Threatened

[Stat-Man]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

So I was threatened at a men's league game this week.

Player came at me and said, "I'm going to get you!" He had to be physically restrained. I almost said "do it and you'll go to jail". lol

I asked for his name so that I can file a police report, but I don't believe he's actually going to come and find me. Still debating if I'm going to file.

Fwiw, my partner and I had 8 T's over two games with 2 ejections. I've already blacklisted the league for the rest of the season.

I've officiated two other leagues where the league was told to "shape up" or the officiating group would "remove out services". In those cases, I'd never been on the receiving end of a tirade, so I couldn't relate. I don't think that this league will "get to that stage", but now I know how these things progress.

You should file for no other reason than the paper trail. It gives the officiating association/group something to back up their stance on should they decide to pull out due to too many problems.

[Moosie74]

Coming from the law enforcement side of the argument I'm not sure how much of a valid complaint you have if there is only one excited utterance of a threat without any other factors being present.

I know our DA would no complaint this in a heartbeat.

In most cases you need to have a valid fear of danger to life or property and it has to be repeated and the complainant needs to advise the other party of their dissent in a verbal disagreement.

Physical attacks are a different matter but it does not sound like there was any contact.

I would file a written complaint with your association and the commissioner of the league but that's really as far as it can go.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Moosie74

Coming from the law enforcement side of the argument I'm not sure how much of a valid complaint you have if there is only one excited utterance of a threat without any other factors being present.

I know our DA would no complaint this in a heartbeat.

In most cases you need to have a valid fear of danger to life or property and it has to be repeated and the complainant needs to advise the other party of their dissent in a verbal disagreement.

Physical attacks are a different matter but it does not sound like there was any contact.

I would file a written complaint with your association and the commissioner of the league but that's really as far as it can go.

He had to be physically restrained.

I'm filing a report and letting the LEOs make the decision from there.

[deecee]

I do love American law. Until someone actually does something, not much can be done to stop them. Always found it funny that until someone actually clubs you over the head you just have to wait for it to happen. Which brings up the philosophical question of until someone actually commits the act should they get in trouble (Minority Report)?

And it does make sense to me it's just such a catch22 for those that are involved in such situations.

[PG_Ref]

Originally Posted by deecee

I do love American law. Until someone actually does something, not much can be done to stop them. Always found it funny that until someone actually clubs you over the head you just have to wait for it to happen. Which brings up the philosophical question of until someone actually commits the act should they get in trouble (Minority Report)?

And it does make sense to me it's just such a catch22 for those that are involved in such situations.

Associating it back to basketball ... should you call a foul on a player before the foul is committed?

[deecee]

Originally Posted by PG_Ref

Associating it back to basketball ... should you call a foul on a player before the foul is committed?

The potential severity of what may happen are 2 different things, but yes the underlying idea is the same.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by PG_Ref

Associating it back to basketball ... should you call a foul on a player before the foul is committed?

IANAL nor a LEO, but I think the correct analogy would be:

Would you call a foul before contact? And, the answer is yes, if it's a non-contact T.

In the other case, the threat *can* be a crime.

[PG_Ref]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Would you call a foul before contact? And, the answer is yes, if it's a non-contact T.

I agree. I was only focusing on the "until someone actually does something" part of the statement.

[Adam]

A physical threat can be considered assault, especially if there's a legitimate reason to believe it. He had to be physically restrained by other players. I believe it.

Edit: I'm not a lawyer, but that's my understanding. Either way, no harm comes from filing.

[maven]

Originally Posted by Adam

A physical threat can be considered assault, especially if there's a legitimate reason to believe it. He had to be physically restrained by other players. I believe it.

Edit: I'm not a lawyer, but that's my understanding. Either way, no harm comes from filing.

Adam, 'assault' is defined by state law, and can vary from state to state.

In my state, a threat can constitute assault if certain conditions are met.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by maven

Adam, 'assault' is defined by state law, and can vary from state to state.

In my state, a threat can constitute assault if certain conditions are met.

Which is why I said "can", like most criminal terms, it varies by jurisdiction.

As for the juggler's jurisdiction, I have no idea what the Canadian ruling is.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Moosie74

I know our DA would no complaint this in a heartbeat.

He might. Probably would.

However, follow the sequence with an actual fight 2 days later. File no complaint, and you just have a fight. File a complaint and you have premeditation.

Also - if you file a complaint, the police are likely to at least talk to him ... you might be saving the next official from having a similar situation. Or if they get repeated complaints on the same guy...

Report it.