What would you do? And an observation about 'crime' in the 21st century

[The Straight Story]

This all came about over a conversation I had with a neighbor today and his sister:

I won't go into details about it all other than to say his sister is ill, I helped him with his computer, and certain things came up.

Long story short - she is disabled, can't get into see her Dr. until next month (she is on MOLINA here in Ohio), and can't sleep.

So while on face book he told her he would bring over some of his sleeping pills that his Dr. had prescribed for him and he has not needed for a time (and are the same ones she had taken in the past when she had similar issues and cannot get right now until she sees someone).

--------

Given how the government seems to monitor things (unlike back in the days when people called each other on land lines) and such conversations are monitored and that technically he is committing a crime....well, what should we as a society do in situations like this where two people are having a private conversation over the internet about one giving the other one prescribed medications (not selling, etc)?

We have a failure of the medical system on her part (she needs help now), we have a surplus of a med she has taken before.

Day in and out on FB, E-Mails, other chat programs (from Skype to IRC to text messaging) we have people hooking up with others to provide (if you will) things that are 'illegal' - from pot to movies to music to meds.

Should we give the government more funds and people to go over all such communication and prosecute people? If so, I am guessing our jails would fill up and have more people in them than out of them. Not to mention our court systems, attorneys, clerks, defense attorneys, and so on.

We could go through all internet traffic and such at a great financial cost to us all and enforce all of our laws (just like we could put black boxes in cars to give you a speeding ticket if you go one mph over the speed limit). Watch a song on YouTube that is copyrighted? Get your information and give you a fine.

How much do we really want to spend and do to enforce our laws? Not saying having laws are bad - but as we become more of a society that can monitor every conservation people have with each other how should we use it?

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. Perhaps first we should understand that there isn't an expectation of privacy on Facebook, Chat, or

IR. E-Mails, if they are from a private company email account, have no expectation of privacy.

As a society we should have it clear in law where we can expect privacy and where we can not.

Personally, I think it is clear that Privacy in the modern world may very well be an extinct concept.

[The Straight Story]

2. Perhaps

Personally, I think it is clear that Privacy in the modern world may very well be an extinct concept.

We often talk about how the world has changed around the constitution - from searches to 1st amendment to the 2nd, 4th, etc

While we may not have privacy when it comes to companies seeing things that does not mean the government can see such things and use them against people (especially if we are going to treat corporations like people).

Consider this - if you sent a private letter back in the early 1800's via a private courier service did the government have a right to open it and read it at any time? How is that different than email or text, etc?

[Agnosticsherbet]

6. This is not 1800 and the technology isn't the same.

Concepts of privacy should be enshrined in law, not extended in theory from a system that could not even conceive of a modern internet.

In fact, the government must jump through far more hoops to open your mail, bug your phone, or use a laser on your window to listen in on your conversations. A private conversation at home has an expectation of privacy as does the letter. A phone call to your sister down the street is treated different from one to a mosque in Istanbul. The government can look at any of those by going through the appropriate courts and getting a court to authorize it. As a society we have not tried in any systematic way to define privacy, where it can be expected and where it can't. There have been a number of cases that touch on that, but no holistic approach.

Every day people share prescriptions even though it is clearly illegal. When we discuss doing something illegal we should not do it where there is no expectation of privacy.

[7962]

3. And I'm tired of filling prisons with people who are a threat to no one!! EOM

[The Straight Story]

4. But what do we consider a threat?

Giving meds to someone else that your dr gave you? Yeah - that can be dangerous but if nothing bad happens and no one is harmed then what?

Should we punish based on harm or potential harm?

[surrealAmerican]

5. It's a reasonable question ...

... and I have no clear answer to it, either.

There are two main problems that this causes:
1. It creates a sort of culture of lawlessness, much like prohibition did. People no longer view breaking laws as anything out of the ordinary, and are less likely to differentiate between laws.
2. It makes it easy for law enforcement officers to harass anyone they choose, for any reason. If you're a "thorn in their side" for some perfectly legal reason, they can find some (unrelated) law you broke, and arrest you for that.