“He has been prohibited from attending classes since Feb. 29 — the day after sharing a story in which a character contemplates murdering his professor, then turns to thoughts of suicide.”
After what happened at Virginia Tech, am not surprised that red flags were raised.
“Campus officials then required Barber to undergo a series of mental heath evaluations. Campus police escorted Barber to a Frontier Health facility in Big Stone Gap. On Monday, Campus Safety Chief Steve McCoy said Barber was “involuntarily transported” for medical evaluation; that temporary detainment is “similar” to involuntary commitment, “as far as a police officer is concerned.”
So is the kid unstable? At what point was he expelled. WHY was he expelled? For writing the story? For possessing guns? Or for being involuntarily committed due to being an actual nutcase? If the latter, kicking him out was a good decision and the military shouldn’t let him back in either.
I think of all aspects of this story, the part about someone being taken to a mental hospital under police escort without a court order or the like, simply because someone didn't like what they read bugs me the most. What if you dared write that you think that homosexuals should be forbidden from their sinful relationships? Could you be hauled off to the hospital for an involuntary commitment? That aspect of it should result in a pretty good lawsuit - and I'm not a big fan of lawsuits.
If the university wanted to expel him, I think they got every right to. But there is a long road between separation of free association to holding someone against their will and subjecting them to the whims of a psych exam.