magnabonzo

magnabonzo OP t1_iydlqys wrote

Reply to comment by Lucybruin in According to the ACLU, the only laws requiring you to identify yourself to MA cops are related to vehicles (or suspected crimes) by magnabonzo

"If you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have anything to hide" -- really?

That's un-American. We created a Bill of Rights specifically to protect us the people from the government (including the police).

As Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither..."

Two possibilities:

  • You're in law enforcement, or are related to people in law enforcement, so you (understandably) can only see their side of things, or

  • You can't imagine a situation where the police would ever be anything but 100% completely fair to you. (Which probably means you're white, over 40, probably male, maybe self-employed, and don't read much.) You can't imagine a situation where the police could mis-use information you give them. You haven't watched "Don't Talk to the Police". You don't read about police misconduct in Worcester or the need for the Massachusetts POST Commission or the fact that lots of MA police officers who get fired or resign after a misconduct investigation find jobs with other police departments. You don't remember David Woodman, who was arrested for walking around with an open can of alcohol and was asphyxiated during his arrest.

I don't hate the cops. I generally support them. I oppose the "ACAB" saying.

But cops need to have limits, and we the non-cops need to know about their limits, especially because cops are allowed to lie about what their limits are.

The "nothing to hide" argument is weak, put forth either by law enforcement or by people who haven't really thought about it.

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