Live data from Hacker News

Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

fire.org

211–220 of 543 posts

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anybody who is wrongfully executed was basically guaranteed to spend their entire life in prison. Death row inmates get dramatically more access to legal aid than anybody else rotting in a cell, so if they couldn't win their appeal, the guy doing life isn't, either. Generally, I'm against incarceration for that reason. I think the relatively muted violence of it is too easy to stomach for the public, which leads to p…

> "did this act constitute a crime, and if so, what is the punishment?" I guess that last part is the perspective I'd change, for a more compassionate world. I'd much rather ask "did this act constitute a crime, and if so, what made the person commit that crime, and how can we help them not do that in the future again?".

For the kinds of "public and infamous" crimes I'm talking about, the answer is almost always greed, either for fortune, power, or fame. There's no need to ask "Why did Nestle decide to kill a bunch of African children by giving away just enough formula stop mothers from being able to breastfeed?" or "Why did tobacco companies stand in front of congress and lie through their teeth about how non-addictive nicotine is?" or "Why did Nixon decide to pursue the war on drugs in order to disproportionately target his political opponents and minorities?". The answer is that in order to end up in the C-suite or board of directors of a megacorp, or the White House, you have to be one of the most madly greedy, power-lusting parasites in the world.

My compassion for my fellow man is why I suggest we wait for them to commit a crime before punishing such behavior.

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Speak for yourself. I'd rather them be outside Europe as well, Scotland, Wales and Ireland can stay though.

You are making a normative claim (what you want). Not a nominal one (what is). Completely irrelevant, the UK cannot be outside of Europe geographically because of your feelings.

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm only against the death penalty for the simple fact that courts have convicted innocent people. Sometimes, that conviction happens when the court actively blocks exonerating evidence. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/284/ https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/547/319/

Anybody who is wrongfully executed was basically guaranteed to spend their entire life in prison. Death row inmates get dramatically more access to legal aid than anybody else rotting in a cell, so if they couldn't win their appeal, the guy doing life isn't, either. Generally, I'm against incarceration for that reason. I think the relatively muted violence of it is too easy to stomach for the public, which leads to p…

That isn’t true. There have been death row inmates exonerated, both before and after their execution.

The ones that were executed would have been alive for the exoneration if we they had been given life in prison instead.

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#214
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rape and murder are existing crimes, and they should be applied equally to police officers. How about kidnapping and false imprisonment, as in this case?

As I mentioned elsewhere, neither currently apply because due process of law was followed.

How can a deliberate blatant violation of the First Amendment be "due process of law"?

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Linehan was arrested for making this post: > If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls This seems like a straightforward call to violence to me. And he was released after police ascertained that he had no intent to act on these statements. If someone made posts along the lines of "Christians…

The other context is also that Linehan was awaiting trial for harassment and criminal damage against a 17 year old transperson at the time. And that he ultimately didn't get charged for the tweets, and did get friends in high places to whinge at the police on his behalf

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe he should try to get compensation through the new Anti-Weaponization Fund. > “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-...

What that actually is, is a reward pool for Jan 6 participants and other people who have done illegal things to support Trump.

The vast majority of the money from that pool will certainly go to Trump himself (and his family when he dies) in the long run.

He'll dole out small amounts of it to J6ers and other supporters in a public display of rewarding loyalty, but enriching himself is always the prime directive over every other concern and who (in his mind) has been the biggest target of "DOJ/govt weaponization?"... himself, of course.

He will take almost all of it to go along with the various other billions of dollars he has scammed away from the American people as president.

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#217
post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those 30 aren’t arrested for just for writing “social media posts” but for possibly “harmful communication including incitement to terrorism and violence, online threats and abuse, and unwanted communication via email and other means” Of the 90% many will accept their fault and receive a caution or warning Edit: and none of those cases would involve pretrial remand/jail

The vast majority of those arrested are just for mild insults, which are illegal under the censorious UK regime; not incitement to terrorism or threats.

Not UK but in Germany you can face criminal prosecution for insulting the chancellor,

https://x.com/Pirat_Nation/status/2056692341399081235

While here in the UK you can be arrested and charged for saying mean things about the royal family on private whatsapp groups,

https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-09-07/five-former-met-p...

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK 30 people are arrested a day for social media posts online. Only about 10 percent resulting in convictions. Police don't face criminal charges for this. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/police-make-30-arr...

Those 30 aren’t arrested for just for writing “social media posts” but for possibly “harmful communication including incitement to terrorism and violence, online threats and abuse, and unwanted communication via email and other means” Of the 90% many will accept their fault and receive a caution or warning Edit: and none of those cases would involve pretrial remand/jail

>Of the 90% many will accept their fault and receive a caution or warning

Why do you need to arrest someone just to warn them?

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#219

The sheriff that arrested him should face criminal charges for misuse of authority. That he doesn't reflects a structural weakness in US law. In most European legal systems a law enforcement officer overstepping his legal authority would face criminal charges for it.

In the UK 30 people are arrested a day for social media posts online. Only about 10 percent resulting in convictions. Police don't face criminal charges for this. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/police-make-30-arr...

Note that the quoted laws also cover things that would be restraining or harassment orders in the USA.

Re: Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit

#220
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I haven't said those things. No, but they clearly follow from what you have said. > Rape and murder are existing crimes, and they should be applied equally to police officers. Okay, but they aren't, because police enjoy broad immunity and benefit of the doubt from (and during) prosecution. How do you suggest we fix this? Additionally, I am not sure you appreciate the magnitude of harm that can be caused by locking…

I would get rid of all forms of immunity and mandate body cameras. Probably also raise requirements for police officers. And part of it is reducing the scope of what the cops are meant to enforce. I appreciate the massive harms done by incarceration, which I why I support vastly reducing it.

> I would get rid of all forms of immunity

IIUC getting rid of "all forms of immunity" would essentially make it impossible for police officers to arrest anybody in good faith without exposing themselves to criminal prosecution (maybe that's what you want). But weakening or eliminating QI, which shields officers from civil liability, is sorely needed.

You didn't ask, but I'm not necessarily in favor of throwing cops in jail in many of these misconduct cases (for practical reasons at the very least). What should happen is that they be thrown off the force for good and prevented from working in law enforcement ever again. I don't believe you would need new criminal statutes to accomplish this, but what you would need (per jurisdiction) is political will to make it happen, perhaps starting with an independent review commission or similar, but making sure they can't just go one county or state over will be much more difficult.

> mandate body cameras

They just turn them off, or the footage gets "lost". This won't work without much broader reform (and, dare I say it, accountability).

> Probably also raise requirements for police officers

I agree.

Post reply on HN