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Cops choosing which laws to enforce leads down a very bad path. I understand where you're coming from, but a society where the police have total control over w
by bpodgursky 5y ago
Cops choosing which laws to enforce leads down a very bad path.
I understand where you're coming from, but a society where the police have total control over who is arrested and who goes free — who the laws apply to — is a much darker world that I don't want a part of.
(And let me head you off — no, it's not the one we live in right now. You don't actually know what it's like to live in a society without civilian control of the police.)
- seoaeu 5y agoPolice do have enormous discretion over who is arrested and who goes free. It could certainly be a whole lot worse, but it could also be much better.
- Ar-Curunir 5y agoPolice already do that. They don’t police rich white neighborhoods as deeply, and often don’t enforce laws to the same severity eg drug possession laws.
- Google234 5y agoPolice shouldn’t out as much time in areas with less crime.
- Ar-Curunir 5y agoHave you heard of selection bias?
- the_why_of_y 5y agoThe US has "a well-established tradition of police discretion", as Justice Scalia put it. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-po...
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y agoI'm in Australia and I can tell you from direct experience it is precisely the world we live in. The police have almost-absolute discretion.