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dystopian science fiction, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, obstruction charge, Peter Watts

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In his post-apocalyptic (and/or pre-apocalyptic) novel Maelstrom, biologist and sci fi writer Peter Watts describes a near-future customs office where thuggish guards brutalize civilians at will.

“Technically, of course, it was not an assault,” he writes. “Both aggressors wore uniforms and badges conferring the legal right to beat whomever they chose.”

That book of dystopian science fiction, published in 2001, was meant to describe social conditions five decades from now. Ironically, a piece of that sad future came true for Watts last December when he was pummelled and pepper-sprayed by customs officers in the border town of Port Huron, Michigan.

By Watts’ account, the beating started when he asked why his car was being searched.

He may now go to a U.S. prison for taking his lumps after a court decision last Friday which convicted him under the Michigan penal code of obstructing officers.

Claims that Watts tried to strangle a guard during the melee were quashed by witness accounts and security tapes, but Watts was still found guilty, contrary to a broadly-worded statute, of “failure to comply with a lawful command.”

Watts’ moment of criminality amounts to one incredulous instant where he answered an officer’s demand to hit the pavement with, “What is the problem?”

Watts’ hesitation earned him a facefull of pepper spray and may now result in two years of jail time plus a $2,000 fine.

In a blog entry posted shortly after his trial, Watts stated, “Basically, everything from asking ‘Why?’ right up to chain-saw attack falls under the same charge. And it’s all a felony.”

Watts has blogged throughout his experience in sharp-witted, irony-keen prose. He’s earned a long tail of haters, supporters and over 1,000 online donors, who helped fund Watts’ defence through his website’s tip jar.

His two post-conviction posts present a brave face and sound more upbeat than blogs by sci fi author colleagues such as BoingBoing maestro Corey Doctorow and horror author David Nickle.

Watts promises rounds of beer to his lawyer, assorted commenters, the juror who apologetically noted “[Watts is] not a bad man,” on a Port Huron news site and even his prosecutor. He adds he’s eager to catch up on science consulting work back in Toronto.

Routine is advisable in crisis, but there’s the rub. How easy is it to settle in under such circumstances?

Over beers back in January Watts acknowledged the Kafkaesque grind of keeping up with daily life while knowing back-of-mind he’s on trial.

“No matter how free you are, there is always the weird grey cloud hanging over your head,” he said. “If you think about it for a second you realize of course, I could be going to jail for two years for something I didn’t do. You’re always aware that something’s wrong.”

Watts also admitted that as the author of darkly prescient novels such as Maestrom and Blindsight (a work of space noir so pessimistic it opens with a quote from serial killer Ted Bundy) he saw none of these events coming, at least not this decade.

“The whole point of writing a dystopian science fiction novel is to say dudes, this is where we could be headed if we’re not careful,” he explained. “The fact that we’re already there is – I am naive, I suppose, to be surprised by it.”

Watts at least enjoys the grace of sharing his predicament with others.

A number of online donations arrived with messages like, “This is in memory of the border guards who humiliated me and reduced me to tears on the day that my mother was killed in a car accident.”

Admittedly, though, he hasn’t heard from anyone facing criminal charges for their debacle.

Watts noted, with dismay, that belligerent border guards have become something of a new normal for travellers, who often describe them more as wild animals than public servants.

“There are these rules that everyone is supposed to know when dealing with U.S. Customs officials,” he said. “I’ve heard these rules invoked when you’re talking about dealing with angry grizzly bears in the Yukon – don’t make eye contact, be passive.”

For example, in a recent post on the Trade Lawyers Blog, Toronto barrister Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, advises the following in light of Watts’ conviction.

“The disagreement could have been avoided if Mr. Watts had appreciated the power of the border officer and just taken a more obsequious approach.”

While noting such comments stop short of victim-blaming, Watts expressed concern that threateningly unequal power relationships with officials have become a matter of course since September, 2001. In other words, routine.

“The general philosophical attitude that we are supposed to deal with border guards as thugs, that that’s just the way you do it,” he said, “that scares the hell out of me.”

Watts will be sentenced on April 26.