4 ms·

Yea, but the princple remains. He bad mouthed the police so they arrested for it. In a country like the US where it appears that unduly high bails are set. (tho

Yea, but the princple remains. He bad mouthed the police so they arrested for it. In a country like the US where it appears that unduly high bails are set. (thousands of dollars for people on welfare may as well be a million) Getting arrested could easily mean the lose of freedom for a extended period of time. If that is the penalty for saying something, true or false. It suddenly becomes something people are afraid to do.

qbz 8y ago
He said an officer is corrupt and that the chief is covering it up. The NYT calls this "disparaging", but it clearly goes way beyond badmouthing.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Imagine a world where everyone who accused a public servant of being corrupt, or covering things up was arrested. Every politician would be in jail after each campaign season.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    >Every politician would be in jail after each campaign season Sounds like a better world!
    - darkpuma 8y ago
      Every critic of those politicians would be in jail too.
      - coldtea 8y ago
        Why would anybody bother to criticize them if they're going to jail at the end of their campaign anyway (as is the premise in this thread)?
        darkpuma 8y ago
        Surely you understand that people criticize murderes who are being sent to prison; you don't question why they bother. Why would people stop criticizing a politician simply because they know that politician will be going to jail? This whole conversation has become very silly. It's plain that criminal libel is an awful idea, we can joke about silly scenarios that might unfold if people facing criminal libel charges were required to prove their innocence, but current criminal libel laws with a normal burden of proof are already being abused and doing real damage to the lives of real people, which isn't very funny.
        coldtea 8y ago
        >Why would people stop criticizing a politician simply because they know that politician will be going to jail? They could, but it would be futile. The politician is not going to govern anybody anyway (remember, straight to jail from the end of their campaign). Besides, surely you understand that this thread has stretched a BS hypothetical.
        darkpuma 8y ago
        > "They could, but it would be futile. The politician is not going to govern anybody anyway (remember, straight to jail from the end of their campaign)." You've a strange notion of how people behave. People still routinely criticize Bush and Obama, even though neither will ever be in office again. That's how people are.
- MrTonyD 8y ago
  I've known a few policemen here in the USA - and every one of them was corrupt. So in this case the law may not make sense.
  - MrTonyD 8y ago
    I share my very real world experience of police in the USA, and I get downvoted for it. I must be posting on Hacker News. (I now consider it a badge of honor to get downvoted. It means those who can't entertain disconfirming thoughts have been offended.)
- darkpuma 8y ago
  Those are very tame accusations to level against civil servants. They may be totally false, but far worse is regularly stated by people every day. Arresting people for unjustified accusations against the police is obscene, the potential for abuse is way too high.

qbz 8y ago

He said an officer is corrupt and that the chief is covering it up. The NYT calls this "disparaging", but it clearly goes way beyond badmouthing.

reaperducer 8y ago
Imagine a world where everyone who accused a public servant of being corrupt, or covering things up was arrested. Every politician would be in jail after each campaign season.
- coldtea 8y ago
  >Every politician would be in jail after each campaign season Sounds like a better world!
  - darkpuma 8y ago
    Every critic of those politicians would be in jail too.
    - coldtea 8y ago
      Why would anybody bother to criticize them if they're going to jail at the end of their campaign anyway (as is the premise in this thread)?
      - darkpuma 8y ago
        Surely you understand that people criticize murderes who are being sent to prison; you don't question why they bother. Why would people stop criticizing a politician simply because they know that politician will be going to jail? This whole conversation has become very silly. It's plain that criminal libel is an awful idea, we can joke about silly scenarios that might unfold if people facing criminal libel charges were required to prove their innocence, but current criminal libel laws with a normal burden of proof are already being abused and doing real damage to the lives of real people, which isn't very funny.
        coldtea 8y ago
        >Why would people stop criticizing a politician simply because they know that politician will be going to jail? They could, but it would be futile. The politician is not going to govern anybody anyway (remember, straight to jail from the end of their campaign). Besides, surely you understand that this thread has stretched a BS hypothetical.
        darkpuma 8y ago
        > "They could, but it would be futile. The politician is not going to govern anybody anyway (remember, straight to jail from the end of their campaign)." You've a strange notion of how people behave. People still routinely criticize Bush and Obama, even though neither will ever be in office again. That's how people are.
MrTonyD 8y ago
I've known a few policemen here in the USA - and every one of them was corrupt. So in this case the law may not make sense.
- MrTonyD 8y ago
  I share my very real world experience of police in the USA, and I get downvoted for it. I must be posting on Hacker News. (I now consider it a badge of honor to get downvoted. It means those who can't entertain disconfirming thoughts have been offended.)
darkpuma 8y ago
Those are very tame accusations to level against civil servants. They may be totally false, but far worse is regularly stated by people every day. Arresting people for unjustified accusations against the police is obscene, the potential for abuse is way too high.