{"id":8799,"date":"2006-04-13T13:47:29","date_gmt":"2006-04-13T20:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/04\/13\/in-the-good-old-columbine.html"},"modified":"2006-04-13T13:47:29","modified_gmt":"2006-04-13T20:47:29","slug":"in_the_good_old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/13\/in_the_good_old.html","title":{"rendered":"In the Good Old Columbine"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s still a whole bunch of material related to the Columbine shootings that are under lock and key by the county authorities. Some of it was once revealed to the media, but once “leaks” occured, it was locked down tight. But, seven years later — why? <\/a> Is it because there’s such an incredible risk of provoking copy-cat gun sprees? Or is it because it would likely provide still more embarrassment to those same county authorities?<\/p>\n

Welcome, once more, to the basement tapes — nearly four hours of posing, boasting and bitching by the obnoxious gods of self-awareness, two teenage killers-to-be named Harris and Klebold. The footage was shot in the last weeks of their short lives, the final segment just a few hours before the rampage at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, that left fifteen dead and seriously injured two dozen more. Seized by Jefferson County investigators right after the shootings, the tapes have been sitting in an evidence vault for the past seven years, seen by almost no one — except, of course, a small army of cops, attorneys, reporters, victims’ families, expert witnesses and assorted hangers-on.<\/p>\n

That could change soon. Following a surprising decision by the Colorado Supreme Court last fall, which held that the tapes are part of the “records” generated by the Columbine investigation, Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink has been wrestling with the biggest quandary of his law-enforcement career. Should he refuse to release the basement tapes on the grounds that their dissemination is still (in the words of the state’s Criminal Justice Records Act) “contrary to the public interest” — and thus prolong a five-year court battle with the Denver Post? Or should he make the hate-filled rants, along with other long-suppressed writings and recordings taken from the killers’ homes, available to the world at last?<\/p>\n

Mink has postponed announcing his decision until after the seventh anniversary of the massacre next week — out of respect, his office says, for the victims’ families, some of whom have pushed for the release of the materials while others have opposed it. But if history is any guide, he will oppose the release, sending the whole controversy back to court. County officials have treated the killers’ writings and tapes as an anthrax-like deadly contagion that must not, under any circumstances, be inflicted on an unsuspecting populace. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The arguments for keeping it secret are … unconvincing.<\/p>\n

(via ObscureStore<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Remember: this is considered the front-runner for Best Documentary at the Oscars. 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A nice article on the history of subdivision\/neighborhood names in the Denver metro area from developer-based (\"Curtis Lake\") to generically inspiring (\"Columbine Knolls\")...","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/subdivisions.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4324,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/09\/24\/defensive_bowli.html","url_meta":{"origin":8799,"position":5},"title":"Defensive Bowling","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 24-Sep-03 3:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"MIchael Moore, in his typically understated style, is launching an ongoing defense of his documentary, Bowling for Columbine. 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