Trust, Corruption, The Work Ethic, and the Police State

[atanamis]

There is still a relatively high level of trust in the government, and to the extent that there isn't trust their is an attitude that it really doesn't affect most people that badly. Illinois is a great example. Four of the last 7 governors have ended up in prison. This is also the only state in the country which deliberately modified their wiretapping laws to try to make it illegal to videotape a police officer doing their job. There are a number of states which require that both parties on a phone call consent to any recording (including Illinois), but in most cases the language requires that there be an expectation of privacy. Even in states where police have been very aggressive in seizing cameras and harassing people trying to record them, the actual laws were clear that it was allowed. After a case of police misconduct in Illinois where an officer was held to account based on a recording, the state legislature actually passed a modification to this law removing the expectation of privacy. This wasn't just an unused law either. People were taken to state court in Illinois for videotaping a police officer doing their job, sometimes even engaging in misconduct.

The law was overthrown a couple years ago by a federal court, but it is symptomatic of the top to bottom corruption of Illinois politics. And yet for the most part the people aren't angry about it. I have family in Illinois who will assure me that the Chicago police department is largely corruption free these days. Family who are vehement about preferring one party over another, but who are not willing to call out the corruption of the politicians in their own family. The fact that police departments benefit directly from asset seizure is something that should be self evidently a terrible idea, but most people go along with the idea that anyone with large amounts of cash on them is likely up to no good.

I get that any barrel will have bad apples, but this isn't a barrel with bad apples issue. This is the creation of infrastructure where those empowered by the state to use force have no accountability. If a police officer has to shoot someone in the line of duty to preserve life, I am 100% supportive for them. If they are empowered to seize assets at will, put tracking devices on the cars of their ex, and harass anyone who tries to document what they are doing though, we should be locking such people up in federal prison. Much like when Capone ran Chicago, when the local law enforcement has been bought there is a need to deal with things at the federal level.

[Fish_Happens]

There is still a relatively high level of trust in the government, and to the extent that there isn't trust their is an attitude that it really doesn't affect most people that badly. Illinois is a great example. Four of the last 7 governors have ended up in prison. This is also the only state in the country which deliberately modified their wiretapping laws to try to make it illegal to videotape a police officer doing their job. There are a number of states which require that both parties on a phone call consent to any recording (including Illinois), but in most cases the language requires that there be an expectation of privacy. Even in states where police have been very aggressive in seizing cameras and harassing people trying to record them, the actual laws were clear that it was allowed. After a case of police misconduct in Illinois where an officer was held to account based on a recording, the state legislature actually passed a modification to this law removing the expectation of privacy. This wasn't just an unused law either. People were taken to state court in Illinois for videotaping a police officer doing their job, sometimes even engaging in misconduct.

The law was overthrown a couple years ago by a federal court, but it is symptomatic of the top to bottom corruption of Illinois politics. And yet for the most part the people aren't angry about it. I have family in Illinois who will assure me that the Chicago police department is largely corruption free these days. Family who are vehement about preferring one party over another, but who are not willing to call out the corruption of the politicians in their own family. The fact that police departments benefit directly from asset seizure is something that should be self evidently a terrible idea, but most people go along with the idea that anyone with large amounts of cash on them is likely up to no good.

I get that any barrel will have bad apples, but this isn't a barrel with bad apples issue. This is the creation of infrastructure where those empowered by the state to use force have no accountability. If a police officer has to shoot someone in the line of duty to preserve life, I am 100% supportive for them. If they are empowered to seize assets at will, put tracking devices on the cars of their ex, and harass anyone who tries to document what they are doing though, we should be locking such people up in federal prison. Much like when Capone ran Chicago, when the local law enforcement has been bought there is a need to deal with things at the federal level.

well said

[apeman]

I listened to a Pro Publica's podcast on the use of the $2 field drug test by the police to arrest, charge, and convict tens of thousand of innocent people of drug charges.

Just wanna add that this basically happened to me at college -- at my college trial for the charges of raising hell and breaking rules, a recently-retired cop with the title of campus police field tested a less than 2-inch circular mirror found in my room that I used to use for helping me put contacts in while camping (can't fuck that up out in the woods and get dirt in it, and contacts were new to me at the time).

The "field test" came up positive for some drug or another that I'd never done -- and putting that fact aside, THE MIRROR WAS LESS THAN TWO INCHES LONG and clearly unusable for lines -- but OF COURSE there was not enough residue for a proper test. That complete BS really swung the trial and caused me some harsh discipline.

I'll never forget that fat fuck's face when he concocted that story, he knew he was lying and so did I, he wouldn't even look me in the eye.

[Penner]

I listened to a Pro Publica's podcast on the use of the $2 field drug test by the police to arrest, charge, and convict tens of thousand of innocent people of drug charges.

Just wanna add that this basically happened to me at college -- at my college trial for the charges of raising hell and breaking rules, a recently-retired cop with the title of campus police field tested a less than 2-inch circular mirror found in my room that I used to use for helping me put contacts in while camping (can't fuck that up out in the woods and get dirt in it, and contacts were new to me at the time).

The "field test" came up positive for some drug or another that I'd never done -- and putting that fact aside, THE MIRROR WAS LESS THAN TWO INCHES LONG and clearly unusable for lines -- but OF COURSE there was not enough residue for a proper test. That complete BS really swung the trial and caused me some harsh discipline.

I'll never forget that fat fuck's face when he concocted that story, he knew he was lying and so did I, he wouldn't even look me in the eye.

I am sorry to hear that and how did you resolve your issue? Something like illegal substance can be easily used against you and get you thrown out of the college/institution you were attending.

IMO, I have heard that some of those field tests can be unreliable (I think that there is though at least one or two reliable field test out there but most places and people don't use them because of the price) but once a cop says it's something it's hard as hell to turn anything around to your side.

[apeman]

I did not resolve my issue -- I got hammered as hard as possible, administration told me personally later on that it was to set an example for the rest of the freshman class. Back then, it seemed like the end of the world.

It was not easy to overcome this fiasco, but I put myself in a situation where I could be made an example, I quickly stopped making excuses, ended up with full scholarship to law school.

[Martin Hash]

Student Court

p.s. Haven turned it up too. I'll tell you about it, apeman, after you get on the gravy train.

[apeman]

Student Court

p.s. Haven turned it up too. I'll tell you about it, apeman, after you get on the gravy train.

Great story, I got much much much harsher discipline than Haven, but gotta say I bet I would like your son. Maybe when shit hits the fan and I travel west to join your roving band of millennial militiamen I'll have the honor.

Also, I'm presently riding the gravy train, so you owe me the follow-up story, whether here or by PM.

[jbird4049]

I guess I will keep adding police/justice abuse items to this thread.

( I've added DAPL SAM story) storyIn today's installment we have:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/ ... story.html

The state’s highest court on Wednesday ordered prosecutors across the state to drop any cases that have been irreparably harmed by the misconduct of disgraced chemist Annie Dookhan in the 2012 state drug lab scandal.

In the ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court declined to order a wholesale dismissal of the more than 24,000 cases believed to have been affected by Dookhan’s mishandling of drug evidence, but the justices also acknowledged that the state’s current methods of handling them had been inadequate to the task.

Note that this ruling was in response to the convicts/victims lawyers request to drop all the cases as it would take too much time. I guess the court decided in trusting the prosecutors' ethics and good judgment.


Next we have this, which is of special interest to me as I do wear hearing aids.

http://okcfox.com/news/local/case-dropp ... d-not-hear

Case dropped against deaf man accused of resisting orders he could not hear...

A deaf man who was injured by troopers during a traffic stop will not be going to trial. Prosecutors dropped charges against Pearl Pearson Jr. just weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin.

Pearson said he could not hear troopers request and tried to inform troopers he was deaf.

Video of the stop show troopers yelling at Pearson and pulling him from his vehicle. Pearson says troopers beat him. He was arrested and his mug shot shows some injuries.

Later in the article it's explained that the prosecutors dropped the case not because he might be innocent. They dropped the case because paying for the interpreters would cost too much money. I'm glad they have their priorities straight.



http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... sters.html

North Dakota National Guard bring SAM carriers to spy on protesters. I only added this because why is the military involved and is it sad that I wasn't disbelieving an early article saying it was the police's own SAMs.

[jbird4049]

I did not resolve my issue -- I got hammered as hard as possible, administration told me personally later on that it was to set an example for the rest of the freshman class. Back then, it seemed like the end of the world.

It was not easy to overcome this fiasco, but I put myself in a situation where I could be made an example, I quickly stopped making excuses, ended up with full scholarship to law school.

Yeah, but what about those who can't overcome such fiascos? Many people live on the knife's edge, and often they face felony charges because of such test kits. They is what worries me. Just listen to the star example in the podcast. Her own public defender did not believe her, and told her to plead guilty. She lost just about everything. Including her future.

[apeman]

I did not resolve my issue -- I got hammered as hard as possible, administration told me personally later on that it was to set an example for the rest of the freshman class. Back then, it seemed like the end of the world.

It was not easy to overcome this fiasco, but I put myself in a situation where I could be made an example, I quickly stopped making excuses, ended up with full scholarship to law school.

Yeah, but what about those who can't overcome such fiascos? Many people live on the knife's edge, and often they face felony charges because of such test kits. They is what worries me. Just listen to the star example in the podcast. Her own public defender did not believe her, and told her to plead guilty. She lost just about everything. Including her future.

Jbird, I must have lost you somewhere, I did not infer that I don't care about those who aren't able or aren't lucky enough to dig out of such a hole. Shit drug tests -- and other shit evidence -- is obviously completely unacceptable. The thread that led me to lurk on the DCF in the beginning was the 4th Amendment thread, if you wonder where my heart lies.

To this day, I completely avoid cops at all costs.

In my Tahoe days, a deranged lunatic broke into my apartment cuz I was sleeping briefly with his ex-gf, he trashed the main room first, proceeded into my bedroom (where his ex was too) and smashed my acoustic guitar right onto my face/head, wild bleeding, then wild fight while I'm naked and can't see cuz blood in my eyes --- I did not trust the cops enough to even make a report for property damage/insurance reasons.

(I don't remember this, but my roommate's gf heard me yell "NOT THE GUITAR", at least my priorities were straight)