Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/14/alabama-judge-orders-black-man-to-apologize-for-being-rude-to-cop-or-go-to-jail.html
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I wonder if the “underpaid” part is even true. American police tend to get relatively high salaries and benefits in relation to their education and experience.
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Eesh, that judge is the human incarnation of smugness. Probably ■■■■■, too.
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WTAF? No. Absolute bullshit on all fronts.
What a bunch of backwards, racisit-ass fuckin’ clowns.
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The “facts don’t care about your feelings” and freeze peach advocates sure are thin-skinned, power-tripping snowflakes. It’s almost as if all their accusations are always projection…
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I don’t see anything in Alabama’s speeding laws that allow for the judge to give 30 days in jail, and any other crimes would require a conviction (or guilty plea) before the judge could assign jail time. I don’t understand what BS basis the judge is even claiming for this. Even if “being rude to a cop” was a crime, it wouldn’t be one for which a judge can issue summary judgement without a trial.
“It’s in the Bible.”
I’m in 100% agreement with everything else Burke has said, but unless he was asking the cop to move his donkey, this is not correct.
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I don’t see anything in Alabama’s speeding laws that allow for the judge to give 30 days in jail.
It is more than likely the judge does not know this, and is simply assuming he can. Any decent lawyer would know it, but like the article says, the problem is finding one that does not have a case before that judge. Questioning the judge while having other cases before him would cause a conflict of interest.
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Not knowing that “making shit up” isn’t part of your job description would seem like a disqualifying knowledge gap for a judge.
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Looking at the document in the BB article, I am even more confused because IANAL… it seems the judgement is guilty plea, $20 fine plus court costs, 10 day suspended sentence, all typical for speeding… it is possible the “up to 30 days” would be for contempt of court if he doesn’t write an apology. If that is the case, yes, the judge could legally do that.
EDIT: A sentence for CoC is what the judge could legally impose. Whether the law says the judge has the authority to require a written apology to a cop is something a lawyer would be able to determine. It is possible he does not, and it would be thrown out.
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IANAL either, but I don’t think that’s how contempt of court works. He wasn’t in court when he was rude to the cop.
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The contempt would be for not following the judge’s order. The key is if that order to write an apology is legally binding, or bullshit.
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That certainly sheds a new light on the biblical injunction against coveting your neighbor’s ass.
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“It’s in the Bible”
Let’s not go down the slope of things being allowed because they’re in the Bible there fella. It’s slippery as all hell thanks to all the global floods and genocide, amongst much else.
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This is some bullshit, where is the ACLU?
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If forced, can it be the “I’m sorry you took offense…” kind of apology?
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I’d just countersue with obstruction of official duty of getting kids to school.
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In principle, SCOTUS has said that the 1st Amendment bars the government from compelling your speech, so it should be a non-enforceable provision.
However, this is a case where a black man was rude to a white cop, while the case that established this precedent was about discriminating against gay people, so…
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This is the same mechanism by which we still have debtors prisons after they were abolished- You can’t be imprisoned for not paying a debt, you can be imprisoned for not following the judge’s order to pay the debt.
Well, maybe its a being used as metonymy for a mode of biblical transportation.
“move your wheels, man” being a modern equivalent.
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That’s generally true of larger municipalities, but smaller towns with no tax base running speed trap mills pay very little. Our last town (pop ca 3500) had a full-time force of 2 or 3 officers with the rest of the force basically rotating between other jurisdictions. I know one officer worked for 3 different municipalities. Even the full timers only made an average wage ($39k, which is terrible for the Hudson Valley). Cities like New York attract people from all over the region and have their pick of law enforcement degree holding candidates looking for a way to retire in 20 years (NYC retirement is amazing). A small town like this usually just gets the high school bully who doesn’t want to work a roofing gig anymore.
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