Yet Another Outrageous Police Power Story

Las Vegas marshals ticket 7, arrest 3 amid homeless protests

City marshals blocked a radio personality from feeding homeless people at a City Hall park Monday, and issued summonses to a television news crew covering a publicity protest against a ban on "mobile soup kitchens."

Three people were arrested and seven were issued summonses at two parks, city officials said, including a reporter and a cameraman ticketed for trespassing while covering the protest for KLAS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas.

Beth Monk, a KKLZ-FM radio morning show personality, became the first person to receive a summons under a new city law that makes feeding the homeless a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1,000 and six months in jail.

More...

See also: Young Man Handcuffed, Detained by Police for Taking a Picture of Them



Explain to me how we are NOT devolving into a police state????

[edit on 1-8-2006 by loam]

I really, really wish I could come on this thread and say how surprised I am.

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised in the least. I knew as soon as the ordinance was passed that someone would challenge it and that they would be made into an example for the rest.

Remove all the nonsense, and this situation boils down to a statement of principle. Maintaining the illusion of prosperity is more important than feeding hungry people. That's the bottom line, and it disgusts me. The city is more interested in keeping some upper-class folks ignorant and comfortable, than it is in keeping other lower-class folks fed.

It's through no fault but our own that things have gotten this bad, and it's only going to get worse.

Greed, gluttony, sloth..these are endemic. Virtue is practically non-existent (largely due to the absence of marketting dollars driving it), and many of us have egos big enough to terrorize King Kong.

The end is in sight, and frankly..I welcome it, even if it is just a temporary respite, a reset if you will.

The foundation of this country remains undamaged, buried underneath a mountain of rotten lies and crumbling, exposed hypocrisy - overshadowed by our vanity and our excess. But when it all comes down, when all the rubbish has fallen in a pile and has been cleared away, the foundation remains.

The foundation was an idea, never realized, but never entirely forgotten.

We'll build a new nation, and maybe we'll even get it right. It's amazing to me, but I still have hope. I doubt I'll live long enough to enjoy the new growth but, God willing, my children will, or their children, maybe.

Some will undoubtedly think my reaction a fair bit over-dramatized and unnecessary in light of the 'minor' nature of this insult to dignity and justice, and if this was an isolated incident I'd probably agree. But this is not an isolated incident, this is another in a long series of similar events. The line is so damn long, in fact, that I've lost sight of the genesis point.

I think people will improve themselves, and society will follow suit, eventually. Or, maybe, the opposite will happen. Either way, we'll get what we deserve before the end.

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
I really, really wish I could come on this thread and say how surprised I am.

Me, too. but I can't. I have been knowing this is coming for some time now and I feel helpless to do much about it.

I still have hope, too. I'm not at all sure why because it's not logical to hope at this point, but I do...

They did this in Sonoma County, California as well and I've heard of it being done in other cities, too.(Making it illegal to feed homeless in the park.) The parks belong to all of us, they're paid for with our own taxes. We should be able to use them however we want to. I have zero problem with them being fed in the park, I think it's a very good thing. Don't forget that most homelss are children. This should have been voted on, instead there are many cities that have made it illegal.

WHat has our society come to that we outlaw the feeding of poor unfortunates, much less CHILDREN???

This was an important law that protected the rich and and greedy elite from seeing the results of their injustice in that city. I'm so glad that this dj took them on and I hope the charges are thrown out of court.

Funnily enough I just saw this story elsewhere and I was looking for somewhere to post it. I'm really glad that some others on the board share my sense of moral revulsion that this is happening. I also find it pretty sinister that not only were the people feeding the homeless arrested, the photojournalist covering the event was too. That's the kind of thing that happens in a proper police state.

I used to work on a cruise ship that docked in Key West and whenever I went for a meal, I'd try and take a doggy bag out for the homeless people. The thought that in some places you could get arrested for this... it's not the most inhumane thing I've ever heard of... but then there are some really damn inhumane things in the world. It's still pretty vile, though.

I saw this same thing in San Fransico in 1993-1994. It was punishable to feed the homeless that congregated on a grassy area across from the city hall (I think it was). I remember that it was a very large ornate building. The homeless used to make camp on that large grassy lawn.

It hasn't "finally arrived", it has been here for a while.

JDub

If the local government passed this law, why is this thread title about the Police?

The Police don't make the laws they just enforce them. If this law is as bad as people are claiming then your arguement is with the local government that passed this law.

As far as the radio announcer goes I hope that he gets the book thrown at him. He knew that what he was doing was against the law and still did it any way. This trend of testing a law by breaking it with the hope of geting a Judge to declare the law invalid is just plain wrong. All this is accomplishing is giving Judges the power to legislate from the bench. All that this is accomplishing is to let the members of the local government reap the political benefits of passing laws to appease the voters, knowing that the courts will just throw them out.

Las Vegas marshals ticket 7, arrest 3 amid homeless protests

City marshals blocked a radio personality from feeding homeless people at a City Hall park Monday, and issued summonses to a television news crew covering a publicity protest against a ban on "mobile soup kitchens."

Three people were arrested and seven were issued summonses at two parks, city officials said, including a reporter and a cameraman ticketed for trespassing while covering the protest for KLAS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas.

Beth Monk, a KKLZ-FM radio morning show personality, became the first person to receive a summons under a new city law that makes feeding the homeless a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1,000 and six months in jail.

More...

Bolded by me. How can they pass a law that states you can't feed someone? "Oh here's a sandwich." Cop comes round corner..."Halt..in the name of the law...you can't give that man a sandwich....but you can definately give him money so he can go buy his crack instead". What a bass ackwards society we live in.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
If the local government passed this law, why is this thread title about the Police?

The Police don't make the laws they just enforce them. If this law is as bad as people are claiming then your arguement is with the local government that passed this law.

www.kvbc.com...

The Las Vegas City Council has taken its most aggressive action yet as it tries to clean up the homeless problem. They've passed an ordinance that forbids people from feeding the homeless in public parks.

City Marshals will be enforcing the law in places like Huntridge Circle Park at Maryland Parkway near Sahara.

Sounds like elected official power outrages...

Here are the guilty parties.

Look like some mighty nice folk there.

All Democrats too.

So much for the party of compassion...

Notice, however, that the media were NOT ARRESTED FOR FILMING IT.

They were arrested for trespassing.

Since media are presumeably allowed in the park, why were they trespassing?

My bet is, they parked their trucks on the grass to film it all.


If my guess is correct, they were arrested for breaking the rules that apply to the rest of us, and have nothing to do with the underlying issue, other than damage to public property.

Additionally, some states have trespassing laws that make it illegal for cameras to "crowd" and officer while he's making an arrest. Hindering police while they make an arrest is sometimes treated as trespass. . . .

but it makes great copy if you want to talk about how Las Vega$ is a police state.

.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
As far as the radio announcer goes I hope that he gets the book thrown at him. He knew that what he was doing was against the law and still did it any way. This trend of testing a law by breaking it with the hope of geting a Judge to declare the law invalid is just plain wrong. All this is accomplishing is giving Judges the power to legislate from the bench. All that this is accomplishing is to let the members of the local government reap the political benefits of passing laws to appease the voters, knowing that the courts will just throw them out.

Unless "Beth" became a man's name while I wasn't looking I'm assuming the announcer is a woman.

And if some idiot officials pass a stupid law, and idiot police officers are dumb enough to enforce it, I'm with the people brave enough to stand against it. There's way too little civil disobedience in this world, especially against laws that are as draconian as this. As for "legislating from the bench", doesn't the supreme court have the power to strike down such laws as unconstitutional? Just a guess, but surely a case has to come to court before this can be decided upon?

Originally posted by JIMC5499
If the local government passed this law, why is this thread title about the Police?...

All this is accomplishing is giving Judges the power to legislate from the bench. All that this is accomplishing is to let the members of the local government reap the political benefits of passing laws to appease the voters, knowing that the courts will just throw them out.

Amen! Extremely astute and well put. *insert picture of politicians with "who me?" expression here*. If this type of ordinance is being done to protect the tourism industry, it has been my experience that most city/county managers, etc. are the ones with hands in the cookie jar in the first place.

Originally posted by rich23

And if some idiot officials pass a stupid law, and idiot police officers are dumb enough to enforce it, I'm with the people brave enough to stand against it.

Our local city council just passed an ordinance that restricts the parking on city streets surrounding our local university. The people that live near the university are allowed one parking permit per home even though there is almost no off-street parking (driveways or garages). If a family has two or three cars, they are not allowed to park the extra vehicles in front of their house.

The local and university police have no legal right to not enforce that ordinance and if they do they are subject to internal disciplinary actions. Yes, they can use some discretion and warn a person or persons before ticketing them or they can choose to write the $500 ticket. As a local government entity, there is no way that they can, as a whole, decide not to enforce the law.

The city council can decide to suspend enforcement of the ordinance and notify the police departments not to enforce it.

Originally posted by rich23
There's way too little civil disobedience in this world, especially against laws that are as draconian as this. As for "legislating from the bench", doesn't the supreme court have the power to strike down such laws as unconstitutional? Just a guess, but surely a case has to come to court before this can be decided upon?

Just as in my above example, the law is too new for anyone with the money to sue to have the ordinance overturned. A lawsuit may happen in the future, but that doesn't help anyone right now.

I think the title for this thread is apt.

The police have been granted the power to arrest/fine people for feeding the homeless.

Regardless of the political affiliations/machinations of those degenerates who wrote the law, the police are the ones empowered to enforce it.

Hence, an outrageous police power...

Makes sense to me.

And what's this about them being Democrats? Who cares? Since when has the spiel of either side in this farce been even remotely believable? I wouldn't feel any better about this ordinance if it were proposed by a Libertarian. It's still a travesty.

They say this is a solution to the homeless problem? What a load of nonsense. This is a solution to the problem of offended upper-class sensibilities, it doesn't begin to address the problem of homelessness.

here

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
I think the title for this thread is apt.

The police have been granted the power to arrest/fine people for feeding the homeless.

Regardless of the political affiliations/machinations of those degenerates who wrote the law, the police are the ones empowered to enforce it.

Hence, an outrageous police power...

Makes sense to me.

If the politicians hadn't written and passed this law then the Police wouldn't have as you put it the power to enforce it. Put the blame where the blame belongs.

Handouts are no way to solve the homeless problem. All handouts accomplish is to make people dependant on them.

If the politicians hadn't written and passed this law then the Police wouldn't have as you put it the power to enforce it. Put the blame where the blame belongs.

I agree that the root of the problem is lawmakers, but that doesn't change the reality of the fact that the cops are the ones empowered to beat us down, according to the whims of those lawmakers (and ostensibly their constituents, but we all know that the only constituents that matter are the ones with money).

This isn't a case of lawmakers having excessive power, IMO, though there are accountability issues. Moreover this is an issue of improper use of the police force. The lawmakers are abusing the police force, I think, by legislating in such a way that forces the police to abuse the citizenry.

I don't see where I've given a free pass to the legislators...

Obviously they're the ones who have a vested interest in making their district attractive to wealthy individuals, businesses, and tourists. But my objection is, specifically, the power granted to the police. It's no mystery who granted the power. I don't see how anyone has left the politicos off the blame list.

Handouts are no way to solve the homeless problem. All handouts accomplish is to make people dependant on them.

Well, I agree with you in principle. But in the absence of a workable solution, these people need to eat, no? Unless you have a plan to reconfigure society overnight, there need to be safeguards in place to prevent hungry people from resorting to criminal activities.

Targetting the charitable is no way to accomplish the goal of reducing or eliminating homelessness.

If your argument is that there would be no homeless people if there was no charity..well, I gotta disagree. The root is not charity, so why attack it?

Originally posted by JIMC5499
If the politicians hadn't written and passed this law then the Police wouldn't have as you put it the power to enforce it.

Wait! Where is it in the law that the press can be cited under the guise of trespass for merely covering the story???


[edit on 1-8-2006 by loam]

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
The foundation of this country remains undamaged, buried underneath a mountain of rotten lies and crumbling, exposed hypocrisy - overshadowed by our vanity and our excess. But when it all comes down, when all the rubbish has fallen in a pile and has been cleared away, the foundation remains.

Wyrde, Thank You, I truly needed that, well the whole text.
Our country is in a state of zombie like chaos. How can we retrieve our dignity if we despise our country and refuse to speak against indignity.
As I say to my friends who oppose to my patriotism: " The actions of man does not change Gods essence, we have our free will" ( Not to make this a religious discussion)
The core of our nation is untouched.
WIS

(Why can't we vote for moderater? )

[edit on 1-8-2006 by WalkInSilence]