FSTDT Forums
Community => Politics and Government => Topic started by: Stormwarden on January 14, 2012, 12:17:49 am
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http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/obama-administration-says-constitution-protects-cell-phone-recordings.ars
Barack Obama has made it clear to the Justice Dept. and to judges that the US Constitution protects cell phone recordings of police misconduct. This came after allegations of police confiscating cell phones in Baltimore came out.
I say it's about damned time. This should have have been done with the abuses taking place in the OWS movement in NYC, Oakland, and other locations.
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I say this is a good thing in general.
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Wait he did something...right?
Ironbite-I'm confused.
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Wait he did something...right?
Ironbite-I'm confused.
Maybe election season is bringing out the best in him...?
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If that's so, then I vote that election season should last for the next decade.
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If that's so, then I vote that election season should last for the next decade.
I agree. Neither the next President nor Obama's re-election can happen until all of America's allies vote too. And not just a primary and election day each - every county in England, (independent?) Scotland...
That should sort it.
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This is very good and I can see no problems arising from it.
From the wording of the article, I'm also assuming it includes cell-phones as a whole. If this is the case, even better. I know in Virginia that police (in the northern VA areas) would routinely go through cell phones. Their justification was that they could be used as an accessory to a crime and evidence could be easily deleted, so they did not need warrants to go through them. This extended into the realm of traffic citations as well; any crime with reasonable suspicion (a low threshold). The courts upheld the officers tactics (although other states tried similar things and their courts struck them down). If this is the case, I may have to break out the happy dance.
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While I generally support this, I do see possible drawbacks for police officers. Video, photographs, and audio recordings only show you what the creator of them wants to you see/hear. Even a 100% appropriate application of force could look like abuse when you don't see the confrontation leading up to it.
However, I recognize that such cases will be a minority. Most of the time, the cell phone footage catch legitimately abusive or questionable police actions. However, police brutality seems one of those crimes where everyone would remember the accusation but no one would notice the acquittal, so yeah. I'm not sure how I feel.
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Finally the Obama admin gets something right on civil liberties.
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You’d think that would have been obvious, wouldn’t you. Ah, government. ::)
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While I generally support this, I do see possible drawbacks for police officers. Video, photographs, and audio recordings only show you what the creator of them wants to you see/hear. Even a 100% appropriate application of force could look like abuse when you don't see the confrontation leading up to it.
However, I recognize that such cases will be a minority. Most of the time, the cell phone footage catch legitimately abusive or questionable police actions. However, police brutality seems one of those crimes where everyone would remember the accusation but no one would notice the acquittal, so yeah. I'm not sure how I feel.
Also, the police can protect themselves against such by routinely making recordings themselves.
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That doesn't seem like a very practical idea.
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That doesn't seem like a very practical idea.
In the age of Little Brother, it is best to find a way.
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Also, the police can protect themselves against such by routinely making recordings themselves.
I completely support both the routine installation of squad car-based recording devices (audio and visual) and punishments for officers who do not use them when they are so installed. However, short of hiring a videographer to follow around groups of officers, there are going to be a lot of situations where you just can't reasonably make a complete and useful recording. Domestic disputes, foot chase situations, public event security, etc. I do not oppose the constitutional protection of cell phone recordings of police officers, nor do I oppose them being admissible in court. However, the legislature should make some harsh laws regarding that admissibility and rules for posting/showing them in public.
In the age of Little Brother, it is best to find a way.
I'm sure there is a way, but whether it is an economically feasible and reasonably non-intrusive way is the more important question.
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In the age of Little Brother, it is best to find a way.
I'm sure there is a way, but whether it is an economically feasible and reasonably non-intrusive way is the more important question.
I would guess the best bet is wearable cameras. They are getting more economically feasible and non-intrusive every day.