Chris 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (1771)

• On the post: What 4th Amendment? Indiana Sheriff Says Random, Warrantless House To House Searches Are Okay

  

  Chris ( profile ), 19 May, 2011 @ 09:26am

  Minor Nitpick

  Why? The court basically says that it's "against public policy" to require a warrant:
  
  Not technically accurate. Any fruits of an illegal search would still be (in a non-insane world like ours) inadmissible in court.
  
  The decision "only" said that the serfs can't resist during the time period that their rights are being violated, and must submit for their own safety in the face of any expected police brutality that is sure to come. Later, when the threat of being beaten to death by a police officer is no longer present, they can spend their life savings on a lawyer to bring a complaint forward against the officers that will then be heard and decided on by the friends of said police officers.
  
  But technically, officers still require a warrant if they want to use what they find in court. If they just want to keep any loot for themselves through civil forfeiture ("Can you prove that you didn't buy your wife these earrings with drug money? No? Great! Now I don't have to shop for an anniversary present!"), presumably that's okay.

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 19 May, 2011 @ 07:35am

  Re:

  Pulling a gun and threatening to shoot a man who is walking down the street minding his own business is "ensuring public safety"? Please, never become a police officer.

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 19 May, 2011 @ 07:32am

  Re:

  You are under no obligation to do everything a police officer says just because he says it.

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 19 May, 2011 @ 07:26am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Chicago: Sure thing, we'll just require you to shoot the gun at a gun range before you're allowed to have it. Oh, and we prohibit gun ranges in the city. Have fun with your rights!

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 03:21pm

  Re:

  Most states require that a person have an expectation of privacy before recording them becomes illegal. A police officer, in public, with his gun drawn, during his official duties, can hardly be said to have an expectation of privacy. Heck, the cops have dashboard cams of their own, right?

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 03:18pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  I thought about it, but having your phone audio/video recording constantly seems like a rather large battery drain, unless you're only going to record when you have a plug nearby.

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 02:55pm

  Re:

  OK. I have been well and soundly spanked by other commenters. Nice work.
  
  It takes a stand up guy to admit something like that on the internetz. I applaud you, sir.
  
  Perhaps running a recorder all the time is an advisable activity in the new police state.
  
  Seems that way. I wonder what they have these days for cheap, long running recorders.

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 02:52pm

  Re: Re: actually

  Contempt of cop. Sometimes that's a capital offense.

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 02:50pm

  Re: Something smells like fish

  If his intent was not to set them up for this, exactly WHEN and HOW did he turn on the recorder??????
  
  Does it matter? Bad behavior is excusable if you don't know you're being recorded?

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 02:48pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  I have had a number of these encounters and never once has it ended poorly. Typically you are asked where the weapon is, then instructed to move to a specific place, then the weapon is secured by the officer, then your permits/license is examined and whatever business is needed is conducted and then you are given the weapon back unloaded and everyone goes on their way.
  
  You realize that this encounter started off with the officer's gun drawn and pointed at him while instructing the guy to get on his knees, right? That's a bit different from a traffic stop where your gun is in the glove box with your registration and you want to make sure there aren't any misunderstandings.
  
  the initial mistake was the citizen.
  
  Clearly, putting his hands up and speaking calmly and respectfully to the officer but questioning the need for him to kneel in the dirt is the same as being "uncooperative" and "confrontational". How dare he deign to question his better? This is America; obey authority without question or pay the price!
  
  trying to antagonize the officers into some form of action by openingly carrying the weapon.
  
  You're saying he knew the police were all ignorant of their own rules?

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 01:52pm

  Re:

  Even better is the cop's repeated statement in the second video: "You have no right to challenge me!"
  
  Indeed. What did Mark think this was, a free country? How dare he not lick the boots of the officers when ordered!

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 01:50pm

  Re: Re:

  And the cop repeatedly saying "I don't know you" would maybe indicate that he didn't know him.
  
  Well done, sir.

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 01:50pm

  Re:

  It is surprising to me that someone with this history could obtain a firearms permit.
  
  A prior guilty plea to drunk and disorderly and a dismissed shoplifting charge should make you ineligible to assert your constitutional rights? Imagine if they could show he had unpaid parking tickets too! The horror!

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 01:37pm

  My Dad Is A Cop

  One of the few I trust, too.
  
  I sometimes wonder if I'd make a good cop, but then I also worry that conventional wisdom regarding politicians applies to police as well: "If you throw a guy in the sewer, don't be surprised when he comes out smelling like ****."

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 01:33pm

  Re:

  wat

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 01:22pm

  Re:

  If the cops were right, would they have let him walk?

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 12:52pm

  Re: The question that comes up in my head

  regular citizens
  
  I'm not familiar with that term. Did you mean "serfs" or "lords", maybe?

• On the post: Philly Police Harass, Threaten To Shoot Man Legally Carrying Gun; Then Charge Him With Disorderly Conduct For Recording Them

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 12:07pm

  Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse, But It Is Expected

  I also like the claims by police that he "set them up."
  
  Yep, he knew that the police would be completely ignorant of the law and purposefully set himself up to almost get shot by Officer Jackass with a chip on his shoulder. Clearly.

• On the post: RIAA Calls 4th Amendment Passe: Pushes For Warrantless Searches

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 11:40am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Well, the Fourth Amendment only protects us from unreasonable searches. What's reasonable or not is decided ultimately by the courts, so the courts are the place to look for the answers.
  
  And when the court's answer is "there's no such thing", I don't think they're the one's we should be asking.

• On the post: RIAA Calls 4th Amendment Passe: Pushes For Warrantless Searches

  

  Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2011 @ 11:06am

  The 4th Is Already Dead

  Not only did the US supreme court say this week that the police can themselves create the exigent circumstances necessary to enter private property without a warrant, but the Indiana supreme court declared it illegal to resist the entry of law enforcement onto private property, even if that entry is itself unlawful.
  
  Put two an two together, and not only can the police manufacture themselves a de-facto warrant at will, but even if they don't there's nothing you can do about it anyway. Eat it, serf.

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