Man Arrested for Refusing to Show Drivers License

[pergesu]

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Stuff like this just smacks of attention whoring and life-trolling. The guy is being needless difficult to prove a point. Yay, he owned a stupid employee and a cop who got all cowboy. Long term he's just a pain in everybody's ass.

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What if he gets a $20k+ settlement? Then it's friggin brilliant.

[kevin017]

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I didn't read beyond this as the legal speak gives me head aches. Is this case about failure to identify one's self or is it about failure to show ID?

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He told the cop his name when asked, but refused to show his license. I will be very surprised if this ever gets to trial. I think the prosecutor will either drop the charges outright, or offer a plea bargain, and drop the charges when the plea bargain is refused. If it does go to trial, I expect an acquittal.

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these charges will either be dropped (most likely), or him found not guilty.

this case is straight up unlawful arrest. there is a great chance he gets $$ for this. they're the ones who screwed up, not him.

I wonder what charges he is pressing against the store workers? kidnapping or something?

[Aloysius]

NT! - nice post... I think you frame Righi's argument very well.

By "picking your spots" I was thinking much more along the lines of what is getting publicized, and the net effect of it.

If you read Righi's blog, he even mentions:

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I closed the door and as my father was just about to pull away the manager, Joe, yelled for us to stop. Of course I knew what this was about, but I played dumb and pretended that I didn’t know what the problem was. I wanted to give Joe the chance to explain what all the fuss was for.

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Now - having your rights trampled is something I am not in favor of. But in the grand scheme of things Righi took a stand in a spot that any reasonable person would find fairly unnecessary.

What exactly does Righi accomplish here? The important ideas and mindset he brings to the table are overshadowed by the trivial nature of his act.

You would think when people's rights get trampled the general public would be outraged - the fact that alot of people believe he's just a douchebag is telling, and diminishes what civil rights groups in the States (you know, groups tackling important issues with real, practical consequences) are trying to accomplish, imo.

-Al

[Aloysius]

Oh, and by "have it good" I was thinking of the States vs. other countries in the world.

-Al

[microbet]

I think it's great that there are a few douchebags in the world who go so far out of their way to make a point like this.

BS like this has to happen once in a while so that maybe Circuit City and Police Departments and other people who notice can hopefully keep their standard procedures from violating people rights.

[Hopey]

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I wonder what charges he is pressing against the store workers? kidnapping or something?

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They never actually physically restrained him to prevent him from leaving. They just stood in front of his car and in one of the doorways to the vehicle. It doesn't sound like they did anything criminal. I'm actually hoping that I'm wrong, though.

[Hopey]

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Oh, and by "have it good" I was thinking of the States vs. other countries in the world.

-Al

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Do you think the US is the "most free" country in the world?

[Duke]

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NT! - nice post... I think you frame Righi's argument very well.

By "picking your spots" I was thinking much more along the lines of what is getting publicized, and the net effect of it.

If you read Righi's blog, he even mentions:

[ QUOTE ]
I closed the door and as my father was just about to pull away the manager, Joe, yelled for us to stop. Of course I knew what this was about, but I played dumb and pretended that I didn’t know what the problem was. I wanted to give Joe the chance to explain what all the fuss was for.

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Now - having your rights trampled is something I am not in favor of. But in the grand scheme of things Righi took a stand in a spot that any reasonable person would find fairly unnecessary.

What exactly does Righi accomplish here? The important ideas and mindset he brings to the table are overshadowed by the trivial nature of his act.

You would think when people's rights get trampled the general public would be outraged - the fact that alot of people believe he's just a douchebag is telling, and diminishes what civil rights groups in the States (you know, groups tackling important issues with real, practical consequences) are trying to accomplish, imo.

-Al

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This is exactly why I think it's important.

The public is widely accepting of minor transgressions against their liberty as long as it's done fairly - the same for everyone. If we were only checking the bags of some minority, then the public would be outraged. If we all lose our rights at the same time, then people smile and go with it.

The worst thing that happened was the arrest for the ID thing (in my opinion).

If we were living in AC land, let Circuit City do whatever the hell they want to do in their own stores, but since we DON'T live in AC land, we can't do that. We need a separation of commerce and state statute, or something, before we allow them to violate minor rights. It's not minor the second the government will show up to enforce those violations.

As far as me being a hippy, well, I think I'm off the charts as far as libertarian tendencies go.

[MacGuyV]

That's sorta weird. In San Diego recently a cop asked to see my license outside a bar. I obliged not knowing what I had done.

Him: Do you live around here?
Me: No I live in Philly.
Him: Can you just flick your cigarette anywhere on the street in Philly?
Me: Yah
Him: Really that's not littering?
Me: (Blank WTF look)
Him: (Walks away)

My law school friend says I should've not given him my license. Meh

[Dids]

"The worst thing that happened was the arrest for the ID thing (in my opinion)."

100% agree and I don't think anybody in this thread possibly couldn't.