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Man Arrested for Refusing to Show Drivers License
NMerriam writes "Michael Righi was arrested in Ohio over the weekend after refusing to show his receipt when leaving Circuit City. When the manger and 'loss prevention' employee physically prevented the vehicle he was a passenger in from leaving the parking lot, he called the police, who arrived, searched his bag and found he hadn't stolen anything. The officer then asked for Michael's driver's license, which he declined to provide since he wasn't operating a motor vehicle. The officer then arrested him, and upon finding out Michael was legally right about not having to provide a license, went ahead and charged him with 'obstructing official business' anyways."
Well, the story is a bit disturbing, but what I found really disturbing as I was reading the comments people left on this guy's blog. Most of them called him an idiot, and said you should always comply when someone asks to see your search your property as you're leaving their store - and even worse, that if a police officer asks for your license, you should always provide it, even if you're just walking down the sidewalk doing nothing illegal. This is why I'm thankful we have the ACLU. Even if they're sometimes over-the-top, it's threads like these that make it evident the average US citizen is not aware of, or at least is not willing to stand up for, their rights.
God made me an atheist. Who are you to question his wisdom?
I was a passenger in a car that got rear ended. When the cops showed up, the first one took my drivers license. A minute later another cop walked up and demanded I give him my license. I told him I had already given it to the first officer and I got the "if you dont give me your license right now you are going to jail" routine. I pretty much laughed in his face which pissed him off to no end.
In the end they took my friend to the hospital and towed his car away even though I was fine and able to drive it away and he told them that I would drive it. I was left in a town that is so small there was no such thing as taxi cabs, 60 miles from home and stranded.
As much as i wish the justice system would work in cases like these, it doesnt. Your only hope is to find that cop on a dark road one night and beat the shit out of him. I've heard a baseball bat works great in suprise situations.
slashdot troll = you make a compelling argument I do not like the implications of.
70 years ago or so shoplifting was considered a crime and something no respectable citizen would do. To shoplift would result in arrest, detention, possible loss of a job and a great amount of embarrassment. Nobody in their right mind did it. This of course led to the psycological assessment of "kleptomania" which is a translation of "shoplifting regardless of the consequences".
Today, there is no such loss of respect. People shoplift all the time. Celebreties. Soccer moms. Republicans. Democrats. Pretty much everybody. As much as 25% of a store's operating expenses are tied up in loss prevention and covering "shrinkage". Therefore, stores in general - all stores - are extremely sensitive to this and take lots of steps to ensure loss doesn't occur or occurs at a much lower rate than it would otherwise.
So in steps Michael whatever. He is offended at having his package examined. He better never set foot in a Sam's Club where they check every shopping cart leaving the store against the receipt. He fails to understand that the chances of one of the next 10 people leaving the store is a thief is about 100%. He considers that he is being treated as a criminal, when in fact shoplifting is far, far too prevalent to be considered as anything more than a ticketable offence in most jurisdictions. Stores in general don't really call the police - they just prevent the loss and tell you not to come back. It isn't worth their time.
But Michael the privacy advocate has to play the driver's license game as well. Of course, this gets in the way of the policeman doing his job - or at least how he views his job. This guy is going to have some big legal bills and never serve a day in jail. He will feel pretty stupid at the end of this adventure and isn't going to come away with anything except a feeling that things didn't go quite right. No, I don't see how he can "win" in any sense of the word.