201–210 of 265 posts
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You've never felt like someone is watching you?
I understand such a feeling is purely made up and not worth acknowledging, so I don't legitimize that thought.
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This is an argument of process over substance. Good laws should be applied as widely as possible. Bad laws should be as local as possible, preferably applied nowhere at all.
> Good laws should be applied as widely as possible. Literally nobody except criminals would disagree with this. That's what makes is of limited value in a discussion like this. It's like saying "Good speech should be disseminated everywhere." Yes. We already agree, to the point where the argument is that protections for good speech aren't really needed. The difficulty is getting a handle on what is a "good law". Thi…
I'm sure Illinois cops will be able to improvise when they want to pull these stunts.
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"but they have little motive to protect the misconduct within local police precincts" Maybe. The way I see it, all of law enforcement has an "US vs Them (criminals, etc)" attitude, and are very hesitant to throw each other under the bus, or even openly criticize eachother unless it is 100% necessary...
I used to be a "back the blue" guy, but that's because I'm a pretty boring person who hasn't needed to deal with confronting the police before. After watching channels like Audit the Audit and LackLuster on YouTube (excellent channels btw), I have a newfound respect for the handful of cops that actually stick within the limits of their authority and remain respectful. I also have a newfound disdain for the other 90%…
I have a family member on parole who had this happen on a traffic stop the other day. Being on parole, there's no right to decline being searched prior to arrest*, so all it takes for a cop to derail your day is for them to say "I smell marijuana" - no additional hoops.
Not only did he not have marijuana, he was pulled over for expired registration, which he was in transit to resolve. They saw an expired registration, and decided to search him, even though he was able to present his completed paperwork that he was en route to drop off. They were very obviously fishing for anything to arrest someone over.
[*] I should add that even when you can decline the search, they search you anyways
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I agree. It's helpful to remember: for every law you like and want promoted to the federal level, there's another law you probably don't like that someone else thinks would be great to promote to the federal level. Although moving states to flee terrible laws is a burden, it's not as much of a burden as fleeing your entire country. Laws should be as local as practically possible.
> Laws should be as local as practically possible. You guys are every lawyer's dream. Yes, please, continue believing you're following some great American tradition of strong local government by submitting to the whims of your local Boss Tweed and the five judges in your county, I play golf with them once a month. Oh, you have a legal problem and need to navigate the rats nest of weird local laws? Great, you can choo…
Universal laws with no nuance or adjustments for local conditions are just so awesome I am trembling in anticipation.
If we're lucky, they might even outlaw these evil lawyers that you lampoon so effortlessly.
Am I the only one that is OK with CCTV + facial recognition? Seems like a great way to tackle crime without having to involve potentially deadly encounters with police. Ya there are ways it could be abused, but I assume I have no privacy (as does the law) when I am in a public space. A lot cheaper than cops too. Put laws and systems in place to keep the data secure and require warrants to access the data. (No lethal…
Superhuman police powers (which is what pervasive surveillance is), sound great when the cops are worried about retrieving your stolen car or bicycle. But they become nightmares quickly when the police are more concerned with crimes the public doesn't care about or think are crimes.
And the cops have been like that for decades. We should be downgrading their abilities, not upgrading them. I don't think it's completely out of the question that they only be allowed single-shot handguns where they must pull the brass with their own fingernails and reload before firing again. Honestly, there shouldn't be any cameras other than those on their bodies and in their cars used to collect evidence for trial. I'm on the fence on whether they should be allowed much electronic technology beyond that (and maybe radios).
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>> Can we get a federal bill with the same prohibitions? It would be absurd if the right to be free from fear of automated death from the skies is left to a patchwork of state and local restrictions. >> - Sometimes law enforcement must be able to use deadly force. Isn't it better if in those situations, officers aren't also putting their lives at risk? What about drones that can be used to deploy non-lethal weapons?…
Nope, "violent mobs" are something that if it exists and rich enough modern democratic societies (and others) that is effect of some cause that needs immediate fixing, even beating them just down is maybe too much - I know I'm a bit too idealistic and romantic (: But no, please let us not starts with robots/machines fighting our own society but fix it, drones in warfare are already enough of an ethical problem..
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A federal law can only apply to FBI, National Guard, Coast Guard and other federally managed law enforcement bodies. It cannot apply to the various state and county police authorities. Governance of those is a right explicitly granted to each state and county, and the states/counties will fight tooth and nail to retain it.
Federal laws absolutely apply to local government and their agencies. The death penalty was banned in 1972 on a federal ruling of a local law (Georgia), as a consequence, all death sentences, federal and state, were commuted to life. There are a TON of federal laws that apply to local law enforcement. At this moment there are several local police departments that are being actively monitored and controlled by the DOJ…
The states rewrote their laws and went right back to sentencing people to death.
Armed police drones becoming anything near common or expected will kick off a bit of an arms race with criminals. If criminals don't just start copying the exact same thing. Ive seen DIY demonstrations of small drones firing pistols accuratly years ago now, thankfully they haven't taken off, but that might change if the police themselves start using them.