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My turn

Posted By: Chuck Bower
Date: Thursday, 9 August 2007, at 2:37 p.m.

In Response To: My turn (Matt Reklaitis)

Chicago? Gee, there's a police force that's gotten some publicity over the years.

This is a tough one. You have to weigh the consequences. This is a good example of picking your fights. Is it time to stand up and fight or do I give in THIS TIME and save my fight for a bigger issue?

Your example is, IMO, a good one illustrating the weakness of voluntarily giving up your rights when you're not doing anything wrong. It seems to me that the reason there is a law that allows a policeman to stop you for speeding is because... it is dangerous to speed. The law wasn't written (or at least shouldn't have been written) as a catchall for searching suspicious vehicles, yet that appears to be exactly how it is being used. What would a Texan being doing in Chicago besides trying to distribute illegal drugs he got across the Mexican border?

We may have talked about this in Stick's earlier thread but I believe in some states police may not stop you specifically because they perceive you aren't wearing a seatbelt. They may cite you for not wearing a seatbelt only after stopping you for some more verifiable violation (e.g. speeding!). I interpret this as an attempt by the state legislature to in fact prevent the very thing you experienced: stopping any car they want and saying "it looked like they didn't have their seatbelt on, then after I pulled them over to get a closer look I noticed the smell of marijuana...."

Messages In This Thread

• Even more big brother? (very OT)
  Achim -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 11:07 a.m.
  • Even more big brother? (very OT)
    Bill Riles -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 12:39 p.m.
    • Trading freedom for security
      Achim -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 1:20 p.m.
      • Trading freedom for security
        Bill Riles -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 1:25 p.m.
        • Trading freedom for security
          Achim -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 1:31 p.m.
        • Trading freedom for security (very OT)
          MaX -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 4:03 p.m.
          • Trading freedom for security (very OT)
            Achim -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 5:57 p.m.
            • Trading freedom for security (very OT)
              Steve Mellen -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 9:49 p.m.
              • Trading freedom for security (very OT)
                Achim -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 11:29 p.m.
                • Trading freedom for security (very OT)
                  Steve Mellen -- Tuesday, 7 August 2007, at 6:26 p.m.
    • Even more big brother? (very OT)
      Stick -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 7:08 p.m.
    • Even more big brother? (very OT)
      Frank Berger -- Monday, 6 August 2007, at 8:22 p.m.
    • Even more big brother? (very OT)
      John O'Hagan -- Tuesday, 7 August 2007, at 1:27 a.m.
      • Orwell that Ends Well?
        Stick -- Tuesday, 7 August 2007, at 3:13 a.m.
        • Orwell that Ends Well?
          John O'Hagan -- Tuesday, 7 August 2007, at 4:39 a.m.
          • Orwell that Ends Well?
            MaX -- Tuesday, 7 August 2007, at 6:56 a.m.
            • Orwell that Ends Well?
              Achim -- Tuesday, 7 August 2007, at 8:32 a.m.
          • Orwell that Ends Well?
            Stick -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 4:30 a.m.
  • big brother is alive an well in europe
    garyo -- Tuesday, 7 August 2007, at 5:44 p.m.
    • big brother is alive an well in europe
      Achim -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 11:56 a.m.
      • big brother is alive an well in europe
        Daniel Murphy -- Saturday, 25 August 2007, at 9:53 p.m.
        • big brother is alive an well in europe
          Chuck Bower -- Saturday, 25 August 2007, at 10:20 p.m.
          • big brother is alive an well in europe
            Daniel Murphy -- Monday, 27 August 2007, at 8:41 p.m.
  • My turn
    Chuck Bower -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 5:00 p.m.
    • My turn
      Matt Cohn-Geier -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 5:48 p.m.
      • My turn
        Matt Reklaitis -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 6:36 p.m.
      • My turn
        Chuck Bower -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 7:37 p.m.
        • My turn
          Matt Cohn-Geier -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 8:50 p.m.
          • My turn
            Matt Cohn-Geier -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 9:23 p.m.
          • My turn
            Achim -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 9:30 p.m.
          • My turn
            Chuck Bower -- Thursday, 9 August 2007, at 3:48 p.m.
        • My turn
          Matt Reklaitis -- Wednesday, 8 August 2007, at 9:03 p.m.
          • My turn
            Chuck Bower -- Thursday, 9 August 2007, at 2:37 p.m.
      • My turn
        mamabear -- Thursday, 9 August 2007, at 12:31 a.m.
        • My turn
          Havard Raddum -- Thursday, 9 August 2007, at 3:10 a.m.
  • Even more big brother? (very OT)
    MaX -- Thursday, 9 August 2007, at 1:26 p.m.