Is America a Police state?

[Revoltingest]

I like the last guy. LOL

I'm a gonna remember that technique!

 

[Dirty Penguin]

I believe this officer violated this lady's 1st Amendment right and possibly her 4th Amendment right and maybe even a misdemeanor assault on her when he snatched her cellphone while she was standing on a public side walk filming the police. He snatched her phone with force, through it on the ground, stepped on it and kicked it to her. What he didn't count on was another law abiding citizen across the street recording the whole incident.

Marshal caught on video smashing Beatriz Paez's phone - CNN.com

 

[Revoltingest]

I heard about this on the news today....
ACLU launches 'Mobile Justice' smartphone app to empower public to record police encounters | OregonLive.com
You can upload the info before the cops confiscate & destroy the phone.

 

[freethinker44]

I heard about this on the news today....
ACLU launches 'Mobile Justice' smartphone app to empower public to record police encounters | OregonLive.com
You can upload the info before the cops confiscate & destroy the phone.

I use Bambuser. It streams the content to the internet and/or stores it on the device. They confiscate the phone and destroy it, but if they can't log in to your account they can't delete it.

 

[Revoltingest]

I use Bambuser. It streams the content to the internet and/or stores it on the device. They confiscate the phone and destroy it, but if they can't log in to your account they can't delete it.

That would be the way to go (no crucial steps to take before they steal the phone).
Btw, any cop who steals the phone should be immediately arrested, & put in jail to await arraignment.

 

[freethinker44]

Btw, any cop who steals the phone should be immediately arrested, & put in jail to await arraignment.

I've actually been thinking about that. I think it should be a felony to even interfere with a video or audio recording of a public official on public property. It's fully thought through right now, so I'm not going to answer a bunch of what ifs, but in general I think that if someone is not physically interfering with an investigation it should be illegal to interfere with their recording of the investigation. This includes asking them to back up to a "safe" point that conveniently obstructs the view the investigation. And I would consider a soliciting a trespass from private owners to be interfering too. That's a tactic they like to use a lot. Someone is filming them from a store parking lot and they go ask a manager to allow them to trespass the individual from the parking lot and then arrest them for trespassing.

 

[Revoltingest]

I've actually been thinking about that. I think it should be a felony to even interfere with a video or audio recording of a public official on public property. It's fully thought through right now, so I'm not going to answer a bunch of what ifs, but in general I think that if someone is not physically interfering with an investigation it should be illegal to interfere with their recording of the investigation. This includes asking them to back up to a "safe" point that conveniently obstructs the view the investigation. And I would consider a soliciting a trespass from private owners to be interfering too. That's a tactic they like to use a lot. Someone is filming them from a store parking lot and they go ask a manager to allow them to trespass the individual from the parking lot and then arrest them for trespassing.

Aye, a cop preventing filming should be a felony with severe punishment.

 

[freethinker44]

Aye, a cop preventing filming should be a felony with severe punishment.

Well, I don't know what a punishment should be, but making it a felony I believe precludes a career in law enforcement, I could be wrong though. So at a minimum it would get bad cops of the force and make other cops stop and think about their future before violating some rights. And that's something to think about too. Why limit it to 1st amendment violations? No reason it shouldn't be applied to any rights violation.

 

[Revoltingest]

Well, I don't know what a punishment should be, but making it a felony I believe precludes a career in law enforcement, I could be wrong though. So at a minimum it would get bad cops of the force and make other cops stop and think about their future before violating some rights. And that's something to think about too. Why limit it to 1st amendment violations? No reason it shouldn't be applied to any rights violation.

I agree that it should apply to other offenses too.

 

[ShivaFan]

I would prefer the term "political state" than "police state". Which is the same thing, but worse. I wish the police would arrest the politicals and give them a ride.

 

[Revoltingest]

I remember this case.
The kid almost died.
News from The Associated Press

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued reprimands and suspensions of up to seven days to agents involved in detaining a college student who was handcuffed and forgotten in a cell for five days - punishments that drew criticism from the Justice Department and others for being too light.
The Justice Department, which oversees the DEA, said it was concerned the penalties might be inadequate and underscored the need for a broad review of the DEA's disciplinary practices.

A week suspension for dang near killing him?
I'd say a year in prison would be more appropriate.
Cops just aren't held accountable.

 

[freethinker44]

I remember this case.
The kid almost died.
News from The Associated Press

A week suspension for dang near killing him?
I'd say a year in prison would be more appropriate.
Cops just aren't held accountable.

I don't think police and courts should be allowed to jail people without being convicted of a crime. At least for non-violent crimes anyways, if they pose a credible threat to society, like they're being charged with murder or rape or something, but not drug possession and never for a civil violation.

 

[Revoltingest]

One way government can control us is by having so many laws, that they simply aren't knowable, aren't anything one could anticipate, & have grave consequences.
IRS Seized $107,000 From Him. He’s Fighting to Get It Back.
How many of you know it's illegal to make cash deposits which are less than $10,000, but total $10,000 in a year?
If you have a business which takes in cash, you're legally required to save it up until it's over $10,000 before depositing it.
Otherwise, they can take it from you with no due process.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

One way government can control us is by having so many laws, that they simply aren't knowable, aren't anything one could anticipate, & have grave consequences.
IRS Seized $107,000 From Him. He’s Fighting to Get It Back.
How many of you know it's illegal to make cash deposits which are less than $10,000, but total $10,000 in a year?
If you have a business which takes in cash, you're legally required to save it up until it's over $10,000 before depositing it.
Otherwise, they can take it from you with no due process.

You keep this up, you may find yourself keeping company with those of us who are way out in the left-field.

 

[Revoltingest]

You keep this up, you may find yourself keeping company with those of us who are way out in the left-field.

If you look far enuf to the left, you'll see me visiting over there on occasion.
As is oft said of us....we're to the left of Kennedy, & to the right of Reagan.

 

[Revoltingest]

Travel around in Americastan?
Cops will be watching, & they have a plan.
Carrying cash?
They'll take your stash.
There's no due process when stopped by The Man.
Police cash confiscations still on the rise

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I saw four different vehicles at four different locations being searched on my way home from work yesterday.
I have a hard time believing that was just a coincidence that police had reasonable suspicion to be searching that many people within such short of a time span. But, then again, 'tis the season for the cops to be searching just to search and police radios tend to come to live around this time of year with police doing searches.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Travel around in Americastan?
Cops will be watching, & they have a plan.
Carrying cash?
They'll take your stash.
There's no due process when stopped by The Man.
Police cash confiscations still on the rise

Can I say on behalf of the rest of the world that your civil forfeiture laws are about as weirdly messed up and open to abuse as anything we've ever had the misfortune/perverse pleasure of viewing?

 

[Revoltingest]

Can I say on behalf of the rest of the world that your civil forfeiture laws are about as weirdly messed up and open to abuse as anything we've ever had the misfortune/perverse pleasure of viewing?

You may say that....please do!

Cops get to take our money if they suspect we don't deserve it.
Then they get to use it for their own benefit.
How can that go wrong?

As I recall, even the Canuckistanian gov warns their citizens to
be careful about carrying lots'o cash around our thieving cops.

How things have changed since our Constitution became a "living document" (ie, it can be changed without formal amendment).
- We must legally have our "papers" (ID) with us at all times.
- We're not allowed to have too much cash.
- We're subject to searches without probable cause.
- These searches can be so extreme that they meet the FBI definition of rape.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

You may say that....please do!

Cops get to take our money if they suspect we don't deserve it.
Then they get to use it for their own benefit.
How can that go wrong?

As I recall, even the Canuckistanian gov warns their citizens to
be careful about carrying lots'o cash around our thieving cops.

How things have changed since our Constitution became a "living document" (ie, it can be changed without formal amendment).
- We must legally have our "papers" (ID) with us at all times.
- We're not allowed to have too much cash.
- We're subject to searches without probable cause.
- These searches can be so extreme that they meet the FBI definition of rape.

I saw a story on civil forfeiture on John Oliver, and found it so bizarre in terms of lack of oversight, etc, that I then went and read up a little.
Weird. In a country that so defends freedom of speech, it seems incongruous to have such clear loopholes in procedure.