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From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl@KeithLynch.net>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom,rec.arts.sf.science,rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: idiots walk among us
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2025 11:25:03 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: United Individualist
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References: <0001HW.2D7BB48800F8D22B70000998A38F@news.supernews.com> <vqi9v6$adaq$1@dont-email.me> <vqif5c$2ph$1@reader1.panix.com> <5361bdf5c36863ce0258125a2247399a@www.novabbs.com>
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quadibloc <quadibloc@gmail.com> wrote:
> Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>> I had a wrongful felony conviction instead.  Complete with brutal
>> prison sentence followed by life-long collateral consequences,
>> despite a perfectly clean record for the past 48 years.  Would
>> not recommend.

> Was that felony conviction ever recognized as wrongful?

Yes and no.  The crime victim knew I was innocent, and hired me sight
unseen directly out of prison.  The federal government knew I was
innocent, and gave me a security clearance.  But the Commonwealth of
Virginia never recognized me as innocent.  So I'm still officially
a convicted felon to this day, despite having had a perfectly clean
record for all of my 68 years, other than the 11 days I had William
Kelly Shields as a roommate 48 years ago.  He went on to get a lengthy
criminal record, including a dishonorable discharge from the Army, and
finally committed suicide in 2004.

> Of course, you could still have other types of life-long
> consequences, like PTSD and physical health consequences.

My main life-long consequence is that I came down with something
like Trump Derangement Syndrome long before I ever heard of Trump,
i.e. I've long had a profound skepticism of government at every level.
I still believe that police, prosecutors, and jailers are best viewed,
not as protectors or forces for good, but as simply an especially
powerful criminal gang.

I lost my security clearance in 2000, not for any fault on my part,
but because of a moral panic about "criminals" with clearances.  We
all know what happened a year later.  Very likely the people who would
have learned of the 9/11 attacks in time to prevent them were among
the many who lost their clearances.  Feeling safer yet?

I regained my right to vote in 2016, not for any virtue on my part,
but because Virginia's Democratic governor wanted his gang of thugs
to win the 2016 presidential election rather than the rival gang of
thugs, and thought that restoring everyone's right to vote would
contribute to that.
-- 
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.