Being tough on crime is one thing, but grandstanding for votes is entirely another. It began with Arpaio’s tough on prisoner approach of making prisoners live in tents and eat baloney sandwiches. Then it morphed into Grady and his political grandstanding. Now it’s gotten to where Sheriffs are posting people’s names and pictures on television to tell the world that those people are criminals, even when they aren’t.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not against being tough on crime, but there is a process for that. We don’t allow police in this country to punish lawbreakers. There is a process for that, and it doesn’t include destroying people’s lives because you are trying to garner a few votes. In this case, they were putting people’s pictures on television with the accusation that they are criminals without actually making sure that those people were actually accused of having committed a crime.
Keep in mind that Florida Sheriffs went to the state legislature and lobbied against carry laws. They went to the state legislature and lobbied against SB 234, which would have allowed those people in Florida who have a concealed weapons permit to carry a weapon openly. This proposed law wouldn’t have changed who may carry a weapon, only how they carry it.
The rule is innocent until proven guilty. Things like this show, red flag laws, and ex parte court hearings are destroying that principle. Everyone is entitled to their day in court, and I don’t mean the court of public opinion. I hope the guy wins.
4 Comments
Judge Dredd · February 1, 2023 at 10:29 am
Minions of the state are never your friends.
They view you as the enemy while they are an occupying force as that is how they are trained.
Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime is the law in Bolshevik Revolution part two.
Jonathan · February 1, 2023 at 12:30 pm
Not only are LE departments broadcasting every person who they arrest or charge, they are selling that information to private background check companies.
When people are cleared, there is no enforcement to make sure the companies update their information, so people are being denied jobs, and probably loans, based on incorrect information.
And of course, that assumes the LE department got the person’s information correct in the first place – there are credible reports of people intentionally giving the wrong info when arrested to make someone else look bad.
Even the Post Office does this – they have an official system of address formats and an official list of addresses. Companies can and do “verify” addresses through it – the problem is that in many cases it is incomplete or outright wrong, and that local post offices issue addresses that don’t fit the national formats.
I’ve had websites refuse to ship to me because my address is “out of range” or can’t be verified. The ironic thing is that as an FFL dealer, one website will ship a gun to the same address they said they couldn’t verify. Somebody else can order a gun to be shipped to me, but I can’t!
For these reasons and many others, I am increasingly skeptical of making decisions on data from any state or national system.
Elrod · February 3, 2023 at 6:45 am
This is of a kind of those local governments who post photos of “who was booked into jail today.” I wonder why some enterprising young attorneys haven’t pursued “pollution of the potential jury pool” to drive a change in venue for the trials; a venu change might not, and probably won’t in most cases, change the trial outcome, but the cost might force a change in how things operate.
Publicity after a valid conviction, sure; before, nope.
The New Standard For Guilt – Liberty's Torch · February 2, 2023 at 9:25 am
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