Civil liberties thread

[Vrede too]

(Englewood Cliffs, NJ) Teen who held BLM event gets $2500 bill for police overtime

I fought this same BS out decades ago, as did people before me. It will get shot down by the courts AND it's going to lead to more protests that no one will pay for policing. Idiots.

[billy.pilgrim]

Was there any need for cops?

Was the need for cops due to rightwingers trying to cause trouble at a peaceful rally?

Was the need for cops due to cops wanting overtime bucks?

Is the mayor a trumpaloon?

Yeah, it's bull

[Vrede too]

Was there any need for cops?

Was the need for cops due to rightwingers trying to cause trouble at a peaceful rally?

Was the need for cops due to cops wanting overtime bucks?

Is the mayor a trumpaloon?

Yeah, it's bull

Good questions about the cops. Mayor Mario M. Kranjac is a Repug, idk if he's a Trumpette, too.
FTA:

Four Democratic members of the town's Council issued a statement opposing the Republican mayor's decision, and said they would seek to cancel the bill. They said he owed the teen an apology.

Wiki:

... The Borough form of government used by Englewood Cliffs is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council....

The Englewood Cliffs Borough Council are 4 Ds and 2 Rs. Sounds like the bill will be canceled.

The county, state and federal pols are all Ds.

(2010:) ... The racial makeup was 56.35% (2,976) White, 2.08% (110) Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 38.52% (2,034) Asian, 0.78% (41) from other races, and 2.20% (116) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.98% (316) of the population....

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 3,505 registered voters in Englewood Cliffs, of which 1,069 (30.5% vs. 31.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 761 (21.7% vs. 21.1%) were registered as Republicans and 1,675 (47.8% vs. 47.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties....

[Vrede too]

Was there any need for cops?

Was the need for cops due to rightwingers trying to cause trouble at a peaceful rally?

Was the need for cops due to cops wanting overtime bucks?

Is the mayor a trumpaloon?

Yeah, it's bull

NJ Mayor Rescinds Bill That Charged Teenager $2,500 in Police Overtime for Organizing BLM Protest

Same result I had. It often helps to clearly have the 1st Amendment and years of rulings on one's side.

[billy.pilgrim]

I may have already posted this but there are so few opportunities to recognize nick sabin for anything positive, I'll rusk the double post.

[neoplacebo]

It could be that Nick has lost one of his NCAA championship rings and has enlisted some help in looking for it. That's what it looks like to me.

[Vrede too]

It could be that Nick has lost one of his NCAA championship rings and has enlisted some help in looking for it. That's what it looks like to me.

He's got CV-19 now. I'm not sure if he caught it looking for the ring, or if he ever found it.

Singapore: Jolovan Wham charged for holding up a smiley face sign



... Well, it has less to do with the smiley face, and more to do with the man holding it.

Jolovan Wham is a civil rights activist who has made a name for himself in recent years drawing attention to the issue of freedom of speech - or rather, as he would argue, the lack of it - in Singapore.

The photo was the latest in a long line of incidents involving Mr Wham which have upset the government....

I'm reminded of rstrong getting banned for starting a BRN thread titled I like the color blue. That said, it's a smiley face, he should have been summarily shot.

[Vrede too]

Ohio Quietly Passes A Bill That Could Bankrupt Churches Linked To Fossil Fuel Protests
The measure, part of a wave of legislation to crush demonstrations against new oil and gas infrastructure, will reach the governor’s desk Monday.

[O Really]

MIxed results - "bankrupt" churches can't be all bad.

[Vrede too]

MIxed results - "bankrupt" churches can't be all bad.

Bankrupt green churches like U/U, and other orgs . The subsidies for fossil fuels never end.

[neoplacebo]

Same as it ever was.....or at least for the last hundred years.

[billy.pilgrim]

Ohio Quietly Passes A Bill That Could Bankrupt Churches Linked To Fossil Fuel Protests
The measure, part of a wave of legislation to crush demonstrations against new oil and gas infrastructure, will reach the governor’s desk Monday.

"Some 40 states have introduced parallel legislation over the past four years. If DeWine signs the bill, Ohio would be the 14th state to pass the measures into law. Roughly half a dozen have been enacted since March in states that include Mississippi, South Dakota and West Virginia.

The bills’ similarities are no coincidence. In 2017, the American Legislative Exchange Council"

ALEC - I remember when they were but a fanciful liberal conspiracy.

[Vrede too]

Second J20 Trial Ends in Mistrial (on some charges, acquittals on the rest)

The second trial of Trump Inauguration protesters arrested during an anti-capitalist, anti-fascist march has ended....

I bet they don't tell Donnie.

Searching 'J20' or 'inauguration protest trial' on Faux Noise yields "0 results found".

With Last Charges Against J20 Protesters Dropped, Defendants Seek Accountability for Prosecutors

Last Friday afternoon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia dismissed charges against the 39 remaining J20 Inauguration Day protesters under indictment, bringing a close to a year-and-a-half-long saga marked by police aggression, prosecutorial overreach, and heartening displays of solidarity by the defendants and their supporters....

Wow, there was some illegal, even destructive activity that happened. For them to not be able to convict anyone is an absolute humiliation for the cops and prosecutors.

D.C. to pay $1.6 million to settle lawsuits over Trump inauguration protest arrests

... Driving the news: The suits accuse Metropolitan Police Department officers and then-Police Chief Peter Newsham of being responsible for the "mass arrests of demonstrators without probable cause, unlawful conditions of confinement for detainees, and/or use of excessive force," per a statement from the ACLU.

The civil cases, brought by the ACLU and attorney Jefferey Light on behalf of protesters, allege that police violated the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, as well as D.C. law.

They accuse police of rounding up and detaining 200-plus protesters "without access to food, water, or restrooms for up to 16 hours," despite only a small number of demonstrators causing damage during the protests.

"Officers also deployed pepper spray, flash-bang grenades, concussion grenades, and stingballs — explosive devices that release smoke, rubber pellets, and a chemical irritant within a radius of approximately 50 feet—against protesters and others both on the street ... without warning and in circumstances where there was no threat of harm to officers or the public."

... The only convictions that eventuated from the 234 Inauguration Day arrests were for 21 people who pleaded guilty before trial, the Washington Post reports....

[Vrede too]

Trump officials used secret terrorism unit to question lawyers at border, report claims

Newly released records appear to show a broad push by the Trump administration to use the federal government’s expansive powers at the southern border to stop and question lawyers, activists and journalists.

ProPublica reports that two lawyers were interrogated by members of US Customs and Border Patrol’s secretive Tactical Terrorism Response Team because they were suspected of “providing assistance” to the migrant caravan as it made its way through Mexico — at the time a focus of both the administration and right-wing media.

Officials speculated that immigration lawyers were seeking to profit by moving migrants through Mexico, and that “Antifa” may have been involved.

Public interest law firm and advocacy group, the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, provided ProPublica with the records having received them through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit....

[Vrede too]

U.S. government seeks to dismiss suit against Trump, Washington Post says

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against former President Donald Trump, former Attorney General William Barr and other officials over the forceful pushing back of peaceful protesters at a White House demonstration last year, the Washington Post reported.

Trump and other U.S. officials should be considered immune from civil lawsuits over police actions taken to protect a president and to secure his movements, the Justice Department lawyers said, according to the Post.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over the treatment of protesters at a demonstration against racism and police brutality on June 1, 2020, in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes....

Federal agents on horseback used tear gas to clear the protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House. The sweep allowed Trump to stage a photo opportunity at a nearby church in which he held up a copy of the Bible....

The lawsuit sought an order declaring that Trump, Barr and other officials violated the constitutional rights of the demonstrators.

, Joe.

[billy.pilgrim]

U.S. government seeks to dismiss suit against Trump, Washington Post says

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against former President Donald Trump, former Attorney General William Barr and other officials over the forceful pushing back of peaceful protesters at a White House demonstration last year, the Washington Post reported.

Trump and other U.S. officials should be considered immune from civil lawsuits over police actions taken to protect a president and to secure his movements, the Justice Department lawyers said, according to the Post.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over the treatment of protesters at a demonstration against racism and police brutality on June 1, 2020, in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes....

Federal agents on horseback used tear gas to clear the protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House. The sweep allowed Trump to stage a photo opportunity at a nearby church in which he held up a copy of the Bible....

The lawsuit sought an order declaring that Trump, Barr and other officials violated the constitutional rights of the demonstrators.

, Joe.

Yep, Doug Jones would have been better than merrick

And, fuck you Biden.

[O Really]

IMNVHO, it's better to drop it than to lose it, which I think they very likely would.

[Vrede too]

IMNVHO, it's better to drop it than to lose it, which I think they very likely would.

If Joe's betrayal of peaceful protest results in the the dismissal of the ACLU lawsuit, that is losing it, and there's no way that the ACLU is going "to drop it".

[O Really]

IMNVHO, it's better to drop it than to lose it, which I think they very likely would.

If Joe's betrayal of peaceful protest results in the the dismissal of the ACLU lawsuit, that is losing it, and there's no way that the ACLU is going "to drop it".

I'm sure the ACLU et. al. sees it as an egregious affront that can't be let stand without challenge. For sake of discussion, I see it like a medical malpractice suit. Lots of med mal suits get filed, but only those cases where somebody dies or gets seriously disabled or deformed win much. And lots more never make it to litigation just because of the low chances of winning. Trump provided hundreds of opportunities for lawsuits. Pick your battles carefully.

[Ulysses]

IMNVHO, it's better to drop it than to lose it, which I think they very likely would.

If Joe's betrayal of peaceful protest results in the the dismissal of the ACLU lawsuit, that is losing it, and there's no way that the ACLU is going "to drop it".

I'm sure the ACLU et. al. sees it as an egregious affront that can't be let stand without challenge. For sake of discussion, I see it like a medical malpractice suit. Lots of med mal suits get filed, but only those cases where somebody dies or gets seriously disabled or deformed win much. And lots more never make it to litigation just because of the low chances of winning. Trump provided hundreds of opportunities for lawsuits. Pick your battles carefully.

Except this really isn't like a medical malpractice or personal injury suit. It's about something much bigger, in a sense - violation of citizens' civil liberties. And unlike most civil actions, the goal may not be to win and get a cash settlement, but rather to expose the malfeasance under the magnifying glass of a sensational trial.

Of course, the activities in New York and elsewhere going after Trump's business dealings may have a better chance of winning, but in this case exposing Trump to be the chump has a certain non-monetary appeal.