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  • On the post: FBI Cites Guidelines That Don't Actually Forbid Social Media Monitoring As The Reason It Was Blindsided By The January 6 Attack

    Upstream ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2021 @ 01:06pm

    The difference between Trump and the FBI

    Trump lies because he is a liar. The FBI lies because it is law enforcement.

  • On the post: Judge Blocks FBI From Moving Forward With Forfeitures Of Property Seized In US Private Vaults Raid

    Upstream ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2021 @ 02:48am

    Re: Re:

    In 3rd-world countries, citizens refer to their police as “thieves in uniforms”. USA has been and will continue to move in that direction u̶n̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ even if all seizures and forfeitures go directly to the I̶R̶S̶ thieves' bosses. FTFY

  • On the post: Supreme Court Rejects Another Questionable Qualified Immunity Decision By An Appeals Court

    Upstream ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2021 @ 02:40am

    Re: One Thing

    Judges and prosecutors enjoy absolute immunity, and it should absolutely be removed immediately. Politician's various levels of actual and journalistic immunity are too involved and off-topic to be discussed here.

  • On the post: Hong Kong Kowtows To China Again, Turns Virtual Police State Into An Actual Police State

    Upstream ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2021 @ 07:35am

    Obligatory comment re-run

    I know it has been said many times before by many people, but the only thing that is not surprising about all of this is that it didn't happen in 1997 (or very soon thereafter).

  • On the post: Judge Blocks FBI From Moving Forward With Forfeitures Of Property Seized In US Private Vaults Raid

    Upstream ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2021 @ 04:27pm

    Re: That didn't take long

    No, it did not take the FBI long at all to s̶e̶i̶z̶e̶ steal the property, but the legal system sure took it's sweet time registering it's disapproval. The s̶e̶i̶z̶u̶r̶e̶ theft took place "on or around" March 22, and the ruling is dated June 22. Three months to state the obvious might seem quick to those in the legal system, but to those of us in the real world it seems painfully slow, maybe even intentionally slow, so as to give the FBI plenty of time to CYA or "misplace" the loot.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Rejects Another Questionable Qualified Immunity Decision By An Appeals Court

    Upstream ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2021 @ 03:59pm

    The Supreme Court appears to be continuing to make amends for the mess it's made of qualified immunity over the years.

    But are they really?

    If they were serious about reforming or eliminating the abomination that they created, they could do it, quickly and easily, by ruling that it is a clear violation of the "equal protection" clause. (Or the prohibition of nobility, or "reasonableness," or whatever. I am sure they could come up with plenty of rationale, and probably even save face at the same time.) It would be gone. Done. And it would jerk a serious and long overdue knot in the chain of law enforcement.

    But that is not what is happening. What is happening looks to me much more like throwing a bone to a starving dog or kicking the can down the road. It gives the impression of "doing something" while not actually accomplishing a damn thing.

  • On the post: Judge Don Willett Calls Out Appeals Court For Saying Setting A Suicidal Man On Fire Didn't Violate His Rights

    Upstream ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2021 @ 03:47pm

    Re: Re: ... but that's not the point of this story.

    Oops. I meant to reply to The obvious answer from my armchair

  • On the post: Judge Don Willett Calls Out Appeals Court For Saying Setting A Suicidal Man On Fire Didn't Violate His Rights

    Upstream ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2021 @ 03:46pm

    Re: ... but that's not the point of this story.

    Delaying would clearly have been a much better idea than cops providing multiple likely sources of ignition, of course. Hell, damn near anything besides cops providing sources of ignition would have been a better idea. This is just one of many situations where cops were the wrong answer, and that should have been obvious to everyone to begin with. Mental health counselors, the fire department, EMT's, or maybe even just some peace and quiet would all have probably had a better chance of a survivable outcome for this guy. Just as an aside: Gasoline is really only flammable when it is a vapor mixed with air (or some other oxidizing gas, like say, pure oxygen or nitrous oxide) and even then only when it is within a certain range of concentrations with respect to the oxidizer. If it is to "lean," or less than about 1.4% gasoline vapor to 98.6% air, it will not burn. If it is too "rich," or more than about 7.6% gasoline vapor to 92.4% air, it will not burn, either. Within that range, well, we all know what can happen then. As gasoline evaporates, under most conditions it is usually quite likely that some of it will be within the flammable mixture range, hence the danger. Depending on how much gasoline was present, it could take a really long time, and some good ventilation with fresh air, for the gasoline and it's vapors to dissipate enough to make an interior space safe.

  • On the post: Judge Don Willett Calls Out Appeals Court For Saying Setting A Suicidal Man On Fire Didn't Violate His Rights

    Upstream ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2021 @ 02:59pm

    Re:

    Another possible solution would be to get rid of the QI horse$#|t altogether and insist on some sanity in the legal system. But that idea also makes sense and therefore will never happen.

  • On the post: Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin Sentenced To Twenty-Two Years For Killing George Floyd

    Upstream ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2021 @ 07:38am

    Re: Re: Re: Death

    Yes, as in "head on a pike at the entrance to town" fashion. Maybe they should put his prison cell on a truck and take it on tour. Murdering Racist Scum Roadshow?

  • On the post: Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin Sentenced To Twenty-Two Years For Killing George Floyd

    Upstream ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2021 @ 02:56pm

    Re: Prison Reform

    meaningful redemption impossible.
    Our prison system has never been about redemption or rehabilitation. It never has been. Maybe it should be, at least for some, but it isn't. The few that do manage to get rehabilitated while in prison do it largely by, and for, themselves, and they do it in spite of the prison system, not because of it.

  • On the post: 2nd Circuit Upholds Non-Monetary Sanctions Against Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz

    Upstream ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2021 @ 02:50pm

    More of this, please!

    Like TOG said, it shouldn't take anywhere near this amount of egregious behavior to get sanctions. The sanctions should be much harsher, they should come much quicker, and with considerably less provocation. This guy should have been disbarred long ago.

    Ditto (x 10 + prison time) for prosecutorial misconduct.

  • On the post: Study Shows Blood Pattern Analysis Is Just More Guesswork Posing As Scientific Evidence

    Upstream ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2021 @ 05:46am

    Old, but still outrageous, news

    As the article points out:

    In 2009, the National Research Council condemned blood pattern analysis as "more subjective than scientific."

    And it was old news even then. Many people have been shouting this to anyone who will listen for several decades, probably most notably Radley Balko. But, as the article also points out, no one seems to be listening, especially not the criminal legal system.

    It is also worth noting that, with the exception of DNA testing, all of the forensic techniques in use by the criminal legal system were developed either by, or for, people associated with the prosecution side of that system, specifically for the purpose of helping the prosecution secure convictions. These forensic techniques were not developed for, and are not used for, ascertaining the truth.

    The accuracy, reliability, and evidentiary value of forensic evidence are almost always grossly overstated to juries, and many jurors have been heavily influenced by the CSI effect, which results in their giving grossly excessive weight to the evidentiary value of said forensic evidence.

    Correcting the situation will be very difficult, because, just as in the drug war, there has arisen a very large law enforcement / prison / industrial complex around the practice of this forensic hocus-pocus. That makes for a lot of powerful and influential people all trying to maintain the status quo.

  • On the post: DOJ Asks DC Court To Compel Decryption Of Device Seized In A Capitol Raid Case

    Upstream ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2021 @ 03:04pm

    Dead horses and already settled law?

    I thought that the basics of this issue had been settled long ago: That one can be compelled to produce something one has, like a key, a fingerprint, or their face, but that one cannot be compelled to produce something that one knows, like a safe combination, computer password, or encryption key.

    This has always been the reason given for making sure your phone (or computer, or whatever) cannot be unlocked with biometrics alone if you want to have any chance at all of the government not being able to access it's contents.

    Of course, if the government can get into your safe, phone, computer, or whatever without the combination or password, etc, you are still out of luck, but at least the combination lock or password protection add a degree of difficulty to the task.

    Isn't this just another example of the government trying to breathe new life into a long dead horse, and hoping no one will notice the horse's miraculous recovery?

  • On the post: Cop Who Led Strike Team Into Wrong House During Drug Raid Granted Immunity By Eleventh Circuit

    Upstream ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2021 @ 10:24am

    Re:

    These things happen with such regularity that "mistake" is a completely inaccurate description. When cops do not read warrants and do not verify locations, tips, informant information, etc, or deliberately falsify any of those things, they are not making "mistakes." They are essentially planning to commit crimes, and then actively and intentionally committing those crimes, all because they know there is near zero chance they will be held accountable in any meaningful way.

  • On the post: Cop Who Led Strike Team Into Wrong House During Drug Raid Granted Immunity By Eleventh Circuit

    Upstream ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2021 @ 05:02am

    Re: 'No precedent applies and we're not creating any'

    '. . . and we're not creating any'
    This should be clear and convincing evidence of willful and malicious intent to further entrench and expand a violent, authoritarian police state, at least to anyone who is not part of that effort.

  • On the post: Cop Who Led Strike Team Into Wrong House During Drug Raid Granted Immunity By Eleventh Circuit

    Upstream ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2021 @ 04:57am

    Re:

    Do you want to undermine public confidence and trust in the police and the courts as institutions?
    Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, but it was so long ago that the T-shirt eventually wore out and had to go into the rag-bag (and even that was a long time ago).

  • On the post: Police Union, Lax Oversight Allow Florida Cop To Survive Three Arrests And Seven Firings

    Upstream ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2021 @ 10:33am

    Re: Re: Fatal disease?

    You are absolutely correct. I, and a great many others, have said as much in the past. I was just trying to expand on the "symptom of the disease" metaphor. Sometimes one cannot cover all the relevant bases and keep a comment to a reasonable length at the same time.

  • On the post: FBI Director Ignores More Than 500 Ongoing Capitol Raid Prosecutions To Complain That Encryption Is Keeping Criminals From Being Caught

    Upstream ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2021 @ 07:18am

    Our real challenge

    I, and a great many others, can easily recognize, and ignore, the Alice in Wonderland contradictions of Chris Wray for the nonsensical rantings of a power-hungry, police state authoritarian that they are. Our real challenge is getting Congress, the Courts, and Joe "Executive Order" Biden / Kamala "Dictator in Waiting" Harris (and whoever may come after them) to do the same.

  • On the post: Police Union, Lax Oversight Allow Florida Cop To Survive Three Arrests And Seven Firings

    Upstream ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2021 @ 07:00am

    Fatal disease?

    Bosque is a symptom of the disease.

    The real problem is that the systemic disease has not yet (and may never) become fatal. The diseased system has survived for many decades, and there is every indication that it will continue to survive . . . and that it will continue to kill, maim, and incarcerate countless citizens, at least for the foreseeable future.

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