• About
  • Contact
  • Editorial
  • Policies
  • Archives
Angry Bear
Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.
  • US/Global Economics
  • Taxes/regulation
  • Healthcare
  • Law
  • Politics
  • Climate Change
  • Social Security
  • Hot Topics
« Back

Open thread June 15,2013

Dan Crawford | June 15, 2013 9:06 am

Tags: open thread Comments (2) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
2 Comments
  • Denis Drew says:
    June 15, 2013 at 10:29 am

    Daniel Ellsberg exposed classified documents to reveal past lying by government agencies — tricky to defend.

    Edward Snowden is exposing supposed massive ongoing Fourth Amendment violations — our Constitutionally protected free way of life going down a giant sinkhole if he is right. That should be the right of anyone to expose.

    Infringing Fourth Amendment rights while acting under color of law is not a federal crime — yet; more on that — like infringing First Amendment rights has been since passing the 1964 Federal Civil Rights Act.

    Examples of massive Fourth Amendment infringements that could be criminalized are the Boston suburb’s warrantless invasion of 20 square blocks of private homes, warrantless government snooping private communications and, yes, the New York City Police Department’s constitutionally unjustified stop-and-frisk policy.

    In 2011 New York police made 700,000 stops — up 7 times since Mayor Bloomberg took office — but AFTER crime had already gone down 4x = 28X as many stops per reported crime (half of which lead to frisks — 1 in 500 frisks producing a gun).

    Read “Senarro’s Hidden Camera”, a New York Magazine story of an officer who says he was stopped 25 to 50 times growing up — lost track — and recorded illegal orders to do it to others.
    http://nymag.com/news/features/pedro-serrano-2013-5/

    If federal criminal penalties attached to such massive unconstitutional intrusions, bosses would shrink back from even thinking about doing such deeds. And the next Snowden would have an easy defense.

    Right now there is nothing in the way of dissolving the Fourth Amendment completely except one slow, hard to work lawsuit in front one lone federal judge in New York — good luck against determined executive evading.

    [Elizabeth Warren for president]

  • Denis Drew says:
    June 15, 2013 at 10:34 am

    I forgot to include: New York State Senate Republicans just passed a law making it a felony (4 years in jail) to annoy a police officer physically (e.g., poking your finger in his chest after he says not to). Wont make it through the Assembly, presumably.

    How about making it a federal civil rights violation to throw a teenager up against the wall 25 times in his school years? Perfect opening.

Featured Stories

Labor has gained and Corporations have been sucking up the lion’s share of all gains

NewDealdemocrat

Why are so many long-shot Republicans running against Trump?

Eric Kramer

You May Be Wondering About Angry Bear’s Dan

run75441

Scenes from the April employment report: the Fed just can’t kill the employment “beast”

NewDealdemocrat

Contributors

Dan Crawford
Robert Waldmann
Barkley Rosser
Eric Kramer
ProGrowth Liberal
Daniel Becker
Ken Houghton
Linda Beale
Mike Kimel
Steve Roth
Michael Smith
Bill Haskell
NewDealdemocrat
Ken Melvin
Sandwichman
Peter Dorman
Kenneth Thomas
Bruce Webb
Rebecca Wilder
Spencer England
Beverly Mann
Joel Eissenberg

Subscribe

Blogs of note

    • Naked Capitalism
    • Atrios (Eschaton)
    • Crooks and Liars
    • Wash. Monthly
    • CEPR
    • Econospeak
    • EPI
    • Hullabaloo
    • Talking Points
    • Calculated Risk
    • Infidel753
    • ACA Signups
    • The one-handed economist
Angry Bear
Copyright © 2023 Angry Bear Blog

Topics

  • US/Global Economics
  • Taxes/regulation
  • Healthcare
  • Law
  • Politics
  • Climate Change
  • Social Security
  • Hot Topics
  • US/Global Economics
  • Taxes/regulation
  • Healthcare
  • Law
  • Politics
  • Climate Change
  • Social Security
  • Hot Topics

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial
  • Policies
  • Archives