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Man Wins Partial Victory In Circuit City Arrest
JeremyDuffy writes "Michael Righi, the man who was arrested at Circuit City for failing to show his reciept/driver's license, has fought a moral battle against the city for almost a month now. The case has already been settled and he emerged victorious... sort of. It turns out that he's already spent almost $7500 and would have kept fighting them too, but because his family would have been dragged into it, he was forced to take a deal. They've expunged his record and dropped all charges, but he had to give up his right to sue the city to do it."
To each their own I guess, but sounds like a waste of time to me and snobbish.
Am I the only one who was suspicious of this. On his blog some guy said he was wrongfully arrested and that he was going to fight the city. He provided no links (at the time) to any news sites supporting his claim just. With no evidence he managed to get 52xx$ from the intertube community. This could have been a scam. He did in the end provide a link to the local newspaper saying that he has settled with the city. That article is the only evidence I saw that anything took place.
Although exposing the police stupidity and incompetence is a good thing, and I do respect Michael for his stance regarding the police/city on this matter, I disagree with his views on the loss-prevention's right to inspect customers' bags:
No, while you are on their property, they are entitled to inspect stuff. If you don't want them to, don't go into the store — their intent to inspect your bag is prominently posted at the entrance.
Now, you can refuse whatever search you find unreasonable, of course (theirs was not unreasonable, IMO). In that case they can try to prevent you from leaving their property (store, parking lot) — see Citizen Arrest, and take all responsibility for the wrongful arrest.
Or they can call police, who — armed with the probable cause presented by the store — will inspect your bag for them... Upon inspection they can either let you go, or try to inconvenience you for inconveniencing them. There are many laws in their stinky books to do that. The one used by these cops — "interfering with official business" is one example. "Disturbing peace" is another, and it can be topped with "resisting arrest" at the first word of your indignant objection.
Another prominent moral of the story, is don't go on a moral crusade while your family is nearby... To them your high horse is just a stinky farm animal, unfortunately. Siblings will cry, parents will bail you out of jail, but your wife will simply call you an idiot.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
i know, the common sense in that question is too much for you
but don't mind me, i'm just the advance guard for the coming fascist thinking right?
i mean, it couldn't be that i'm just thinking about common sense. obviously, i'm the personal advance guard of emperor palpatine and agent smith with my words, right? i'm a goosestepping shocktrooper right?
(smacks forehead)
no, i am most definitely not what is wrong with the world today
what is wrong with the world today is self-involved hysterical twits who's delicatef lower nature is deeply affronted and go apeshit, because... drum roll please... are you ready for the massive assault on rights and personal liberties?: SOME RENT-A-COP JUST ASKS YOU FOR A RECEIPT
omg! it's like the gulag!
maybe, gee, i dunno, i'm going to go way out on a limb here: HE COULD HAVE JUST SHOWED THE RECIPT AND HAD A NICE DAY
i know, that's some really wacky fascist thinking on my part, right?
pffffffffft
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Especially since it involves a guy who was basically being a prick.
I'd rather the ACLU spend its time assisting the poor and disenfranchised in this country who are exploited form all angles. Bot some selfish, rich kid, prick who wanted to waste a lot of peoples time and money to pursue something as unimportant as this matter was.
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
Thanks a lot, jerk. You're the reason I have to stand around for fifteen minutes waiting for one of the few employees in the store to open up the glass case where they have to keep everything since you make any other means of preventing shoplifting impossible. I hope you get run over by a cement truck after you save the two seconds it would have taken you to let the guy see the damned receipt.
Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
do you know what fascism is?
what kind of paranoid hysterical low iq twit mistakes fascism for a rent a cop asking for a receipt?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
They have to keep fighting the greatest threat to civil liberties in world history: the Boy Scouts.
WHAT IS SO FASCIST ABOUT BEING MADE TO SHOW YOUR RECEIPT
PLEASE, SOMEONE CONVINCE ME THIS IS FASCIST, IN ANY WAY
what the HELL is wrong with you??!!
by suggesting that you HAVE to show your receipt when you walk out of a store is in ANY way fascist, you yourself demonstrate oyu haven't the slightestr fucking clue what REAL fascism is
i really don't understand some of the paranoid hysterical twits in this world
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
the above post is definition of a hysterical twit
people died to fight for your freedoms. and you redefine what your freedoms are as the most reflexive inconsequential minutiae as to betray a profound lack of realization of real problems with this world and a sickening narcissistic self-absorption
if someone brought the founding fathers back to life and explained this situation to them, they would say "so fucking what?" in unison, and look puzzled that anyone would seriously care that much
for real
grow the fuck up you delicate fucking flower
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
"Would those jewish kids deserve 'attempted murder' when the bigot walked out of the hospitol hours later with less damage than most people involved in a car crash?"
I'd say that has far more to do with whether they attempted to murder him or not, and nothing at all to do with how much physical damage he sustained.
The charge isn't contingent on the physical damage done, so why bother to mention it?
"What do prior battery convictions have to do with attempted 2nd degree murder charges?"
Did you really just ask that question?
Really man, you're embarrassing yourself.
Your previous crimes can be considered, for example, if you're a violent criminal who has committed another violent crime.
"You have the same rights and privileges as anyone else."
That's wrong, felons for instance can't own guns or vote, unless they successfully petition to have their rights reinstated.
"Finally, shouldn't the circumstances of the crime dictate the charges? "
Sure, and whether you like it or not, one of the circumstances is "he's a repeat offender, he's done it before, he's proven he's willing to use physical force illegally, and will physically contact an individual against their will (battery)".
"You might want to think your snide comments through."
I did. You might want to look into learning a bit about the law before you shoot off your mouth about it.
"You otherwise run the risk of sounding like the stereotypical tv-addled consumer with all breadth and no depth."
Ah, well, wouldn't want to do that. I suppose I should pontificate about legal matters of which I have little knowledge and less understanding, and in so doing reveal a near total ignorance of the law and it's application.
Nah, I wouldn't want to steal your thunder.
I know not what course others make take, but as for me: give me Liberty, or give me death. Do I have to remind people we are talking about a guy who refused to show his receipt and identification? This isn't the American Revolutionary War. Nor is this part of some civil right movement. Give me a fucking break.
Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game
Wow. Now you are comparing it to Jim Crow. Just wow.
If I own a shop, you don't have any fundamental human rights to shop there. If I only allow people to shop in my store on the condition that they allow me to check their bags, we are both within our rights to accept or refuse those conditions.
The fact that you can't see this really worries me. Mutually-agreed upon business arrangements that have nothing to do with discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, etc. are not civil rights issues. They are private contract issues.
What's your next comparison? Saying that bars with dress codes are similar to Nazi Germany?
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.