"Seems crazy that you can get jailed for words." Imagine your house is on fire, everything you own is burning down, and your child is stuck inside. You call th

"Seems crazy that you can get jailed for words." Imagine your house is on fire, everything you own is burning down, and your child is stuck inside. You call the fire department, and learn that the firefighter dispatched to you believes children are so annoying they should all die, and that saving them is an inconvenience. You learn that he's communicated with people he'd much rather save a TV or laptop than a child. In that situation, would you trust that firefighter to do his job effectively? Would you trust him to save your child, and to make every effort to do so? Or would you think he's about to let your child die, because he's a terrible person, and wonder which other firefighters would have let your kid die that you didn't know about? That's why he can be jailed for words: because he's a public servant whose words proved he would not serve the public effectively in emergencies, which lends itself to doubting whether other public servants would do the same. Jail/prison serves several purposes, one of which is to act as a deterrent to behavior which harms others; this behavior did just that, and worse if it would lead people to hesitate calling for help in an emergency, because they're not sure the help would come fairly.