New York Senate Makes It Felony to Annoy or Alarm the Police, Which Won't Be At All Problematic

[midnight]

Arguing "too many people in our society have lost the respect they need to have for a police officer" - and we can't imagine why - the New York State Senate has passed a bill creating the felony crime of aggravated harassment if anyone makes physical contact with a police officer with the intent to "harass, annoy, threaten or alarm" - a term so impossibly nebulous it could apply to virtually anyone, anytime, doing pretty much anything in the vicinity of said officer. And yes, he or she gets to decide just what is annoying, and obviously he or she will be totally honest and accurate about what went down in any given encounter.

"At a time when shocking incidents of disrespect and outright confrontation are at an all-time high, the men and women who patrol the streets of our cities deserve every possible protection we can offer them...We need to make it very clear that when a police officer is performing his duty, every citizen needs to comply and that refusal to comply carries a penalty.”

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/06/10-4

[DLevine]

1. Too bad it's not a felony for cops to harass and disrespect law abiding citizens. nt

[pipoman]

3. Now not only can they harass,

they can likely justify ramming a broomstick up their ass as an effort to stop a felony in progress..

[pipoman]

2. Well that will solve a lot of problems..

like those pesky occupiers who annoy police every day..now they don't just have to ask them to leave, they can shoot them...police have great latitude in stopping commission of a felony including using deadly force. New York politics has been on the cusp of insanity for some time...looks like they have officially jumped the shark..hopefully the voters clean house this time..

[midnight]

7. I just can't imagine how this can end in any other way... And with the old voting machine's looking

to make a come back.... maybe the voters can clean house...

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Why are political corruption and fascism always so intricately intertwined?

The NYS legislature is so corrupt it is a local joke.

The senate in particular: we elected a DEM majority yet the republicans hold the majority positions and perks. (5- RW DEMs made a sleazy deal... it's a long story.)

Local M$M ignores all this in favor of stories about the weather, celebs and traffic accidents.

[midnight]

6. It sure sounds like a rotten deal being done... I thought New York just finished accounting for

it's biased stops of certain types of people....

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. Far as I know, that's a NYC thing. Not NYS.

I'm assuming you're talking about what we call "stop and frisk." ( Stopping random civilians , overwhelmingly minority, and frisking them on the street without any probable cause.)

Still in effect here ( NYC) . Police brass defend it as does Bloomberg as do some of the DEM mayoral candidates.

That's not what's being promoted here by the forever ethically challenged NYS legislature.

[midnight]

9. Thanks for the specifics.... and differences of the city vs state...

[Javaman]

5. aka don't video tape cops doing bad things. nt

[b.durruti]

10. Fascism. FUCKING FASCISM. -nt-