Online message prompts lawsuit > UM student accused of violence threat

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ORONO — State Attorney General Andrew Ketterer on Tuesday filed a civil lawsuit against a University of Maine student who allegedly sent computer messages threatening violence against gays and lesbians on the Orono campus.

The lawsuit, filed in Penobscot County Superior Court, seeks a permanent injunction against Casey Belanger, 19, of Caribou, a UM sophomore.

If granted, the injunction would prohibit Belanger from sending threatening communications over the First Class campuswide computer network. It also would restrict his use of the First Class network in general, leaving it to the discretion of the campus Public Safety Department to determine if, and when, he could go online.

Belanger could face criminal prosecution if the injunction is granted and he violates its provisions. He also faces possible financial penalties from the state and possible disciplinary action from the university.

According to the lawsuit, an epithet-strewn message was sent over the First Class campus computer network Oct. 16 in which Belanger threatened to shoot a male homosexual student “in the back of the [expletive] head,” among other things.

The message exemplified the worst of violent threats that are prohibited under the Maine Civil Rights Act, according to Ketterer.

Making the message worse is the fact that it was spread throughout a university community where people presume it is safe to be diverse, Ketterer said.

“Bias-motivated threats of violence have absolutely no place anywhere in society, including our universities and colleges,” Ketterer said.

The lawsuit is the first one filed in Maine that deals with a hate crime involving the use of a computer, according to Assistant Attorney General Stephen Wessler, who is handling the case.

The case raises broad questions about the latitude regarding information sent over the Internet and other computer networks — a latitude that is beginning to be the focus of concern among some university officials on the 9,300-student campus where virtually everyone has a computer or has access to one.

The UM faculty senate has appointed a committee to deal with First Class network usage, said Evelyn Silver, interim director of the equal opportunity office at UMaine. Part of the committee’s discussion will be “application of existing policy on discrimination and harassment” over the computer, Silver said. UMaine policy prohibits discrimination and harassment.

Some students feel their anonymity is protected when they sit in front of a computer keyboard, Silver said.

“There is a feeling that somehow electronic communication is different from face-to-face or telephonic communication,” said Silver. According to Silver, many people seem to feel “that the First Amendment covers everything on the electronic network” but that is not necessarily the case, she said.

Specifically, the state’s lawsuit says Belanger used the First Class network, a burgeoning system provided by the university for students, faculty and staff. The network has about 9,000 users who can send and receive e-mail and other types of messages campuswide. The system also gives users the ability to plug into the worldwide Internet, although its main use is local.

One type of communication First Class users can send is called a resume which is a social message meant to attract certain types of people for the purposes of discussion or other activities, according to Wessler.

Some time this fall, Belanger reportedly posted a resume with his photograph and name that stated he “disliked fags,” according to the lawsuit. On Thursday, Oct. 16, another student posted under his own name a message which included Belanger’s resume and which asked, “Who does this kid think he is?”

The unidentified student sent the message to 10 other students and to four conference folders, which are similar to chat rooms, or sites where multiple users converse. The conference folders where the message was sent are labeled: “Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual,” “Religion,” “Politics,” and “Debate.”

Later that day, Belanger posted a message to the same four conference folders. He specifically referred to the other student’s message and included several curse-strewn statements regarding anatomy.

The lawsuit states Belanger’s return message also included an order to “die, screaming [name of student], burn in eternal [expletive] hell” and a threat that “you better watch your [expletive] back you little [expletive], I’m gonna shoot you in the back of the [expletive] if I ever see your [expletive].”

According to the suit, the message was “read by approximately 35 people on the “Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual public conference folder and, university officials believe, by a similar number of people on each of the three other folders.”

Calls to Belanger’s dormitory room were not returned Tuesday.

In addition to state action, the case also has been referred to the judicial affairs office on campus. Campus officials would not indicate what type of sanction might be imposed in the matter. The student conduct code, however, lists a number of possible sanctions for violations from dismissal to community service.

Groups representing gays and lesbians on campus registered strong reaction Tuesday.

The First Class network features open debate on a lot of issues, including anti-gay rights, “but this is way beyond political points of view or basic opinion. It’s threatening and rather savage,” said a member of the Wilde-Stein Alliance for Sexual Diversity who did not want to be identified. The 24-year-old campus group is named for writers Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein and includes members who are gay, lesbian and bisexual as well as members of the “transgender” community.

She said the case has stirred up fear among students who think they will be harmed while studying for their degrees.

“There are some people who are upset or scared. We’re amazed it was let on the public net, that there is no screening system, apparently, for violence,” she said.

UM President Peter Hoff issued a midafternoon statement saying the campus will act “quickly and decisively to stop such behavior.”

“While freedom to express one’s point of view is a treasured right, there is no such right to threaten bodily harm to others. The university does not, and will not, condone such behavior by anyone,” Hoff said.