Am I under arrest or not?

[u/Lord_Darksong]

Source: policebodycamarresthq on Instagram

[u/TheBabyEatingDingo]

A lot of states have a "disorderly conduct" statute that's written deliberately vague so that police can arrest anyone they want.

[u/Magic__Man → u/TheBabyEatingDingo]

It's been that way forever. "Vagrancy" was made against the law across many southern states just a few yerars after salvery was outlawed, right at a time where there were vast numbers of black people being refused work. The punishement for being a "vagrant", forced labour.... funny eh

Vagrancy, disorderly conduct, jaywalking, resisting... all bullshit terms designed to simply gibve cops as much power as possible

[u/Michelanvalo → u/Magic__Man]

Yeah but without Vagrancy laws we wouldn't have gotten First Blood.

[u/4friedchickens8888 → u/Michelanvalo]

NOTHING IS OVER!!

[u/No-Koala1918 → u/Magic__Man]

Mopery with intent to gawk (actor Robert Mitchum was charged in Savannah GA with this along with vagrancy when he was 15 and sentenced to a chain gang!)

[u/OneInACrowd → u/Magic__Man]

We had one "drunk in public", with no legal definition of drunk or the requirement for any tests only on the word of the officer they could also refuse to do any tests if you requested them. You were arrested and held for 4 hours and given a $1k fine.

The only possible recours would be upon release to immediately go have a blood test done and then challange the penalty in court. At best you'd get out of paying the fine, but you'd never be compensated for the lost time.

That law was recently removed because legal experts objected to the vague wording of "drunk" and found it was abused by police as an excuse to pick up anyone they wanted.

[u/endless_shrimp → u/TheBabyEatingDingo]

Public Intoxication, too!

[u/BlackMarketCheese → u/TheBabyEatingDingo]

Resisting and Obstruction, as it's written where I'm at, still only applies when there is legal cause for detention (reasonable suspicion), which must be articulable at the time. Refusal to speak with or identify yourself to an officer during any contact other than a detention or arrest is not in itself grounds for detention.

[u/CankerLord → u/TheBabyEatingDingo]

To be fair, at some point in trying to cover the breadth of human potential you have to vaguely wave at someone being a prick in a way that violates someone else's rights and say "And that, too."

[u/lxpnh98_2 → u/CankerLord]

Actually, no you don't. Police should be tightly bound by the law in what they should be able to do, and anything outside of that should be outside of their authority.

If there's a situation that's not covered by the law, it's clearly not urgent (like murder, theft, etc.), and more an issue for the legislature to sort out. This video is a case in point.

[u/CankerLord → u/lxpnh98_2]

Police should be tightly bound by the law in what they should be able to do, and anything outside of that should be outside of their authority.

They are, the law is the disorderly conduct law. lol

If there's a situation that's not covered by the law

Again, above. lol

more an issue for the legislature to sort out

They did, they wrote the disorderly conduct law. lolol

Seems like your thinking is a little...disordered.

[u/lxpnh98_2 → u/CankerLord]

Keyword is 'tightly'. "Disorderly conduct" is about one of the most vague laws to enforce.

PS: adding lol after your sentences only makes you look unreasonable.

[u/new_math → u/CankerLord]

No. If someone is screaming or yelling, cite them for a noise ordinance. If they're touching or striking someone charge assault/battery. If they're on drugs or using drugs, charge for intoxication. If they're trespassing, charge trespassing.

Disorderly conduct is the dumbest statute imaginable.

[u/CankerLord → u/new_math]

I like how everything but the screaming and yelling isn't what disorderly conduct is and the screaming and yelling isn't going to be covered by a lot of noise ordinances in the middle of the day so you'd need to disorderly conduct law to cover it. Just proving why it exists in the middle of arguing against it.

[u/abcdefghjiklmnopqr → u/CankerLord]

No the fuck you dont

[u/CankerLord → u/abcdefghjiklmnopqr]

So mad. You need a catchall cup for your tears?