Guilt by Association:Facebook Pics Could Help Send a Young Man to Prison for Life

Voice of San Diego ^ | 04 March 2015 | Sara Libby

[from occupied ga]

Now, do you want it on the books?

I thinks this is a next step forward to complete tyranny. but the dumbasses who were cheering it obviously have no such concerns

[Red Badger]

So if I belong to a ‘group’ that is declared a ‘gang’, like the NRA, and a person also in the NRA commits a crime, then I am guilty as well?...............

[MeganC]

“Home of the Brave, Land of the Free?”

Nope, it’s been ‘fundamentally transformed’ into a “Homeland Free of the Brave”

[Red Badger]

Guilt by ‘Free Association’ guaranteed by the Constitution..................

[Theoria]

Sure, you are also a member of FreeRepublic...>6<

[BJ1]

>>>He sounds like a scumbag who cleaned up nice for the picture in the article.<<<

Uh he didn’t even live near the gang anymore. He had no criminal record. And from the info presented in the article, the man was busy trying to get a legit career started.

His charge was a crime for being in a gang. At best if the state is correct, he is a former gang member who has turned his back on his former life. At worst, he’s just a guy from the hood who knew gang members. Should we start to jail the tens of thousands of gang members and possibly the hundreds of thousands of men who might be friends with them?

It’s embarrassing to come to FR and see wingnut comments like this so frequently. And FWIW, the presumption of innocence is something I’ll extend to this man since the circumstances of his arrest are so damn weak. If the state can prove something more substantial so be it. I won’t judge him guilty now.

[Red Badger]

Never heard of ‘em!...................That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!..................

[gunnut]

Be careful because this could one day be used against conservatives and tea party folks. Suppose you are a member of a group and suddenly there is a false flag operation with someone who has joined the organization and maybe even moved up to a leadership position. all it could take is a couple of members discussing and everyone in the group could be implicated.

[circlecity]

This could easily be used against those who belong to gun clubs, militias, etc. etc. All it would take is for one member to turn out to be closet nut who goes postal.

[longfellow]

I would rather hunt them down like in “TOMBSTONE”. “Any man wearing a red sash, I’ll kill them.”

[circlecity]

Just remember what they tried to do to the Hutarees.

[Starstruck]

We had better hope no Freeper goes off the rails. I don’t like some of these precedents if you follow them to where they could go.

[DoodleDawg]

Read the article.

Where's the fun in that?

[JimRed]

Rather, they’re charged with conspiracy for belonging to the same gang as the shooters. For that, they could go to prison for life.

Hey, fair's fair. If they start rounding up Tea Partiers, will they overlook me just 'cause I haven't blown up any regime targets yet? (Is the < /sarc > needed?)

[Safetgiver]

I agree. Why haven’t all the unions in Philly been shut down, indicted and imprisoned for that old SOB who stored weapons and encouraged people to shoot GWB? HMMM?.

[Thud]

A conspiracy is "an agreement to act in concert" to do an illegal act, or to use illegal means to achieve a lawful end. The proof requirements for prosecution of a criminal conspiracy include the accused committing an "overt act" in furtherance of the conspiracy. It sounds like the guy's otherwise lawful Facebook postings are the only overt acts the San Diego prosecutor here is relying on.

If so, this has major federal Constitutional First Amendment implications, with a conviction almost certainly being thrown out on appeal.

OTOH, figuring out what is really going on in a court case, from media other than specialist legal publications, is pretty much useless.

[Regal]

I meant fry all the despicable gang members. Don’t tell me he joined the gang for the free baseball hat and the numerous community service opportunities. Was this an Amish gang?

[Shamrock498]

man I have said that for yeeeeeeears...gangs are no different than terrorists or insurgents by every definition of those terms. i’d be ok with shooting them on site

[cuban leaf]

“They’re saying I benefited because my stature, my respect, went up. I didn’t even know I had any stature. I don’t understand how someone can benefit from something they don’t even know exists,” said Harvey.

---

If I belonged to a group of any kind where someone did something that got me arrested under this pretense my argument would be that as a Christian, their activity did not improve my stature. Rather, it diminished it.

[Skepolitic]

According to the state, a person can be entered into the CALGANG database if he or she meets any two criteria from a list that includes: admitting to being a gang member: being arrested alongside known gang members; being ID’d as a gang member by a reliable source; being seen affiliating with documented gang members; displaying hand gestures affiliated with a gang; frequenting gang areas; wearing gang dress; or having gang tattoos.

Consider the implications if a similar list were made for other politically unpopular groups, say, abortion opponents.