Where Would We Be If Not For Police In SWAT Gear Raiding Poker Games?
A comment from First Amendment lawyer Marc J. Randazza on the raid by police in riot gear of the "Nutz Poker League" in Florida -- a game which happened to have a $0 buy-in (via Brian Pempus at cardplayer.com):
Most people don't realize just how much the police in America do for us. Were it not for the well-funded and militarized police in Florida, for example, these old people might still be playing cards and drinking cocktails. I feel much safer now.
Floridian's tax dollars -- hard at work catching consenting adults playing cards.
Police on a power trip. Reading the blog post linked in the article: One woman whose mother was hauled away asked the arresting officer what the charges were. The arresting officer said she didn't know. When the woman called her on this, she was told to go away, or else she would be arrested herself.
The players were playing for prizes, but were not gambling with money. The poker club makes its money by taking a cut of the bar tab. Any definition of illegal gambling that I have ever heard of would allow this, because the players are not required to buy anything. Your local school raffle is closer to gambling, because you have to pay for the raffle tickets.
I hope some top lawyer offers to take this on for a reasonable fee, and hangs the police department out to dry.
Lastly, allowing police officers to cover their faces while performing their duty - what a terrible precedent. Aside from the intimidation factor, it shields them from social repercussions in the community, when they do something stupid like this.
a_random_guy at July 28, 2014 6:40 AM
John Stossel (I disagree with him on most things) made the point that:
This is something that we can do, acting locally. If the news tells you that your sleepy little burb's Sheriff's Office gets an military-excess humvee, call them up and ask to talk to the Sheriff personally, and tell him (or her) why you think that's unnecessary. And if he (or she) disagrees, tell him (...) you are planning to campaign for whoever runs against him in the next election, because of it. Ditto with any other elected official that has any pull in that decision. Follow that up with a letter. Then follow up again in the voting booth.
flbeachmom at July 28, 2014 6:44 AM
@flbeachmom
I disagree with Mr. Stossel that Left and Right may unite in opposition to SWAT culture.
Let's remember the 1960's, when the Left hated the police and considered them the enemy. Then, when the progressives began their long march through the institutions, they made a discovery: if you're going to run a police state, you need police.
Today's militarized policing is a deliberate creation of the communizing, socialist/statist Left. It is intertwined with their agenda to grow government in all its forms. The notion that the Left is somehow alarmed about SWAT culture (or about pervasive electronic surveillance, a kindred phenomenon) is fundamentally flawed.
Lastango at July 28, 2014 8:29 PM
Owning a SWAT team is like owning a monkey wrench, once you have one you will always find a use for it.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at July 29, 2014 7:25 AM
You know, I have a Google phone. Every image or video I take is uploaded to Google almost instantly.
I can't be the only person with this sort of thing. If anyone asked me to delete something from my phone, I could do so easily and still have the images. Not sure of the timing, but I know it takes less than 30 seconds for things to go from my phone, to Google, and show up on my account online.
Shannon M. Howell at July 29, 2014 2:29 PM
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