The writings of the person who killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville last year cannot be released to the public, a judge ruled Thursday.
Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles found that The Covenant School children and parents hold the copyright to any writings or other works created by shooter Audrey Hale, a former student who was killed by police. As part of the effort to keep the records closed, Hale’s parents transferred ownership of Hale’s property to the victims’ families, who then argued in court that they should be allowed to determine who has access to them.
Myles agreed, ruling that “the original writings, journals, art, photos and videos created by Hale” are subject to an exception to the Tennessee Public Records Act created by the federal Copyright Act.
The shooter left behind at least 20 journals, a suicide note and a memoir, according to court filings. When the records requests were denied, several parties sued, and the situation quickly ballooned into a messy mix of conspiracy theories, leaked documents, probate battles and accusations of ethical misconduct. Myles’ order will almost surely be appealed.
None of that tells me how you would personally benefit from this killer’s writings being published.
Not dying:
Guy wants to kill me. Guy complains about me to their therapist without mentioning killing me. Therapist thinks “wait, this sounds like something I’ve read…”
And what they read was some lunatic’s writings that were released. Therapist is then able to report their concerns via appropriate channels and medicates my would-be killer, and I live another day.
That is crap. What-ifs don’t benefit you directly like that.
There is absolutely zero reason that the judge erred in his ruling.
You just want to feed your snoopy gene. Nothing else.
What do you mean?
When it comes to violence, I pretty much stop at the headlines. Watched brutal videos many years ago & I’m set for a lifetime on the bulk of true crime and also fictional violence.
I was actually wondering if materials could be released in a limited fashion: send an application, go to a reading room… try to avoid leaks but still let people get science done or whatnot.