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Sex Offender Gets New Hearing After Hearing Officer Rants Against Arial Font
ericgoldman writes "People often feel passionately about fonts, but government decisions shouldn't depend on what font people choose for their written submissions. In Massachusetts, a sex offender overturned the decision of a hearing officer after it was determined that (among other possible biases) the hearing officer posted to Facebook that he 'can't trust someone who drafts a letter in arial font!' and 'I might be biased. I think arial is inappropriate for most things.' This is just the latest example of how social media rants by government workers are causing problems for the workers — and the people they deal with."
.... most American legal jurisdictions have Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, that specify the format legal pleadings are supposed to take. They're usually quite specific on the allowable fonts, font sizes, line spacing, the format they expect for the numbering of paragraphs, and so on. Lawyers and pro-say litigants ignore these rules at their own peril, as doing so is liable to get your case dismissed outright and at the very least will seriously annoy the Judge. Of course, most Judges don't take this annoyance, combine it with a bunch of other rants, then post it on Facebook....
It does amuse me that so-called higher educated professionals just as liable to open mouth and insert foot on Facebook as the immature uneducated brats (I was, like, at work, and like, you know that patient, like, from the other day? He's, like, a total asshole.) I have the misfortune of calling co-workers.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
If you spend your time dealing with sex offenders, and your rants are about Arial, is it possible that you might have your priorities in poor order?
All government documents should be in a fixed-width font. Anything else is just crazy.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
"a sex offender overturned the decision of a hearing officer"
I'm not sure it's a good idea to let the defendant be in charge of the judicial process.
People can have opinions, but those who feel the need to rant about such things are simply being asshats when they hold a position of public trust. They can reign it in or find a private sector job.
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
...now if it were Comic Sans, I would TOTALLY agree.
Koans and fables for the software engineer
He sounds like he must write everything in Comic Sans, or Canterbury.
{sigh}
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
...in Comic Sans MS is an alright dude.
Back in the 90s, I had a job teaching MS Office to people. One class I was hired for was to teach a bunch of local judges how to use Word.
While discussing how to change fonts, one of the judges says, "Huh! Anal font, what the hell is an ANAL font!"
Maybe it is the same judge!
I recall when I was first confronted with the reason Word Perfect was still (at the time) preferred for legal documents and especially court documents. That formatting absolutely needed to look a certain way even if it was ugly and primitive looking. Word Perfect could do it, MS Word not so much. I thought it was ridiculous, but perhaps not as ridiculous as this story.
That should be a shooting offence. I recall working for a company who had a new director of marketing. She did everything -- everything -- in PPT, even memos. Her preferred font was Comic Sans and the concept of a colour space for documents was basically science fiction to her.
Yeah, the company went under. How did you guess?
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
Also, spreadsheets. I find I dislike spreadsheets that use mono-space fonts, Times New Roman, or Calibri. Arial just seems the natural font for spreadsheets.
You'll never get hired for what you say on Twitter, but you may get fired for what you say on Twitter.
social media rants by government workers are causing problems for the workers
Seems to me more like "social media helps to uncover insane asshats among government workers".
Seriously, this guy apparently prejudiced against someone in a sexual assault case based on a font - he just gave everyone with whose cases he was involved a cause to ask for a retrial.
What are the chances an innocent person went to jail cause he didn't like their font or their hair style?
Once again this just proves that if you give asshats enough rope, they will eventually hang themselves with it.
I say "thumbs up" for the social media.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Most people write with the default font of whatever word processor they use.
I just this past week had the opportunity to read some legal filings in the case between a friend of mine and his former wife over custody. Since he can't afford a lawyer, he fills out forms the court gives him and does it.... BY HAND.
Give me some arial any day of the week.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
There were several comments which seemed not to really be supporting claims of bias (Arial font, hating the word lascivious), together with some things that are as likely to be just being inconvenienced (e.g. a police report in spanish I suspect is included to imply racism, but is just as likely to be complaining much in the same way I might complain if someone gave me something in German).
But the vast majority of comments were more cut and dry 'I hate the people who I'm called upon to conduct hearings for', which would be the more relevant serious half of this.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Raving on Facebook about a font means you're irrational and unstable. But you're irrational and unstable whether you rave about fonts on social media or not. Social media is just a handy and free barometer of already existing conditions. If anything, it should be considered a useful tool - people self-identify.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
This from a State where the data sharing laws are so ancient they cannot provide electronic files but only paper printouts, at 50 cents a page. And where our State Stormtroopers speed around illegally in unmarked cruisers, writing tickets for the same laws they are violating. Why am I not surprised that in Massachusetts' halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls?
You can at least be more likely to know what you are getting when a public official rants stupidly in public. The people who never ever rant publicly likely harbor as bad if not worse sentiments privately, and the populace is none the wiser.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
I've never met someone who picked Myriad over Arial that I couldn't trust. Clearly he's discovered this secret.
In all seriousness, dealing with criminals as a profession doesn't mean you can't have a personal life. Maybe he's into typography and felt like ranting on his personal time. I've said similar things jokingly, though perhaps court workers need higher standards.
Don't know that I'd fault social media for an asshat on a power trip.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
Arial looks better to me on low-resolution displays (almost every computer monitor), because serifs look ugly and anti-aliasing usually makes things worse. On high resolution displays (a lot of tablets and smartphones) and print on real paper, the original reason for serifs holds: they lead the eye and improve reading speed.
i'm going to write a strong letter using Helvetica Narrow
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I can't take Arial seriously because I can't read it.
rn (RN) looks like m (M)
Il (IL) look like LL or II, L still don't know which.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
I could be wrong, but shouldn't the Windows default font be considered a reasonable choice? Not everybody is inclined to change the font. And even if they were, what is wrong with Arial?
Sure there will be such cases, but mostly the conflict is between old style prejudices that date from a time when things weren't as public and there weren't as many opportunities for moral outrage , with a modern time that offers a flood of information that makes your private thoughts suddenly a lot more public.
A more realist reaction would be to be a lot more tolerant towards inappropriate thoughts.
Someone blurts out they are biased and the problem is the rant was heard?
Isn't the real problem the fact the hearing officer admitted he was biased?
On another note, I'm currently at a government office and I just checked the default font in MS Word, its "Arial Maori".
"This is just the latest example of how social media rants by government workers are causing problems for the workers — and the people they deal with.""
No, this is just the latest example of how people posting stupid shit online come back to bite them in the ass.
I'm still amazed that 20 years in, most people still have no idea how to act like rational, civil human beings online.
I don't respond to AC's.
This is interesting because web sites like Facebook ban sex offenders from using it in its terms of service (or so I'm told as I've never read them) and some jurisdictions ban paroled or probationed sex offenders from using social networking sites. And there have been some jurisdictions (California for one) that have tried to force all registered sex offenders to register with the government their e-mail addresses and their social media logins, thereby making them public record and allowing the Facebooks and Twitters of the world to easily find them.
This case is an advertisement for why everyone should have access to the Internet without restriction regardless of their current status. It seems that this guy was not on some kind of supervised release, for if he was he'd likely never find out about these biased comments by the hearing officer.
This case is also the reason why I don't blog or express too many of my more private thoughts online but instead sequester them in a paper diary. (No one reads Slashdot comments so this place doesn't count.) No one is going to stumble across my more biased ramblings and opinions through an unfortunate Google search.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, people still don't understand the concept of the totally public nature of social media. Even if this person didn't understand the privacy settings, sharing with "friends" doesn't necessarily mean those friends won't tell their friends who have their entire lives posted on Facebook.
I have no idea about the facts of the case, but I know I wouldn't want someone who was willing to post things like that on a public forum making a determination that meant I would never get a job, never be able to rent an apartment, etc. without difficulty again. I would want at least a shot at an impartial hearing, which it doesn't sound like this person is capable of giving. I'm sure people who deal with this stuff every day get jaded, kind of like veteran police detectives after 20 years of non-stop criminals. But, those same people expose their beliefs online and think it won't come back to bite them. When your job is to hand out the electronic Scarlet Letters, you shouldn't post/tweet that you're not going to give people a fair shot.
This is going to be interesting over the next decade. Either people will really start getting themselves into bad situations with their oversharing, or the next generation of MBAs/politicians will roll in and expect 100% posting of your life online. Public figures (teachers, judges, police, etc.) are under a lot more scrutiny than the average citizen also...and they should realize that.
The problem WAS earlier, before people were stupid enough to post such things online, that such bias STILL existed, STILL influenced decisions, but could not be identified and rectified.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Where are all the slashdot typesetting snobs proclaiming "if it doesn't have proper ligatures, it's an abhorrence!" ?!
Almost every font in use has fixed-width digits, including Arial. There are fonts out there designed mostly for display work that only have proportional digits, or as part of larger family which has options for both. But in general, unless you try very hard, all those numerical columns will line up.
But fonts are important. Michigan secretary of state invalidated signatures collected for a ballot measure because it did not have the right font or right point size. http://www.eclectablog.com/2012/07/michigan-sec-of-state-johnson-if-pa-4-repeal-petition-font-is-wrong-all-other-ballot-initiatives-are-disqualified-too.html
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Or Klingon opinion, anyway:
"Captain's log, stardate 9522.6. I've never trusted Klingons, and I never will. I can never forgive them for the death of my boy. It seems to me our mission to escort the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council to a peace summit is problematic at best. Spock says this could be an historic occasion and I'd like to believe him. But how on Earth can history get past people like me?"
Scarce, scared, scarred, sacred... -Col. Bruce Hampton
Don't forget good kerning! Though with a schoolbook font (love those) it doesn't matter quite as much.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Was the username retarded already taken?
I guess IHaveNoReadingComprehensionSkills was too long...
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Calilbri or Verdana are better though because they have a larger x-height.
We should make there read all pleadings in blackletter, that will give them a headache, I generally find it much harder to read any length of text in a font of that class than schoolhouse or an italic.
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
It's painful to watch, but US Army just made Arial the required typeface for all official correspondence. Arial is now a weapon system.
That would go too far.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Two ways to read that. 1.) A sex offender (stopped reading) overturned the decision of a hearing officer, and 2.) a sex offender overturned the decision of a hearing officer.
In the first case, the whole sex offender thing creates an opinion before anything else happens; the second way, judgement is suspended until all information is read.
I am John Hurt.
Two ways to read that. 1.) A sex offender (stopped reading) overturned the decision of a hearing officer, and 2.) a sex offender overturned the decision of a hearing officer.
In the first case, the whole sex offender thing creates an opinion before anything else happens; the second way, judgement is suspended until all information is read.
What GP characterised as confusing was the notion that the sex offender overturned anything -- what actually happens in such a case is that a judge overturns the decision. Since you apparently missed the civics fail and went off on something unrelated, we're left to assume you read it in way "1. )".
It could have turned into a Helvetica Scenario.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
1.) A sex offender (stopped reading) overturned the decision of a hearing officer
Comment on summary confusing! Maybe I'm just tired but I can't grasp the meaning of "(stopped reading)"
Hey, are you parodying my sig? :p
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
The legal system can't afford to lose any more public confidence and still continue to function. A new hearing shows a willingness to take their jobs seriously.
Pro se means that it was done by the individual rather than by a lawyer for the individual. Usually that means by someone without a legal education, so they often do small things wrong (e.g. arial font) or make arguments that have little chance of winning. It is a tricky job to try and deal with pleadings, complaints, or other documents filed by pro se individuals because the court has to find the line in terms of how far out of its way it should go to interpret their arguments to see if there's a legal argument buried somewhere in there.
Of course someone should look past the font in a pro se piece, but skepticism because of the font is understandable and shouldn't really disqualify someone from evaluating the paper. That being said, once you have a public admission of skepticism in the font it undermines confidence in the judicial process (i.e. looks bad), even though it's just being honest and human, so maybe reassignment on appeal is reasonable.
If you spend your time dealing with sex offenders, and your rants are about Arial, is it possible that you might have your priorities in poor order?
Writing a letter in a Sans-serif doesn't make you a sex-offender, just a sociopath.
No. It isn't. It's an insanely trivial matter of absolutely no merit.
Justice is about facts and the most fact-related evaluation of guilt possible. Making judgements based on a font is sheer incompetence unless the font is so unreadable as to make reading impossible. And in which case the reaction needs to be "prepare this again, this time using a font I can read" and nothing else.
Firing the hearing officer would also be eminently reasonable, as would formally re-evaluating every judgement they've made in pursuit of their job. Due to the profoundly obvious fact that said hearing officer is an incompetent boob who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near decisions that affect other people's lives.
And frankly, if slashdot would allow me to, I'd have written this entire post in comic sans.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
...he's right! If you use Arial, you are quite obviously a stupid windows user who doesn't give a 2nd thought about font choice, so you're unlikely to think about anything else in your life.
Arial, think about it! The Wannabe-Helvetica used because Microsoft was too cheap to buy a Helvetica license.
Seriously, I'm right there with him. People who use Arial can't be trusted. People who use Arial in a letter rightfully deserve to get everything they ask in it denied.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
because one cannot distinguish between several characters which are just vertical bars
Atari rules... ermm... ruled.
... oh he said Arial... not Ariel... now if it was a rant against Ariel.... said hearing officer has more problems than just about fonts...
Arial is the best font ever made. It's readable from the farthest distance and at the highest speed. Serifs are just bullshit that get in the way. Times New Roman is for idiots who don't know how to change the default font in their software. All websites I design and all documentation I make are in Arial. This guy should be fired just on the basis of how wrong he is.
Dejavu sans (or serif, if printed) or get of my damn lawn.
Times (and helvetica etc) are so damn ugly.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Newspaper fonts were optimized for totally different goals than making it pleasant to read hours worth of text. If the goal is to minimize fatigue when reading for hours, the result of that optimization is a good book font.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
A bunch of people, uneducated in law or the actual matter of the trial, who really don't want to be there but are too stupid to come up with an excuse to be let go?
So they are bored, angry and just want to go home?
Or worse - people who think that it is their patriotic duty to pass judgement on others.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens