[Noisebridge-discuss] Lack of due process when Cynthia forced to leave

[rachel lyra hospodar]

The last time I talked to her about it, Erica was no longer feeling welcome
because Jesse (the same jesse) told her she wasn't enough of a hacker and
she should leave.

This after she had to ask him to stop calling her at 3am.

R.
On May 3, 2012 3:02 PM, "Jake" <jake at spaz.org> wrote:

> I couldn't have said it better myself.
>
> Why is Erica no longer feeling welcome?
>
> I have to say,  I have noticed that some people (including Jesse for sure)
> seem to be fulfilling my prediction that we could swing around into the
> reactionary zone after we started dealing with the occupiers.
>
> Please re-read the below and let's not make the same mistakes again.
> Calling the police is a LAST RESORT and shows bad judgement on the part of
> the people who did it.
>
> What would Jesse or Will have done if a couple of female members told them
> to leave?
>
> Carl said:
> You know I don't post here all that much, but I really felt that I had
> to respond to this...
>
> I've read through all of the comments about what transpired with
> Cynthia, on the discuss list and the meeting notes.  Although I haven't
> been present at Noisebridge during the past week, from what I've read so
> far, I am really not pleased about how people involved in this situation
> treated her.  (This would include Jesse, Will, and apparently a third
> man.)
>
> First of all, calling the police really should not be done unless:
>
> 1. Someone is harming or threatening harm to another person, causing
> damage to the space, stealing, or otherwise causing trouble or
> performing an illegal activity.
>
> 2. A person who has been officially banned from the space refuses to
> leave.  And by "official", I mean a due process has been followed
> whereas a previous discussion and consensus was taken to ban a
> particular person.
>
> 3. AND ONLY AFTER the Noisebridge community are unable to handle the
> situation on our own should we get the police involved.
>
>
> I find it troubling when individuals take it upon themselves to forcibly
> remove people from the space, who by all accounts of what I've read, did
> NOT cause any trouble prior to being asked to leave.  I believe it was
> wrong for Jesse and Will to have done what they did in this case, prior
> to taking it up at a meeting where the members could discuss and make a
> decision as to whether to ban Cynthia from the space, AND ONLY AFTER
> this discussion and consensus would it be appropriate to ask someone to
> not return.  (and as she brought up, informing her of this could have
> been done through email prior to her arrival in order to avoid this
> confrontation.)
>
> I am also troubled by the flippant and immature responses on this list
> about Cynthia being "crazy".  Her past talk of legal actions against
> Texas corporations has no bearing on what transpired.  As far as I can
> tell, she hasn't forng more people than prior to when the Oogles started
> arriving at the space.  The first time Noisebridge ever banned anyone,
> it took considerable discussion and a consensus process.  Nowadays it
> seems like any member can just ban anyone they don't like.  How and why
> did we get to this point?  And I'm not just talking about Cynthia here,
> but others as well.  (take Erica for example, who no longer feels
> welcome here.)
>
> And lastly, I think we need to stop this witch-hunt non-hacker hate
> mentality that we seem to be developing here, which will only drive away
> new people who may not be familiar with hacker culture.  If we try to
> make an effort to become friends with them, then we can encourage
> newcomers to contribute and learn to become hackers by involving them
> with our projects.  Instead of rejecting them, we should be trying to
> encourage them to become productive participants in our community.
>
>
> -Carl
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