Slashdot Mirror
Austin Police Want Identities of Online Critics
An anonymous reader writes "The police chief in Austin, TX is not happy that people are voicing their disapproval of him via anonymous blog posts and comments. He claims that 'such posts erode public trust in the department.' The chief wants to find out who these people are and investigate and prosecute such posters for statements he deems defamatory and libelous. Interestingly, the article notes, 'the Associated Press has reported that most of the cases fail because statements of opinion are protected under the First Amendment.' One wonders if this is a legitimate problem that warrants public money to investigate, or whether it's that the people who deserve the most public scrutiny don't like it when others take issue with their job performance."
Learn the difference or keep your mouth shut.
I piss off bigots.
Austin Police Want Identities of Online Libelous Posters
There, fixed that for ya.
The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
There's no way he'd get away with this if there weren't just cause.
Impersonating public figures on the internet causes real-world repercussions.
Try posting "Death Panels slashfic" under the name "Barack Obama" and you'll see what I mean.
Not that I've done this, OF COURSE.
Futurist Traditionalism
Enforcing the law is a good thing! I hate hate HATE that the law is expected the be treated like this. What is the point of making laws if not to enforce them? All you are doing is giving the state something to hold against you if you ever piss them off. Racist cop? 'Hey I caught you doing 55 in a 50 AND jaywalking last week.'. The idea that we would want rules meant to be broken but can be enforced at the cops whim is scary. If you don't like it why not change the law instead?
Getting the most out of his budget is his job. If managed to get another 50 cops on the street making him more effective that is what he is SUPPOSED to be doing. Mandate him to do other stuff if you don't like it. The forced blood tests sound pretty shady but again if it is made legal in Texas then he is simply being prudent. If you don't like it, make a provision.
"That blood-draw thing is kind of crap"
Kind of? What planet are you from? If that doesn't scream "Police State," then in your mind what does? Will the blood sample be promptly disposed of after the BAC test is run, or will they also collect a DNA sample and store it in a database to compare against in the future?
"a lot of it is blamed on Katrina evacuees (racism again?)"
I know this might not fit in with your world view, but predominantly black and hispanic neighborhoods DO have higher violent crime rates. Making a statement of fact is not racist, and ignoring uncomfortable facts don't make them go away. The people left behind in NO immediately following Katrina were little better off than domesticated animals, because that is what liberal social policies of enablement made them into. The abject failure of the Great Society was on display for the whole world to see, and it was downright offensive. The reason that liberals were so outraged was because it struck a huge blow to their golden calf of unlimited entitlements for all who seek them. People often scream the loudest when you ask them to reconcile obvious contradictions in their own deeply-revered personal beliefs.
While your post has some merit - you don't mention that the Mayor of Houston managed to get the city turned into something called a "sanctuary". Basically, if you're an illegal immigrant, the city ain't gonna fuck with you. They won't ask, if you don't tell. Houston is in worse shape than the liberal controlled city of Austin because of it. "Bring us your undocumented, homeless, drug addicted, child pimping, low life scuzzy law breaking dregs - Houston will provide SANCTUARY!"
Hell of an election platform to run on, eh?
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br