Houston Texas? Nice landscaping they got there!
Why put in sidewalks when they just let them become grown over?
Posted on 06/29/2012 8:14:55 AM PDT by JoeProBono
HOUSTON, - A Houston woman said she was wrongfully arrested by police for holding up a "speed trap" sign near where an officer was pulling over motorists.
Natalie Plummer said she wrote "speed trap" on a grocery bag and held it at the roadside on West Dallas June 21 after she spotted an officer pulling motorists over while she was riding home on her bicycle, KTRK-TV, Houston, reported Thursday.
"I felt like he was just pulling random cars over," Plummer said.
Plummer said an officer drove up to her after a few minutes, searched her backpack without consent and placed her under arrest.
"He was telling me he was taking me to jail for obstructing justice, that was an automatic three to five years," Plummer said.
However, she was only cited with a misdemeanor count of walking in the roadway where there is a sidewalk present.
"I for sure did not step into the street," Plummer said. "(I stayed) on the sidewalk the entire time."
A police representative said Plummer, who spent 12 hours in jail, was "in the roadway" and "was a danger to herself and others ... the sum total of which was is an arrestable offense."
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
They do. That's just one day's growth.
Actually, we have a couple of revenue generation officers in a town nearby who more or less do just this - pull people over at random and try to find something to ticket them on.
Houston Texas? Nice landscaping they got there!
Why put in sidewalks when they just let them become grown over?
There are so many weeds, ya can’t see the curb line..
It’s got that Detroit look!
Yep, while I am a strong supporter of law enforcement, more and more their roles have become that of "tax collector" in the form of writing more tickets. I used to think of them as fines, but Justice Roberts has shown me the error in my ways.
There's your problem. She was too close to the fire hydrant!
If she was riding a bike, wouldn’t she be better off getting plastic instead of paper? Of course, judging by the landscape, she could have just found the paper bag in the undergrowth...
Police encourage people to put slow down signs in their yard. Guess not when they are trying to generate revenue from speeders.
Maybe wording needs to be more clever. Don’t get a speeding ticket!
Even so, it is a fact for her motivation; to say otherwise is, bluntly, stupid and ignorant on your part. (Or do you wish to put forward an argument that not only should people be utterly rational/logical, but that they must be?)
Furthermore, is not this a curtailment of free speech? To call it an obstruction of justice to warn people of the consequences of their actions is to assert that learning the law is obstruction of justice.
The State gets pissed when you interfere with their opportunity to take money from the citizens!
If I "feel" that Target is selling child pornography, should I then stand out in front of the store with a sign that claims they're doing this? Or should I use my intellect to determine if this is actually the case? To act on one's "feelings" without bothering to gain any supporting evicence is simply irrational.
I tend to dismiss the claims of irrational people.
Also kinda weird placing hydrant in center of sidewalk. Makes it hard to speed down sidewalk.
That's not what you said, nor implied. Just because 'feeling' is a motivation does not make it irrational (as in crazy), nor does having feeling as your primary motivation invalidate any thinking on the matter (nor does it necessitate that no thinking on the matter was given).
For example, I strongly feel that there is great wrong in prohibiting firearms from courthouses. Why? Well, the Constitution explicitly states that liberties should not be denied w/o due process of law, and not everyone compelled to be in a courtroom has even been accused of a crime. (To wit: jurors.) Furthermore, the USSC has ruled, repeatedly, that there is no affirmative obligation for the police/law enforcement to ensure a private citizen's safety. Therefore, by compelling the Juror to appear, and also to be disarmed, while at the same time refusing to lay any responsibility and accountability on the law enforcement officers of the court is disgusting and morally repugnant.
Furthermore, to argue that weapons are dangerous and someone might be killed is ridiculous and undermines the idea of a responsible society: remember that the jurors of every Capital case have the power of life and death in their hands already.
If I "feel" that Target is selling child pornography, should I then stand out in front of the store with a sign that claims they're doing this?
No, not only is that [child porn] a crime and morally repugnant but doing so would cause no justice to be done -- only a smearing of reputation against which the accused has no real defense. Also, if it is false then you are a slanderer and/or libeler.
You could/should attempt a citizen's arrest if you feel that way. (And are reasonably sure of yourself.)
Or should I use my intellect to determine if this is actually the case?
Intellect and emotion are not mutually exclusive. In fact such a mentality is destructive to both the good and happiness of mankind.
Reason without feeling is amoral, feeling without reason is ridiculous.
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.