First Amendment Check? Meet Fourth Amendment Check.
Two black-masked and Antifa-hoodied @$$holes outside a nearby post office, filming everyone coming and going, physically stopping people from entering with no authority and saying "Temperature check!", while photographing and video and audio recording them without prior consent as they entered. Including moi. And then instigating and provoking the people telling them to knock it off, pushing for a fight.
Um, no, @$$holes.
"9-1-1? Yes, two people performing unlawful detentions, trespassing on federal property and loitering with intent, harassing customers coming and going and creating a disturbance, stalking, recording people without their consent, and filming without a permit. There's two of them, so that would be a felony criminal conspiracy to do all of the same. IANAL, but I'm pretty sure that's about seven misdemeanors and two felonies, as we speak..."
Two minutes later, two of the city's finest show up, and five minutes after that, both of the offenders leave in handcuffs. Game Over? Oh no. Games are just beginning.
Now they can do their First Amendment Check from inside the county jail, and once the particulars go online, I can also file a civil action. I haven't decided how butthurt I am, but lawyers' fees and whatever the going rate of punishment tax would seem to be in order.
Hopefully, after they pawn their cameras, they'll still have enough money for rent, if they ever get out of jail before trial. If not, hopefully they have friends who'll send the soap-on-a-rope, or they may make some new shower friends in the lock-up.
You want to film non-national defense public buildings, or record police officers' public actions? That's 1st Amendment protected, so ROWYBS. I'd have sent you bail money if you'd been arrested for doing that.
But you have no right to film everyone about their private business, record their likeness and voice for monetized Youtube bux without their signed consent, harass and stalk them for calling you out on it, nor loiter and trespass on federal property to perform all of the above.
In an open carry state, they might have had that conversation at gunpoint while waiting for their black-and-white taxi service. As it is, they're both lucky no one had pepper spray and an itch to make a point.
And next, the postal inspectors can refer them to the US Attorney for federal charges.
Learn all of the relevant laws, or pay the price for fucking around and finding out, you stupid bastards.
Don't drop the soap.
So these two miscreants are fixing to meet their new boyfriend Bubba...or maybe Leroy, or maybe both. Bubba and Leroy don't have enough bitches as it is. They wear 'em out too fast.
ReplyDeleteYou just handed me my best smile of the day. I am in your debt.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder if this was not some prank as you said for Utube and if they were actually miscreants if they were not seeing how far they could go or how many people would roll over. After all many attacks start with probes or intelligence gathering..
ReplyDeleteIANAL either; however, I do have a fair bit of experience with the civil court system and a lesser bit with the criminal court system. In the criminal court system, you have to find a willing prosecutor who can and will walk the charges through the grand jury process. As Comey demonstrated with Clinton, you can have someone dead to rights on a clear violation of black letter law, but political connections and/or favor grants you a blind eye and a free pass. In the civil courts, you can find a lawyer willing to file the lawsuit; however, 97+% of all cases resolve before trial with upwards of 90% settling out of court. The chances of these jokers having any collectible assets or NOT being disavowed by a larger organization with real money are slim and none.
ReplyDeleteSorry buddy but the Supreme Court decided some time ago that you have no expectation of privacy once you leave your house. Which is why you are being videoed everywhere you go, stores traffic cams, every public building. Every citizen has the same right to film anyone or any thing they can see in a public venue. As to the other actions you spoke of, they do cross leagel lines. There are hundreds of people calling themselves 1st amendment auditors making a living on utube educating public servants and private companies about this.
ReplyDeleteIdahoHunter
"That's where you're wrong, bucko."
ReplyDeleteCA is a two-party state. That means you must have both parties' consent for audio- or videotaping.
I was not informed prior, and signed no consent, thus it's a black-letter violation of criminal law.
If they post it online in any form, I'll own their asses.
Their only defense would be to produce my signed consent.
Since they have none, they haven't got a leg to stand on.
If they do it for receiving so much as $1 from YouTube (or any other video hosting site), YouTube becomes a party to the suit.
See how long that game lasts once their deep pockets become involved.
They'll be cancelled so fast they'll have skid marks in their underwear, like they never existed, and I'll have lawyers lining up for the contingency fee.
And I can still swear out a criminal complaint for the detention, just to make their lives more interesting.
They have no right to do that, nor to film private persons. Public officials, like police officers, yes. Blocking my entry, videotaping me with no notice nor consent, no. CA law is very specific on that one. Businesses who videotape you have to post signs telling you what they're doing. The fact that these assclowns lied about it is intentionally deceitful in breaking that law, and proof they knew they were doing so.
Some people think slow, and some people think fast, but the most dangerous ones are the ones who think half-fast. ;)
retirement fund. You have a lot of this ass hattery going on in your area.
ReplyDeleteSorry buddy, but 10 minutes on utube will show you are mistaken. The two party consent law apply to telecommunications only
ReplyDeleteIdahoHunter.
Time will tell. I'm not the one who left in the back of a black and white.
ReplyDeleteSorry for double posting, but, I realize my last was terse and probably not very clear. I totally agree that that what they did beyond just filming in public can be charged as criminal activity. The law you refer to applies to a situation where you can be recorded without your knowledge, such as on a phone call. If he is standing in plain sight no law is broken.you can choose to not engage. If he trys to prevent that, new rules apply. As Casey says in your post, "You could look it up" And since we are now going to end our discussions with a barb. There 66,000 languages in this world. Why did you choose shit?
ReplyDeleteIdahoHunter
Ha! 10/10.
ReplyDeleteAlso, between this and the ganja house takedown, are you sure you're not Batman?
ReplyDeleteIdahoHunter: Is a cellphone not a telecommunication device? Aesop (and anyone else in that situation) can take it as far as they want to go.
ReplyDeleteI hope you bang them for every buck they'll every earn. Unfortunately, it's a Federal crime. Slo & Ho will back their street army. On the down low of course. The case will get slow walked to the statute of limitations. And then it disappears...
ReplyDeleteAesop not to be a wet blanket but given the Get out of Jail Free cards Antifa has been getting lately YOU might find out they have freedom AND their Camera's data to be a PROBLEM for you friend. Doxing it's a Socialist-Democratic thing.
ReplyDeleteWe are the law abiding and the laws are getting "applied" nice and "Fairly" to all >sarc<
Irish Democracy, nuff said
> But you have no right to film everyone about their private business,
ReplyDeleteThey kinda ... actually ... do.
Public space is the key.
You have ZERO expectation of Privacy in a Public Space.
If I can see it or hear it ... I can record it.
I don't need consent.
I don't need a permit.
I don't need permission.
Call your Attorney.
You have one ... don't you?
As the above points out - Telecommunications. You *DO* actually have the assumption that private conversations on the phone are ... well ... private. Speaking in public? Nope.
Again: a 5 minute call to your Attorney (for which he will bill you 15 minutes (fuckin' criminals, they are, right?)) will confirm.
@ssholes like this need to be found bloody and broken in an alley.
ReplyDeleteSending them to jail until the corporate antifa supporters can bail them out is a minor inconvenience.
For all the would-be lawyers, do us both a favor: read the links to the CA Penal Code, and then pop off. You'll save us arguing from what you don't know.
ReplyDeleteThey cannot film a private building for any sort of use without the owner's permission. These two assholes wwren't doing this for giggles, they're doing it for YouTube views and bux. They cannot record anyone and anything they can hear. That's the difference between a two-party state like CA, and most of the rest of the country. It's not just telecommunications. You sneak a recording of any conversation (as they were doing) without informing all parties, and you've broken the law. The only exception is public officials in the performance of their duties (like cops anywhere doing whatever they're doing), or any public meeting open to the public under CA's Sunshine Laws. I am neither of those cases, and thus not within their list of fair game targets.
You not only can look that up, you should. This is why private investigators in this state no longer try to get "Gotcha!" photo or video evidence of affairs by peeping through keyholes or bugging trysts; that'd be criminal conduct, and they'd be unemployed and in jail in about a minute. They instead simply get before and after shots of people leaving the same motel room, etc. That plus no-fault and their work is done, without committing any felonies.
I only did 25 years in the movie and television biz, including location prep, and I'm quite blisteringly aware of what we had to do and inform the pubic of, every time we filmed in public. Deep-pocket studios get this. Two random assholes don't. But they're about to get one helluva harsh lesson in civics, and why you need a permit to film in public.
They weren't holding microphones, handycams, or cellphones up, they were using high-end SLRs at waist level. Most people don't know you can shoot video with those. I do. They used a flash as a distraction. They said "Temperature check!" Those prove consciousness of guilt, knowing that what they were doing was illegal as hell. The big bonus is that by coming in a pair, they can't argue random happenstance; they made it a criminal conspiracy. Conspiracy to commit even misdemeanors becomes a felony. Boom. Ain't no street cop anywhere gonna pass up a chance to make an easy felony arrest X 2, handed to them on a platter.
And I didn't say they were black or minority; they were probably both white. They were hooded and hoodied up like Antifa and BLM. And while this is CA, it ain't L.A.; they're going to find out things are different hereabouts, as evidenced by their speedily being cuffed and stuffed. If they have priors, it's going to be a party when they either plead out, or get to court.
As for calling 9-1-1, I was only about the fourth person to yell "I am Spartacus!".
When I left, the police were interviewing three other complainants. That's before we get into P.O. staff, who weere similarly pissed off about them. It was a sight to behold.
This is akin to doing a "killer clown" prank in the 'hood, and getting the shit beaten out of you by pipe-cracking homies who don't play that.
Whatever their game, the violated the cardinal rule of theatre: know your audience.
@John,
ReplyDeleteIf I were Batman, I'd have run them into the wall with the Batmobile, tied whatever was left to the rear bumper with baling wire, and driven it around town for an hour or two.
Pour encourager les autres.
Someone wants to videotape the police giving a jaywalker a PR-24 shampoo? ROWYBS.
Someone gets in my face when I'm minding my own business, for their own entertainment and financial gain? Get consent, or get f**ked.
These assclowns chose "B". So be it.
What's so bad about the county jail? Temperature controlled, three meals a day, a warm bed, and I hear the sex is great....
ReplyDeleteHow butthurt would I be? I would, at minimum, need a fully trained emotional support miniature donkey. All costs of care to be paid by defendants, of course. no, I don't need an emotional support anything except maybe a vodka distillery, I just happen to think having a miniature donkey would be cool and having a couple of douchecanoes pay for it is just a bonus. OK, better add a nice small batch vodka distillery
ReplyDelete