Trigger-happy public servants. Deanne Choate was sleeping naked under the covers when a trio of cops flicked on the lights and came barreling into her bedroom with guns drawn, believing she posed a lethal threat. The police officers from Gardner, Kansas roused her awake and ordered her to show the gun her boyfriend told them she had ... MORE
Showing posts with label police state. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police state. Show all posts
M.L. Nestel: Cops Wake Up Naked Woman Who Was Asleep, Order Her To Show Them A Gun, Then Proceed To Kill Her
Trigger-happy public servants. Deanne Choate was sleeping naked under the covers when a trio of cops flicked on the lights and came barreling into her bedroom with guns drawn, believing she posed a lethal threat. The police officers from Gardner, Kansas roused her awake and ordered her to show the gun her boyfriend told them she had ... MOREJohn Charlton: Connecticut Cops Push For Armed Drones
To promote "public safety." The drone discussion has been buzzing around the state Capitol for hearings this week. Monday, a bill to ban the weaponization of drones was discussed, and on Tuesday, a bill to control the use of drones in many ways, including by law enforcement agencies, was debated. Lawmakers listened to testimony
concerning ... MOREVirginia Senate Bill Seeks To Turn Cops Into Secret Police
by Clarice Palmer. Shielding accountability. In the United States, the Fourth Estate, also known as the Fourth Power or the fourth branch of government,
has always been a popular label for the media’s role in a free society.
But in the state of Virginia, legislators want to remove that power
from the press by shielding police officers from public scrutiny. ... MORE
Obama To Trash Reagan’s Restrictions On Domestic Spying
by Chriss W. Street. A tyrant's sneaky misdirection play. With the pubic distracted by the FBI battling Apple for an iPhone backdoor, President Obama is secretly working to trash President Ronald Reagan’s restrictions on the number of federal agencies that can spy on Americans and others. At a secret meeting of the United States National ... MOREThe Apple-FBI Fight Isn’t About Privacy Vs. Security
by Brian Barrett. Do not be misled. Throughout the ongoing fight between Apple and the FBI over custom access to an iPhone used by one of the two terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, the government has framed the argument as a simple trade-off: You must surrender a little privacy if you want more security. The scales don't balance quite ... MOREJohn W. Whitehead: The People Vs The Police State
The struggle for justice in the Supreme Court. The untimely death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has predictably created a political firestorm. Republicans and Democrats, eager to take advantage of an opening on
the Supreme Court, have been quick to advance their ideas about Scalia’s
replacement. This is just the beginning of the ... MOREArmed Marshals Bust Man Over Unpaid Student Loan
by Michael Harthorne. And they aren't stopping there. Seven armed US Marshals in combat gear showed up on the doorstep of 48-year-old Paul Aker's home Thursday in Houston, the New York Daily News
reports. His crime? Failing to pay a $1,500 student loan he received in
1987. "I say, 'What is this all about?'" Aker recalls. "They say, 'Shut
up, ... MORENYPD Wants To Make "Resisting Arrest" Into A Felony
by Cory Doctorow. Cops want sharper teeth. It's no secret that "resisting arrest" is the go-to excuse for violence committed against suspects by corrupt cops -- it's practically a running gag. But if NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton gets his way, resisting arrest will offer near-perfect impunity to his force's most violent and sleazy officers, ... MORETim Cushing: Drug Dogs Don't Even Have To Be Right Half The Time To Be Considered 'Reliable' By The Courts
The pretense of probable cause. All in all, this motion to suppress evidence worked out for the plaintiff, but it does little to address concerns that drug dogs are basically blank permission slips for inquisitive cops. The defendant -- Emile Martin -- was in a vehicle driven by another person (simply referred to as "Montgomery" in the opinion). This vehicle ... MORECity Of Buffalo Is Raking In Big Bucks From Auto Drivers After Wildly Expanding Their Traffic Citation Industry
by Matthew Spina. Throughout last year, Buffalo police pulled over more drivers and handed more tickets to each. But the flood began in July – after City Hall created its new “traffic violations agency” to grab more money than ever from traffic fines. The traffic agency flung open its doors July 1. From that day through December, police issued 30,000 ... MOREAsset Forfeiture Steals Due Process Rights
A Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial. On a dark desert highway, a sleek, Navy-blue Ford Explorer forces a car to the side of the road. Armed men emerge from the SUV and demand that the occupants of the car open their trunk. Inside, they find $250,000 in cash. The men take the money, leaving the car's passengers on the roadside. They ... MOREPolice State Update: Ex-Cop California Assemblyman Wants Encrytion Keys For All Cell Phones Available To The Police
by Cyrus Farivar. A second state lawmaker has now introduced a bill that would prohibit the sale of smartphones with unbreakable encryption. Except this time, despite very similar language to a pending New York bill, the stated rationale is to fight human trafficking, rather than terrorism. Specifically, California Assemblymember Jim Cooper’s
(D-Elk ... MORETexas Police Turning Into Mobile Debt Collectors
by John Cassidy. Reduced to tax collectors with badges. Two new technologies and one failed state program could make highway travel perilous for Texans traveling between San Antonio, Austin and Houston. Law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over I-10 east of San
Antonio and I-35 between San Antonio and Austin have signed contracts ... MOREBoston Police Seek Charges Against Marijuana Advocate
by Milton J. Valencia. Boston police are seeking criminal charges against Bill Downing, one of the state’s most vocal marijuana legalization supporters, a move that his lawyer calls retaliation for his criticism of the state’s regulation of the medical marijuana industry. A magistrate judge is scheduled to consider whether to approve a complaint filed by ... MORENew Way For Cops To Surveil You: Your Threat ‘Score’
by Justin Jouvenal. While officers raced to a recent 911 call about a man threatening his ex-girlfriend, a police operator in headquarters consulted software that scored the suspect’s potential for violence the way a bank might run a credit report. The program scoured billions of data points, including arrest reports, property records, commercial ... MOREThe State Of The Nation: A Dictatorship Without Tears
by John W. Whitehead. While only 1 in 5 Americans claim to trust the government to do what is right, the majority of the people are not quite ready to ditch the American experiment in liberty. Or at least they’re not quite ready to ditch the government with which they have been saddled. It doesn’t matter that the government has shown itself to be ... MOREShould Used Tea Leaves Be Probable Cause For Drug Raids?
by Justin Monticello. Former CIA employees Robert and Adlynn Harte, along with their 7- and
13-year-old children, were held at gunpoint by sheriff's deputies for
several hours as a search
for drugs was conducted in their home. The probable cause that led to
the raid? A visit to a hydroponics store for a horticultural project and
wet tea ... MORE
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