Posted on 08/23/2017 5:31:54 PM PDT by deplorableindc
A NEW BILL INTRODUCED by seven Pennsylvania Republican state lawmakers could force protesters arrested at demonstrations to pay for police overtime and other fees related to the action.
The bill, SB 754, has been introduced by Rep. Scott Martin of Lancaster County; his district has been the site of anti-pipeline protests aimed at the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline.
Under the terms of the bill, “a person is responsible for public safety response costs incurred by a State agency or political subdivision as a result of the State agency’s or political subdivision’s response to a demonstration if, in connection with the demonstration, the person is convicted of a felony or misdemeanor offense.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theintercept.com ...
Ridiculous.
How so?
I know one bill I would support for sure and it’s way over due:
Make the impeding of traffic or the blocking of any road, bridge or highway for the purposes of political or social protest to be punishable by a minimum of five years in jail for a first offense with no chance of probation, conditional discharge or parole.
Right....you can take it out of their welfare check.
Good luck getting gmany of those basement dwellers to pay up. The law better let them go after the assets of Mom and Dad. Or force them to post a multimillion dollar bond in advance.
Rioters not taxpayers should be responsible for any cleanup.
If they had to pay out of their pocket, they would think twice before assaulting police.
You have a right to peaceably assemble. You don’t have a right to riot.
Slippery slope. I can think of a lot of “what if’s” in this situation. I think if there are violent actions by someone then maybe. But only if they are found guilty by trial first.
when you sign up to be a Protester you have to give your Credit Card number ,LOL
George Soros is going to complain about this.
Save the time and effort.
Just bill and fine George Soros.
Go after the deep-pocket organizers.
If they are arrested, I’m not sure what is ridiculous about billing them for police services they forced to be out there.
Peaceful protests require very little police presence.
If the rioters are paid by Soros or other organization then the organization should be libel.
I don’t see how you argue that this doesn’t restrict free speech. How quickly would the courts step in?
To expand:
Is it unheard of for innocent people to arrested just because they are near group of offenders. Or just because the police in one location favor one group over another. Maybe they are given orders on who to arrest by the mayor of Charlottesville or the governor of Virginia. Maybe they are never actually proven to be guilty. And yet they get the bill.
This is no different than asset forfeiture.
Glad to hear it! We need a Federal law, which would probably be limited to roads and highways that stretch between states, but that would apply to an awful lot of them.
It seems like the people of Arizona are really on the ball. So it doesn’t make any sense that they would elect total losers like McCain and Flake.
But then, I can’t explain how we in Kentucky keep electing Mitch McConnell so I guess I don’t have much room to question Arizonians about electing Senators. :)
Given the conditional at the end, “a person is responsible for public safety response costs incurred . . . (if) the person is convicted of a felony or misdemeanor offense,” I am mostly okay with this, although it would be better restricted to felonies only. If you are going to cost a jurisdiction money, you should be extra scrupulous to obey all laws. I worry though about frivolous or even completely fake prosecutions to shake people down, but a corrupt system will always find a way to do that so it’s not a reason to avoid an otherwise good law.
About damned time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.