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[Steven Champeon <schampeo AT hesketh.com>]

on Mon, Jun 21, 2004 at 01:29:29PM -0400, quack AT ibiblio.org wrote:
> Don't forget that the "daughter" in this scenario was not a "child" in the
> "under-18" sense, so "child abuse" doesn't even begin to come into play. 

According to the documents I read, she was 17. I don't know what the
definition of "minor" is in Nevada. 

> The witness reported a possible domestic altercation, based on seeing a
> couple arguing, and the police were the ones that suspected physical
> assault (tho apparently were mistaken in determining the direction of any
> such assault).  The police didn't pull him over, he was already parked.

Hrm. Yeah, a possible domestic altercation /on the highway/, from which
it appeared the truck had pulled over suddenly. Yes, I'd like these
people kept off the road. Thanks. But then, I think you should be able
to fire cell-phone-melting heat beams at people driving and chatting on
the phone, so maybe I'm just ruled by my fear of dying in a flaming
wreck just because some idiot felt like talking to/fighting with their
spouse, progeny, ancestry, etc.

I also think that the suit that John Gilmore brought - about his right
as an American to fly the friendly skies anonymously - is insane. Sorry,
but your right to be anonymous ends when you represent a clear danger to
me or mine. Sadly, the modern world contains lots of these situations.
So, I probably fail the civil liberties purity test right out of the
gate. Your right to anonymity ends on public property like the highway,
and on my property. On yours, do what you want.

> Hiibel's site ( http://papersplease.org/hiibel/ ) once had a copy of the
> video feed from the cop's front grille.  If you look around you might find
> it's still there.

Still there. Worth watching. Much better than COPS.

> Frankly, I didn't think he was acting very drunk, but then it doesn't
> include smell-o-vision. I did think he was acting like an asshole, but
> assholes like me tend to opine that acting like an asshole is
> protected by the First Amendment.

Sure - obviously, I'd have to agree about the "right" to act like an
asshole. :) More to the point, there's no law against acting like an
asshole. But he seemed drunk, or at least incoherent to me. And he
was certainly belligerent. I dunno. I have to say I'd prefer that police
have the "right" to defend themselves against belligerent suspects during
an investigation; by arrest if by no other means. Throw the Hiibel case
out of court and refund him his $250, on grounds that Dove was a sloppy
"investigator", but don't turn a belligerent possible drunk asshole into
a martyr to civil liberties.

Again, IANAL, so maybe I'm missing something here.
Steve

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