http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/11/dr-peter-watts-canad.html

Hugo-award-nominated science fiction author Dr. Peter Watts is in serious legal trouble after he was beaten, pepper-sprayed and imprisoned by American border guards at a Canada U.S. border crossing December 8. This is a call to friends, fans and colleagues to help.

This is an author I'm a personal fan of. He was in transit back to his home country earlier this week and violently beaten and pepper sprayed, and worse, by DHS border security on spurious charges. He offered no resistance or offense. Apparently one of the guards confiscated a notebook that contained some plot ideas for stories and pegged him as a terrorist.

This is what happens when the DHS gets involved.

We're always getting beaten down by the Man.

(Horrible story, though. Hope it all gets resolved quickly!)

So is he charged with being Canadian without a license or with intent to distribute science fiction?

He's still under arraignment and the sentence for the alleged crime is two years. In addition, people who tangle with the DHS generally get on the no-travel to the US list. The author is taking donations to cover legal costs but he's in danger of bankruptcy if the legal costs are high. He's basically taking on the DHS.

i didn't think anyone on the us/canadian border knew anything about violence or impropriety

all hope is lost. i'm never getting out of bed again.

This makes me ill.

That said, I was once stopped by Canadian Border Patrol and my license taken because the uptight chick thought I and my goth friends were hookers. When the border guard asked how much money I had on me, he replied with, "Do you think that's enough?"

Disgusting.

He was released from the jail the next day but they left him overnight, half naked, soaked in a cold cell. Also, they confiscated all his property, including his car, and put him on the street after the last buses and trains for the night stopped running. Before the first big winter storm.

Sigh.

It's really fucked up.

But he's probably the most cantakerous sci-fi writer out there. Hopefully he'll fight and win.