4 ms·
This sounds like something that's already illegal. How would fraudulently calling law enforcement NOT be illegal?
by bpicolo 11y ago
This sounds like something that's already illegal. How would fraudulently calling law enforcement NOT be illegal?
- mistercow 11y agoYeah sounds like this is about a new law that is more specific and provides harsher penalties.
- pmiller2 11y agoExactly. I think it would fall under "making a false report" or something, in most states. In California, that's a misdemeanor that gets you up to 6 months in jail. Edit: California has a specific anti-swatting law that's still a misdemeanor and can get you up to a year in jail and $1000 fine if nobody gets hurt, or a felony with up to a $10000 fine and up to 3 years in jail.
- tzs 11y agoI think that the significance is that this proposed law is a federal law. Instead of a random swatting being a matter of violation of some state or local law [1] that falls primarily to local law enforcement to investigate, it will be a federal crime and the FBI can get involved from the start. The FBI probably has a much better chance of catching the swatter than does some random local police force. [1] Such as, to pick an arbitrary example, Iowa Code § 718.6: https://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category=billinfo&service=IowaCode&ga=83&input=718 https://coolice.legis.iowa.gov/Cool-ICE/default.asp?category...