Brian Tanner was sitting in his Acura Integra recently outside the Palmer Library playing online games when a Palmer police pulled up behind him. The officer asked him what he was doing. Tanner, 21, was using the library's wireless Internet connection. He was told that his activity constituted theft of services and was told to leave. The next day, Sunday, police spotted him there again.

When I actually began working with my attorney, Marc Sussman, to gather the materials for the pardon, we were both a bit startled to notice that it had been 10 years since the conviction. And under Oregon law, this meant that I was now eligible for an expungement, rather than clemency. We quickly shifted gears to getting the necessary fingerprints (one more time) and affidavits signed, and then waiting the few months for the result. (While the process is a fairly mechanical one, there were still some possible snags.)
I'm happy to announce that the expungement order was signed effective 1 Feb 2007. That is, as of this date, if someone asks me "have you ever been convicted of a crime?", my fully legal answer to any and all concerned is a resounding, "no". (This is similar to what happens to someone's juvenile convictions as they become an adult. For all intents and purposes, the crimes simply no longer exist.) The PDF of the "order to set aside" is already up on the FORS website (http://www.lightlink.com/fors/); thanks to Steve Pacenka for putting that up quickly. Thus, I am announcing, "nothing".