A farewell to our rights?
I just read this article on Slashdot - "Photograph the Police, Get Arrested" and I have to admit that I am truly starting to be afraid for our rights in the US. I realize that we need to be careful of exposing our secrets or allowing terrorists access to critical infrastructure, but new laws such as the Patriot Act are being used against us.
Through broad interpretation of the new laws, and use of "executive orders," the Bush administration has managed to bring us closer to a police state than the founding fathers would have wished. Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, Franklin, et al were brilliant thinkers and purposely added protections to the constitution to prevent these things from happening.
As I said earlier, I am pretty isolated up here. It is a quiet area with little or no crime... certainly no violent crime. I believe that there has been one murder here in the past five years, and that was the result of a domestic dispute. Our biggest problem seems to be DUI charges. I have noticed that in addition to most of the charges usually associated with DUI (speeding, reckless driving, etc.) that I am seeing a lot of "Making Terrorist Threats" charges and convictions. Through broad interpretation of the Patriot Act the police are now using that section to charge people with a felony for waving a fist or offering to kick their asses. Now, we all know that the reason behind the DUI laws is because people are not in complete control of their faculties when they are intoxicated. I have also known a lot of rather belligerent drunks who, under the pressure of a traffic stop, would make threats to an officer. These are otherwise normal people who are not in control of themselves (that's why they were pulled over) and would not make similar threats when sober. Why are we allowing this to continue?
As far as taking photographs of police officers on duty, I can see no reason in the world that it should even be questioned. If they can use the dashboard cameras and interrogation room recordings against us, we need to be able to record them in the performance of their duties. All part of mounting a vigorous defense I would think. The only real exception would be when an undercover officer is involved, and in that case the recordings should be reviewed privately and a ruling made (if they can use secret judicial hearings, we should be able to as well).
Admittedly, these cases are probably the exception, but we must protect ourselves from tyranny. When I joined the military I swore an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States and although I have been discharged for many years I do not recall having been released from that oath.
If you follow the links through the article I linked above you will come to one that is worth the time it takes to see:
I am sure that things vary from state to state and that nothing in the world can compare to the advice of a licensed attorney, but for the lay person this is probably a good start.
We just need to start being more vigilant and working with our representatives to correct some of these "Big Brother" efforts by the administration. In the meantime, thankfully we have the ACLU. I am a member, joined a year ago when the wheels started to come off.
It isn't just for liberals anymore.....
Through broad interpretation of the new laws, and use of "executive orders," the Bush administration has managed to bring us closer to a police state than the founding fathers would have wished. Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, Franklin, et al were brilliant thinkers and purposely added protections to the constitution to prevent these things from happening.
As I said earlier, I am pretty isolated up here. It is a quiet area with little or no crime... certainly no violent crime. I believe that there has been one murder here in the past five years, and that was the result of a domestic dispute. Our biggest problem seems to be DUI charges. I have noticed that in addition to most of the charges usually associated with DUI (speeding, reckless driving, etc.) that I am seeing a lot of "Making Terrorist Threats" charges and convictions. Through broad interpretation of the Patriot Act the police are now using that section to charge people with a felony for waving a fist or offering to kick their asses. Now, we all know that the reason behind the DUI laws is because people are not in complete control of their faculties when they are intoxicated. I have also known a lot of rather belligerent drunks who, under the pressure of a traffic stop, would make threats to an officer. These are otherwise normal people who are not in control of themselves (that's why they were pulled over) and would not make similar threats when sober. Why are we allowing this to continue?
As far as taking photographs of police officers on duty, I can see no reason in the world that it should even be questioned. If they can use the dashboard cameras and interrogation room recordings against us, we need to be able to record them in the performance of their duties. All part of mounting a vigorous defense I would think. The only real exception would be when an undercover officer is involved, and in that case the recordings should be reviewed privately and a ruling made (if they can use secret judicial hearings, we should be able to as well).
Admittedly, these cases are probably the exception, but we must protect ourselves from tyranny. When I joined the military I swore an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States and although I have been discharged for many years I do not recall having been released from that oath.
If you follow the links through the article I linked above you will come to one that is worth the time it takes to see:
I am sure that things vary from state to state and that nothing in the world can compare to the advice of a licensed attorney, but for the lay person this is probably a good start.
We just need to start being more vigilant and working with our representatives to correct some of these "Big Brother" efforts by the administration. In the meantime, thankfully we have the ACLU. I am a member, joined a year ago when the wheels started to come off.
It isn't just for liberals anymore.....
posted by Red Flannel at 5:11 AM
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