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Savannahmann

(3,891 posts)
28. More than once Civil Liberties has been a topic on these boards
Fri May 3, 2013, 09:42 AM
May 2013

More than once, we who consider it a duty to defend those rights have been told to shut up and sit down and be quiet. We have been told that we didn't live there and we didn't understand when we objected to the heavy handed lockdown of the Watertown neighborhood by the Police. We have been told that we didn't understand the feelings of the people when we objected to the presence of machine gun toting police on the streets hunting Richard Dorner. We object to these kinds of stop and frisk abuses, and we're told we should shut up, or they demand to know what we have to hide.

The 4th Amendment says all of us have the right to be secure from unwarranted search and seizures. We know the police are abusing the exceptions granted them by the court, and we do nothing about it. We know that NCIC is abused daily, and we do nothing. We know that police abuse their authority by bullying people into compliance, and we do nothing. We object, and are shouted down by the staunch defenders to are quick to remind us that the Police are trying to protect us.

We object to these things, but we are in the minority, and apparently Civil Rights are decided on a case by case basis, but only by those who are close enough, and claim to be the only ones who understand what is going on. The police are out of control. They have no one restraining them. It is if society turned a vicious dog loose on the community, trusting that the dog will only attack bad people. We operate under the assumption that if the dog bit you, you must have done something to deserve it. We have thrown out the principle that we are innocent until proven guilty, we now shout what do you have to hide?

We deride J. Edgar Hoover for among other things, keeping files on prominent people to blackmail them into behaving as the Director wanted. Threats of personal information getting out and ruining the reputation of powerful politicians was a great tool, to keep him in power. Now, it was wrong for him to do that, but at the same time we denounce him for it, we sit blithely by and let the Government create databases left and right, with the same kind of information, and able to be abused in just the same way, for our protection.

What do we have to hide? Each of us has something that they would rather not have out in public. Mistake made in our youth, bad choices as a young adult. Support for a cause that changed dramatically from what we believed it would be. Stop and Frisk is the tool of the police state, where are your papers? Where are you going? What business do you have around here? Refuse to answer, and you must have something to hide, probably something illegal, and that gives them probable cause to step up the investigation.

40% of us are willing to sacrifice Civil Liberties to fight Terrorism. After all, what do we have to hide?

As I said on a previous thread: Law enforcement is out of control Th1onein May 2013 #1
Fuck yes, they're violating the constitution. X_Digger May 2013 #2
The ongoing schoolcraft saga... beevul May 2013 #3
The other sad piece of that is mis-filing crimes downward to make compstat numbers look good. X_Digger May 2013 #4
Yeah, that is pretty sad. beevul May 2013 #5
These stats PROVE that the NYC Police are totally shitty at their probable cause judgement. I am.... Logical May 2013 #10
Just stating the race doesn't mean much, though. Honeycombe8 May 2013 #6
So, simply living in a "high crime" area is enough reason for one to be stopped and frisked? MrScorpio May 2013 #7
The NYC does not care about the Bill of Rights any longer. n-t Logical May 2013 #11
That much is apparently true MrScorpio May 2013 #13
I wish someone could product a hidden camera documentary on this farce. n-t Logical May 2013 #16
Here's a hidden audio.. X_Digger May 2013 #27
Horrible. Too many people trust the police 100%. Jury's included. n-t Logical May 2013 #29
I'm addressing the "racist" part of the claim. Honeycombe8 May 2013 #17
I'm just trying to clarify what you're saying here. MrScorpio May 2013 #24
"minorities want police to clamp down on crime in their areas" Logical May 2013 #8
I'm speaking about the "racist" part of the claim. Not the constitutionality of stopping Honeycombe8 May 2013 #18
Targeting certain racial minorities more than others . . . markpkessinger May 2013 #20
Not if you're in a minority neighborhood. Who are you gonna stop... Honeycombe8 May 2013 #30
They shouldn't be stopping ANYBODY absent reasonable suspicion . . . markpkessinger May 2013 #31
I was not commenting on the stop and frisk law. I don't know enuf Honeycombe8 May 2013 #32
Absolute fucking wow MattBaggins May 2013 #14
Facts are pesky things, aren't they? They just make you go "wow." Honeycombe8 May 2013 #19
Here's a link to the NYCLU's report on stop and frisk ... markpkessinger May 2013 #21
I know of at least one DU member premium May 2013 #9
Well, they're probably one of those people who have me on ignore MrScorpio May 2013 #12
I'm thinking you know whom I speak of. premium May 2013 #15
Check out the New York Civil Liberties Union's 2011 report on stop-and-frisk markpkessinger May 2013 #22
This is off-topic, but CheapShotArtist May 2013 #23
Yes. They need to stop. nt hack89 May 2013 #25
And yet there are supporters of Bloomberg here on DU. nt hack89 May 2013 #26
More than once Civil Liberties has been a topic on these boards Savannahmann May 2013 #28
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Charts: Are the NYPD's St...»Reply #28