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Getting arrested in Japan

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Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#131

Seems like it's not pleasant, and the author says in theory it could be as low of a bar as getting into a heated argument; but the author never discloses his actual charge, which I think is critical context. If he stabbed someone and got this treatment, it would be very different than if he had a loud but normal argument you might see in any big box store in the US. That he doesn't go on to protest why he got locked…

Arrested not convicted.

Not sure why you were downvoted. From the last paragraph:

"I spent a total of 35 days here. The first arrest was 3 days of processing, the initial 10 days followed by the 10 days extension for a total of 23 days before my case was dropped. But the same time my case was dropped my accusers found a another reason to issue a second arrest keeping me there for an additional 12 days!

Both cases were ultimately dropped and the second arrest was essentially tied to the first and shouldn’t have even been possible."

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#132

Seems like it's not pleasant, and the author says in theory it could be as low of a bar as getting into a heated argument; but the author never discloses his actual charge, which I think is critical context. If he stabbed someone and got this treatment, it would be very different than if he had a loud but normal argument you might see in any big box store in the US. That he doesn't go on to protest why he got locked…

> loud but normal argument you might see in any big box store in the US. I always assumed this kind of behaviour was cherry picked on social media. How “normal” is it actually?!

In most of the US -- completely unheard of.

In particularly bad neighborhoods in the US -- it happens sometimes.

Depending on what kind of life you live in the US, it could be completely foreign to you, or it could be normal.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps it is, but it explains the data. What is your alternative explanation?

The legal system doesn't have the resources to move forward with the case and decides it isn't a priority. I've seen this happen many times with people I know committing violent felonies. Even for smaller examples it happens all the time. Half the time you can completely get out of traffic tickets by showing up to court to plead not guilty. They dismiss the case because it's not worth the time.

> They dismiss the case because it's not worth the time.

I don't know what this means in the context of the US justice system. They're not paid on commission. They're being paid to be there no matter what happens.

They dismiss the case because the cop didn't bother to show up, or they didn't have any evidence against your defense. The reason you (as the person who got ticketed) don't show up to court is because you know you have nothing to say, or because it's not worth it to you when getting out of the ticket isn't enough pay for 3-4 hours of your time. The only reason you do show up is because you think you have a defense.

If you can't make bail, you're showing up no matter how stupid the charge is.

edit: I have personal experience (from a few decades ago) of being forced to face stupid charges. It was a game. They inflated the potential sentence to 3-5 years through silly charges designed for just that, and offered me a plea bargain of no time, no fine, and expungement from my record in 6 months. I pled guilty. If I hadn't been bailed out, I would have had to wait two weeks in jail for that moronic, depressing event. I pled guilty because it was easy to do, even if I hadn't done anything. If I had sat in jail for two weeks, I might have pled guilty even if it involved a week of jail time and a fine, just to get out.

Kalief Browder spent almost 3 years in Riker's Island awaiting trial just to have the charges dropped. People on here told me that showed that the justice system worked. I said that his life was destroyed by this, and he would probably end up dead soon. I got downvoted furiously. He'd killed himself 2 years later.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#134
another thing in Japan is that you can get arrested for self defence. Say if someone starts attacking you on the street, and eg. you punch back causing an injury, when you could have simply ran away and escaped, then you can get arrested and held for 23 days as a suspect.

So say if someone shoves you on a subway in Tokyo, do not ever shove back or do anything worse. Move away, get witnesses / evidence if you can, then report. (I've also witnessed an attacker try to exploit this rule, where they would intentionally injure themselves during the conflict and then claim that the defendant did it, so be aware of that)

Oh, and other things that can get you arrested:

- Not promptly returning someone's lost property such as a wallet. There was a case here in the newspapers recently.

- A review about a business that damaged their reputation, even if it was true (but you don't have 100% evidence). eg. "I got food poisoning from here". Be very careful what you post and say online as defamation laws are very different.

oh, and maybe not arrested, but get in trouble for: if you place your household rubbish into not your designated collection point, even though the point is the closest to your home. (Also don't get me started on the topic of sorting trash...)

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#135
post #116

Absolutely horrifying. I've come to believe that criminal punishment is simply unethical. I wish someone would come up with a better option.

And what do you have to say to teenage girls or even little kid girls getting raped? Being laxist towards criminals is not just being cruel to the victims to me: to me it is downright complicity with the criminals. BTW: Japan happens to be one of the safest country on earth. A friend who's a pilot told me: "Tokyo is the only city in the world where I've women from my team (mostly air hostesses but also female pilot o…

Japan's judicial system has something like a 99% conviction rate. It's "safe" because they swipe up every single criminal they can, plus a bunch of random people in the process. So everyone is naturally going to be on their best behavior.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know what is humane about skid row et al.

Direct torture is certainly less humane than abandonment.

Skid row isn’t abandonment, CA spends $47K per homeless person per year in direct and indirect assistance. It exists as it does due to intentional and well funded policy.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#137

Seems like it's not pleasant, and the author says in theory it could be as low of a bar as getting into a heated argument; but the author never discloses his actual charge, which I think is critical context. If he stabbed someone and got this treatment, it would be very different than if he had a loud but normal argument you might see in any big box store in the US. That he doesn't go on to protest why he got locked…

I strongly suspect that the author's legal counsel advised them not to discuss their actual charge in explicit detail

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#138
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's frustrating to try to interpret these stories with a lot of writing and video describing everything except the crucial detail about what the charges were for. Is it really a crucial detail though? As someone having lived in Japan for a long time, I see no reason why we can not discuss the fact that civil rights and detention treatment in Japan are lacking without resorting to "Do they deserve it in light of wh…

> Is it really a crucial detail though? Literally the central trigger point of the story. > For the record, I have not watched any video or read anything else about this individual. Nor do I intend to. Then I can see why you're not interested in the details

Fair I suppose. I guess one can treat this either as a personal story (although frustratingly scattered across multiple places and incomplete) or as a description of a single instance of an arrest in Japan.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#139

another thing in Japan is that you can get arrested for self defence. Say if someone starts attacking you on the street, and eg. you punch back causing an injury, when you could have simply ran away and escaped, then you can get arrested and held for 23 days as a suspect. So say if someone shoves you on a subway in Tokyo, do not ever shove back or do anything worse. Move away, get witnesses / evidence if you can, the…

That’s a thing as well in some US states called duty to retreat.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Direct torture is certainly less humane than abandonment.

Skid row isn’t abandonment, CA spends $47K per homeless person per year in direct and indirect assistance. It exists as it does due to intentional and well funded policy.

Even granting that (which... no. How is it true? Any evidence?) it's still less inhumane than what Japan is doing here. The conditions amount to torture.

The fact that many people opt to falsely plead guilty and get a reduced punishment in a society that highly values honor and saving face should say a lot about it.

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