4 ms·

This sounds like something that will be punished harshly in the very next local election.

brimble 5y ago
Might take more than that, if the police also control the vote counting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)
- not2b 5y ago
  Yes, that's pretty much the plan in many states: take control of elections away from locals (especially locals who tend to vote for the other party) and give the power to the (gerrymandered) state legislature. People don't want to pay taxes, and if the anti-tax people also want local services, they have the police raise the revenue by preying on out-of-towners and people without connections. But even without election-fixing, this kind of thing persists in some towns because the cops focus their enforcement on out-of-towners. Locals get a free lunch: services they don't have to pay for.
- snowgrove 5y ago
  History and the Constitution provide for a solution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)
  - brimble 5y ago
    I go back and forth about whether a lot more stories featuring "...and then the aggrieved raided the National Guard armory..." would be a good or a bad thing, in our modern political climate. I mean, the same thing was attempted in the Tulsa massacre, by people who also thought they were the "good guys", and that whole thing was... less good.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
riskable 5y ago
Not if the police prevent enough (of certain) people from voting. They could simply give all the residents of certain areas the impression that they will be arrested (or blacklisted/long-term intimidation) if they show up to vote. Also, in Alabama if you're convicted of one of the following felonies you're not allowed to vote: "Murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, sexual torture, enticing a child to enter a vehicle for immoral purposes, soliciting a child by computer, production or possession of obscene matter, parents or guardians permitting children to engage in obscene matter, possesion of child pornography with intent to distribute."
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  So basically just murder and criminal sexual conduct? That seems like a very short and reasonable list considering that damn near everything can be a felony if the prosecutor wants it to be. Edit: And I would like to point out that nowhere did I say I agreed with or endorsed their enumeration of what sort of sexual conduct isn't ok.
  - skrebbel 5y ago
    Wait, doesn't sodomy mean buttfucking? Is that a felony in the US?
    - boomboomsubban 5y ago
      Fourteen states still had laws criminalizing it when the laws were ruled unconstitutional in 2003. So no it's not a felony, but the law as written makes it appear to be one. Though Wikipedia says Alabama's law was officially repealed in 2019.
    - nobody9999 5y ago
      >Wait, doesn't sodomy mean buttfucking? Is that a felony in the US? IIUC, "sodomy" is penetrative sex that isn't penile/vaginal[0]. [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sodomy https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sodomy
  - 0xcde4c3db 5y ago
runnerup 5y ago
The article was misleading. I don't think they have examples of members of the electorate getting victimized. I believe it's almost entirely out-of-towners. Doubt the next election will change anything.
defaultname 5y ago
The linked article (the Japolnik blogspam adds nothing but removes plenty -- see the original al.com article) gives a wrong impression, but this is a classic Southern small-town policing tactic of extorting outsiders. The citizens in the town love it because all of this stuff is paid for by everyone who just happens to drive through. This should be dealt with by higher levels of government -- it is gross, rank corruption -- however higher levels of government are drunk on civil forfeiture.
- cptnapalm 5y ago
  I'm in Louisiana and during an evacuation, there was a small-to-the-point-of-not-even-being-a-town had its cops pulling everyone over who went above the 25 MPH speed limit. The speed limit elsewhere was 45 to 50.
- omegaham 5y ago
  Yep. If you're looking for a musical explanation, the 1975 Hoyt Axton song "Speed Trap" explains it pretty well. It's been going on forever. The only solution is for the state government to pass laws that force ticket revenue away from the towns that employ the cops. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnXgcutfz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnXgcutfz0

Might take more than that, if the police also control the vote counting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)

not2b 5y ago
Yes, that's pretty much the plan in many states: take control of elections away from locals (especially locals who tend to vote for the other party) and give the power to the (gerrymandered) state legislature. People don't want to pay taxes, and if the anti-tax people also want local services, they have the police raise the revenue by preying on out-of-towners and people without connections. But even without election-fixing, this kind of thing persists in some towns because the cops focus their enforcement on out-of-towners. Locals get a free lunch: services they don't have to pay for.
snowgrove 5y ago
History and the Constitution provide for a solution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)
- brimble 5y ago
  I go back and forth about whether a lot more stories featuring "...and then the aggrieved raided the National Guard armory..." would be a good or a bad thing, in our modern political climate. I mean, the same thing was attempted in the Tulsa massacre, by people who also thought they were the "good guys", and that whole thing was... less good.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

riskable 5y ago

Not if the police prevent enough (of certain) people from voting. They could simply give all the residents of certain areas the impression that they will be arrested (or blacklisted/long-term intimidation) if they show up to vote. Also, in Alabama if you're convicted of one of the following felonies you're not allowed to vote: "Murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, sexual torture, enticing a child to enter a vehicle for immoral purposes, soliciting a child by computer, production or possession of obscene matter, parents or guardians permitting children to engage in obscene matter, possesion of child pornography with intent to distribute."

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
So basically just murder and criminal sexual conduct? That seems like a very short and reasonable list considering that damn near everything can be a felony if the prosecutor wants it to be. Edit: And I would like to point out that nowhere did I say I agreed with or endorsed their enumeration of what sort of sexual conduct isn't ok.
- skrebbel 5y ago
  Wait, doesn't sodomy mean buttfucking? Is that a felony in the US?
  - boomboomsubban 5y ago
    Fourteen states still had laws criminalizing it when the laws were ruled unconstitutional in 2003. So no it's not a felony, but the law as written makes it appear to be one. Though Wikipedia says Alabama's law was officially repealed in 2019.
  - nobody9999 5y ago
    >Wait, doesn't sodomy mean buttfucking? Is that a felony in the US? IIUC, "sodomy" is penetrative sex that isn't penile/vaginal[0]. [0] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sodomy https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sodomy
- 0xcde4c3db 5y ago

runnerup 5y ago

The article was misleading. I don't think they have examples of members of the electorate getting victimized. I believe it's almost entirely out-of-towners. Doubt the next election will change anything.

defaultname 5y ago

The linked article (the Japolnik blogspam adds nothing but removes plenty -- see the original al.com article) gives a wrong impression, but this is a classic Southern small-town policing tactic of extorting outsiders. The citizens in the town love it because all of this stuff is paid for by everyone who just happens to drive through. This should be dealt with by higher levels of government -- it is gross, rank corruption -- however higher levels of government are drunk on civil forfeiture.

cptnapalm 5y ago
I'm in Louisiana and during an evacuation, there was a small-to-the-point-of-not-even-being-a-town had its cops pulling everyone over who went above the 25 MPH speed limit. The speed limit elsewhere was 45 to 50.
omegaham 5y ago
Yep. If you're looking for a musical explanation, the 1975 Hoyt Axton song "Speed Trap" explains it pretty well. It's been going on forever. The only solution is for the state government to pass laws that force ticket revenue away from the towns that employ the cops. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnXgcutfz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnXgcutfz0