization of libraries.. But you can still use their facility when you register your SWAN card with them. I did not even have to fill out paper work, just show my ID. It got done in under five minutes.
As for taking children into the adult section, you can do it. If it was going to be under five minutes as she claims, she could tell them to be quiet during that time.
She is a woman with an agenda and was looking for any excuse to whine about porn because “adult” section. It is the adult section of a public library, not an adult book store. And the people who work there are hardly inept, it is a highly trained, professional and friendly staff. I have never had a problem there.
So she didn’t have anyone to leave her kids with? What about the dude who was conveniently waiting outside to film her account of the persecution she received for being asked to obey the library’s policy.
Nowadays, that also includes tablets (like my iPad, which I use when the Redhead attends a Stitch and Sew meeting in a library with WiFi) and smart phones.
Sounds more like somebody wants to bully others into submission.
The rwnjs have succeeded in making life miserable for public school teachers. Now they seem to be targeting our public libraries.
peterh:
A goodly number of the world’s great paintings and sculptures show breasts. And – gasp – penises.
And taking students to see them can get a teacher fired:
But Ms. McGee, 51, a popular art teacher with 28 years in the classroom, is out of a job after leading her fifth-grade classes last April through the Dallas Museum of Art. One of her students saw nude art in the museum, and after the child’s parent complained, the teacher was suspended. …
She later received a memorandum in which the principal, Nancy Lawson, wrote: “During a study trip that you planned for fifth graders, students were exposed to nude statues and other nude art representations.” It cited additional complaints, which Ms. McGee has challenged. …
In a newsletter e-mailed to parents this week, the principal and Rick Reedy, superintendent of the Frisco Independent School District, said that Ms. McGee had been denied transfer to another school in the district, that her annual contract would not be renewed and that a replacement had been interviewed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/30/education/30teacher.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0
There is no limit to the barbarism of wingnuts.
@nancymartin
She did leave her kids with him while she went upstairs (which is where she claimed to see someone looking at a woman with breasts on a library computer). But not every parent will have a partner or friend with them. And taking kids into an adult section for any length of time while your attention is mostly elsewhere is not the ideal (not because they might see breasts on someone’s computer, but because they might be noisy and disturb other patrons).
Nerd of Redhead (#16)
I’m not talking about Fox, who clearly has her disingenuousness knob turned all the way up to 11. I’m working off of Ibis3’s comment. Not everyone—especially not everyone who uses a public library—owns a laptop or tablet. (And if you need a computer, a smartphone often won’t cut it.)
The vast majority of the refugees I work with certainly don’t have laptops or tablets. Or even desktop computers and internet access at home. Hell, they’re lucky if they have enough beds and clothes for their kids. The libraries might be their only computer access.
Public libraries must seem very threatening to this kind of Christian. Imagine: a place where anyone can expand their horizons, including learning about things which make the baby Jesus cry! A place where there are staff, paid from the public purse, who will non-judgmentally help you discover things which could lead you to abandon your faith! They’re basically Satan’s outreach programme.
I’ve seen Mormon missionaries using the public access computers in the Saskatoon Public Library main branch. I occasionally use the 15 minute “express” terminals there because I don’t have a cell phone, smart or otherwise, and don’t carry a laptop with me in my travels around town.
I’ve been a volunteer at my local library for years. In fact, most of what I’ve done has been to assist people with using the computers.
But one of the librarians has a great little political cartoon at her desk that I just remembered: it’s got an irate woman (with kids in tow) telling a librarian that she heard that the library has books with lying, stealing, cheating, martial infidelity, incest, murder, etc, etc. The librarian replies that yes, they have both the Revised Standard and King James editions.
Mrs. Fox considers making gay slurs bad?
So they’re job creators!!
Interesting that you can’t leave comments or down vote her videos. What ever happened to Freeze Peach?!!
You know, it occurs to me that she could, in fact, have been the person who was looking up boobs on the library computer.
Apparently she does. Or she figures it’s a strategic point. (I’ll have to find her video in which she makes the claim though before I can reach a conclusion.)
It’s perhaps not a strategic idea to lump our enemies into one giant creationist-teabagger-homophobic-racist-etc. group. Ms. Fox seems a moderately not quite dumb as a lump of coal. And shockingly, she seems to have a sense of humor. It seems as though she chose her tea-partyism and creationism as a matter of convenience and comfort but I don’t think it’s the hard-line blanket policy we like to coat our enemies with.
This post depressed me kinda, until I read this Wonkette review of Megan Fox’s youtube video. It’s pretty much the funniest thing ever. Here’s some highlights.
If I had a desk
I’d headdesk in the morning
I’d headdesk in the evening
I’d headdesk all night…
Whelp. Here’s the alleged disorderly conduct and anti-gay slur video.
. It’s um, well far-fetched but she is seriously deluded if she thinks it makes here video-taping pals look good.
I’m inclined to think the staff should all wear Oook! badges the next time this escapee from the dungeon dimensions shows up… Her reaction is bound to be amusing.
Does Illinois have any sort of vexatious litigation law?
The Encyclopedia of American Loons has an entry on her co-nutter, Kevin DuJan:
I only did a superficial search, but the law firm looks like a pretty good hammer.
The libraries prohibit filming without permission. I wouldn’t imagine that her library is any different, and given that she’s coming in with someone to film her interactions, you’d think she should be kicked out on that alone.
All said, a typical conservative, wasting government resources. Is this part of a ‘starve the beast’ deal?
smrnda, that rant was filmed in the parking lot of the library. And her rant was not about not being able to film in the library. It was how “inept” these government employees are, all of the paperwork it takes to get a card (Which I debunked. I have a card for that library.), how she could not use a computer in the children’s section and porn in the adult’s section.
“Interfering with the education of children” is illegal?
I’d love to have a law that says that you can’t keep public information away from children, or something like that.
Only marginally worse than Transformers 2.
Is there a thing in the US where someone can be slapped as being a vexatious litigant? Seems to me she fits that description.
Here is the Illinois statute. IANAL, so I won’t try to interpret the law.
In my opinion, the *weirdest* thing is the creation of the FaceBook page Sassy Plants, which supposedly is an impersonation by Fox of the librarian, Brittman. If this is so, that is a *LOT* of work for a bizarre little bee in one’s bonnet.
Oh Megan, you are a sly one. Good job your camera man was there when you made that quick visit to the library because you couldn’t get the internet on your phone.
Also she bangs on about how bad it is that people can access the internet and nobody can watch and record what they are doing. That gave me an image of and army of Megans watching peoples screens and filing reports. Backed up by and army of Megans to watch the Megans…
@woozy: “bizarre little bee” is EXACTLY the operative term; Mr. Kevin Dujan (and nerts to his “Frenchesque” capital “J”) of Hillbuzz has been concocting elaborate persecution myths with indefatigable zeal, the better to fundraise from, quite aside from his signature “Bathhouse Barry” loonery. He has the inexhaustible strength of the manic-but-mediocre, and his great joy is to “sleuth” imagined slights and attack the supposed perpetrators.
He has hounded some bloggers right off the Internet, as he is never so creative as when conducting a witch-hunt, and it says a good deal about Mama Megan that she finds his brand of sneering paranoia something to latch onto and emulate.
Some of his antics were chronicled by one of his former targets at a blog called Snarkopolitan. If you Google Kevin Dujan and “images,” it will come right up, Blingee’d by someone very near and dear to me.
Snarkopolitan is pretty much shuttered, so I don’t know if this can be considered blog-whoring, or blog-necrophilia-baiting, but there’s a WHOLE lot of Dujanalia, for those who can’t get enough of suppurating little Atwater-wannabees.
Walls make convenient substitutes. Be careful though – If your walls are plasterboard, you may want to align yourself with a stud.
Fox and Dujan seem to be connected to a larger network of smaller right-wing groups, such as this person and these fools. According to the Raw Story link, the librarian Bittman has named them all as defendants in her suit. This kind of harassment of public workers seems to be a popular right wing tactic.
I hang around librarians a lot (and was raised by one), and these people show up from time to time. There’s one who is semi-famous, named Don Saklad, who harassed the Boston Public Library staff so much that they got a restraining order against him.
I don’t know where this woman came from so suddenly, and I wish she’d go back there. I’m sure she wasn’t all sweetness and light when dealing with the big mean librarian; chances are Meg was the one with the confrontational attitude.
Free internet access through a public library is one of the wonders of our time. I have walked into libraries in small towns where I was a complete stranger, and without much fuss, been connected to the world, and to my family.
Anybody who wants to mess with that is just wrong. Maybe she realizes that it is such an amazingly good thing that she just has to oppose it.
(Seriously, what people access is their own damn business. If the screen is visible, yeah, be polite, but monitoring is pointless. (And if the library wants to censor, well, her way of censoring is about the worst.))
I respectfully disagree. If adults want computer access, there are lots of places in the library to get it other than in the kids’ section.
In all the years I’ve free-ranged my young’uns, they so far haven’t needed me to rescue them from the hoards of paedophiles and drug addicts that infest the kids’ section of the library. I dunno, maybe our living in the big city means the hoards are less common than elsewhere?
Of course I’ve had to beat them—wait, I mean talk to them—the few times they’ve been in other parts of the library and made too much noise. I don’t think it is possible to make too much noise in the kids’ section (it’s on its own floor in our library).
@50
So what’s the harm of having an adult using a kid’s computer terminal? I think it’s a (slightly) ill-thought out policy that has a legitimate flaw to it. However, a proper response would be a quiet note in a suggestion box and waiting for it to be addressed.
A year-long vendetta in the company a nut who thinks Bengazhi was a result of Obama’s gay sex and coke snorting and a fear of the populace and porn is not a proportionate response.
woozy wrote:
I don’t know the reason behind it, but the policy may not have just been arbitrarily created. But if there is a lot of demand for computers in that library, children may have found themselves unable to find a computer to use (to do homework, etc), and the policy may have been created in direct response to that.
#21: Moggie,
As a librarian and atheist, I have never, ever, thought of myself as one of Satan’s Handmaidens. (LOL!) I’m telling my co-workers this, now.
One of the things that I noticed was that she spoke with that annoying (to me) vocal fry – but only until the cameraman interjected. She stopped it after that. Odd.
@52 ck
My guess is that Internet access through the children’s computers gets filtered differently from the regular (“adult”) computers and that that is a reason to reserve those computers for children so that immature adults don’t block those computers (either maliciously on purpose or because they want to be pampered through the filters).
I think the sadest thing about Megan Fox is that every time I watch one of her videos I see someone who never grew out of (or just recently entered) that awkward phase of their lives. Obviously I don’t know her, but I just see someone acting like they are competing for attention or power, like we all did, just when we were 12-16 yrs old. It’s as if High School never ended and we just didn’t grow up. I Don’t want to sue people like that. I pity them. But then again, perhaps a dose of the adult world will help her grow.
A few folks have asked about this, but if you read carefully, you’ll see that she’s not actually filed suit against anyone. Rather, she files endless FOIA requests, and then complains to the Attorney General’s office on the faintest pretext. The six-digit legal fees for the library are probably from consultations about these filings–first advising them on what they can/must provide for a FOIA request, and then again when the Attorney General’s office calls about the complaints. Since I suspect her requests often include a good bit of information that would not be distributed (it wouldn’t surprise me that she’s used them to try and acquire personal details about the librarian, for instance). that means that she gets to file a lot of appeals and so forth.
Sadly, that’s not going to create much of an opportunity for a ‘frivolous litigation’ complaint–there’s no litigation involved, just endless paperwork. That’s why it’s the librarian who is suing, claiming defamation and libel. I’m not sure if the government could sue on behalf of the library itself or not.
“So what’s the harm of having an adult using a kid’s computer terminal? ”
What is wrong with having this particular adult use a kid’s computer is a better question.
The harm of using a kid’s terminal: imagine you’re a kid, in the children’s section, and you want to use the computers set up for kids’ use, and there is a great big adult, who already has all the privileges you don’t get, taking up the seat that is rightfully yours. There’s a major power differential. Do you go up to them and tell them to get off your computer and use the one for adults upstairs?
This is why it’s a good idea to designate something as specifically for the kids, and not for the adults, and to enforce it consistently.
PZ Myers
I agree with that but I also think having short term use computers specifically for parents around there would be a good idea. The adult computers have massive lines at my library where you’re waiting for 4 hours and there’s a huge problem with people having their kids (with all their stuff in tow) using them because they take up a lot of space, there aren’t extra chairs for the kids, and the kids are bored. If you need to multi-task and send out quick emails and such while the kids enjoy storytime I don’t see why that doesn’t happen. It’s not like you can just leave your kids there with the librarian while they’re doing activities or reading quietly.
Maybe parents could try reading a book while they are waiting for their kids at the library. I hear the library has books now.
Josef Mulroney,
Way to be dismissive of poor people when they can only access computers at the library and so much happens online now. There are a lot of parents struggling with that and it’s not like people like it when they use the regular adult computers.
Excuse me for proposing a solution for a problem that affects people like me.
For your information, I read a fucking lot and have a internet connection but considering my life, I can’t say the latter with last so I might actually be in that position again. Just sitting there reading when you have shit to do for jobs, school, and other organizations online is hard because you’re stressed out of needing to do that now. Those things come first but you can’t drop your kid off and they’re itching to go have fun while you get shit done, so there you are with your kid(s) in the adult computer area where fucking everyone hates you for being poor with children. So having computers around so you can do stuff while being there would solve that. There’s obviously rules, placing, and such considerations but saying “just read, you’re in a library” doesn’t solve anything.
But whatthefuckever, be an asshole.
Many libraries already have these. What makes you think that there aren’t any at the library in question?
microraptor
Because no one mentioned them. I haven’t seen computers for parents in libraries before so while people were arguing “why can’t adults use computers there for [reasons]” I brought up a solution to those reasons without taking away computers for children.
Yeah, this person is clearly just a right wing shit-stirrer looking for thing to get offended about but JAL et al have a point that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a couple terminals for adult use in the kids area. Maybe with signs making it clear that they are only for parents/guardians/teachers/otherfolkwhatmightbeherdingchildrens.
Most public libraries I’ve been in have a mix of short term(~15 min), stand-up kiosks and longer term ( at least 60 min, with extensions assuming no one else is waiting) sit-down stations. Putting at least one or two of the short term kisks in the kids area shouldn’t be too much hassle.
Perhaps the Friends of [this] Library could consider grant-writing/fundraising for laptops that can be checked out from the circulation desk and then used in locations such as the children’s section?
I know my public library system has such laptops available, in addition to the desktop computers in fixed locations. Perhaps when this branch left their Larger Library System that particular option went away and hasn’t been re-initiated yet? (though it wouldn’t surprise me if they _do_ have laptops available, and Ms Fox is willfully and persistently ignorant of that.)
Anyway…thanks for the reality-check, JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness. I’m sorry your experience has been so sucky.
Now I have to wonder if there’s a way to get “computing areas for grown-ups with kids to supervise, where grown-ups can get shit done and kids can do library-appropriate kid things” onto the radar as a “Cool! NEW! Thing!” for libraries to develop. Seems like such a thing would hit several of the Providing Resources parts of library Mission Statement thingies simultaneously.
I didn’t mean to make this difficult. And all policies will have their upsides and downsides.
If I had heard a story from someone I knew, liked and respected (not Megan Fox, in other words) and he told me of taking his kids in to look for books and his wanting to keep an eye on them and taking the opportunity to do a quick errand on the computer, but being unable to because all terminals were reserved for children only, I would have been sympathetic.
“Hmm, that’s an oversight they hadn’t considered,” I would say. “Why don’t you leave a suggestion in the suggestion box that they modify their policy to allow supervising parents to use the terminals for ten minutes at times when no children are waiting.”
And if after a week or so the librarian answers with a response much like PZ’s #59, I’d shrug and say “Oh, well. I tried. I still think it would have been a good idea but oh well.”
I would *not* go on a year-long vendetta hooking up with a paranoid nut who thinks mainstream gays are trying to poison his cocktails because he thinks Whazzname Palin should win American Idol, rummaging trough lunch receipts and publishing library employees’ home addresses.
Ha! Plasterboard? Not on this continent. B-)
@14
oh, so THAT’S what LOL really stands for.
that’s a keeper.
“Way to be… …an asshole.”
i remember the glorious times when kids were dropped off in the kids section and mom, dad, or whoever went to the the adult section. it isn’t really all that difficult.
Josef Mulroney
Librarians are not babysitters. You’re speaking of only kids old enough to be by themselves in a public place and in areas safe enough to do so and ignoring younger children completely so your point is outdated and has no relevance.
Well, to be even-handed, I think kids are old enough to be by themselves at a much younger age and places that are safe to do so are much more common than we give credit for in these baselessly irrational and paranoid times.
But still this is a decision the parent has a right to make and if a parent doesn’t feel comfortable leaving her six and three year old alone in the children’s room, it’s her right to feel that isn’t comfortable for her. Heck, if she doesn’t feel comfortable leaving her *13* year old kid alone in the children’s room, that’s her right.
I’m under the impression Fox’s children are pre-schoolers and toddlers. I think most parents (and librarians) wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them unattended. Also toddlers and preschoolers can be argued to be somewhat disruptive and distracting in adult section. However I, personally, wouldn’t be very concerned about kids this young being inadvertently exposed to salacious images of oiled bare breasts. … but other parents might.