contents (and some discontent)

Picture of the Day
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Saturday
April 20, 2002



watch
                        your step
Jaywalking Arrestee, Seattle

What happens if you jaywalk in Seattle on a Saturday afternoon (and you're not carrying a shopping bag)?
Police tackle you to the pavement, hogtie you with zipties, and toss you into the back of a windowless van.

How can they arrest you for jaywalking when the maximum penalty for jaywalking is a ticket?
In case you missed it, the police have the power to arrest and detain indefinitely any person for any reason, as of an April 24, 2001 Supreme Court ruling.

Doesn't that make  the USA a police state?
If you define police state as a regime where individual officers can override constitutional protections at their discretion, then yes, the US is a police state, and has been since before Sep 11.

I think that's wrong. What can I do?
Assert your constitutional rights by showing up at pro-democracy demonstrations. That's a start.