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When we ban begging we take away the first amendment rights of the poor
- hga 11y agoMaybe people ought to think about how willing they are to abridge commercial speech?
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoStraw man. They showcase mothers begging for diaper money after a national disaster. But the bans are for all those healthy-looking guys that hang out downtown and accost strangers.
- panglott 11y agoThe point is that they target both.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoBut nobody is arresting the strawman.
- panglott 11y agoA law that bans licit behavior alongside illicit behavior to give law enforcement broad powers and discretion to target the illicit behavior is unjust. It gives the power to decide what is licit and illicit directly to law enforcement, rather than spelling it out through the democratic process.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoEvery policeman, every day, must make that call. Its nothing new. So much of it revolves around intent, and that's hard to determine after the fact.
- dpark 11y agoWhat's the name for the fallacy where you ignore the broader point in favor of nitpicking some minor piece of the argument?
- theandrewbailey 11y agoBikeshedding?
- dragonwriter 11y agoSo, what you're saying is that the law is intentionally written to be overly broad to support arbitrary punishment by those in power of those they dislike for reasons other than what is prohibited on the face of the law. And that's okay, because you trust those in power to dislike the same people you dislike.
- Camillo 11y agoWhen we ban stalking we take away the first amendment rights of jilted lovers. When we ban playing loud music at 4 AM we take away the first amendment rights of jerks. When we ban plastering every square inch of a city with ads (to say nothing of banning billboards entirely), we take away the first amendment rights of business owners. When we ban vandalism we take away the first amendment rights of vandals. Any limitation on any act that has a component of communication (which is to say, almost any act at all) can be framed as a violation of the first amendment. In my opinion, "I need 'bout tree fiddy" ranks below spray-painting a dick on a wall in terms of contributing to the free exchange of ideas.