Baltimore Considering Becoming A Police State

[L. Coyote]

Chris Weigant
Baltimore Considering Becoming A Police State - 7 comments
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/baltimore-considering-bec_b_48758.html

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

..............

It seems a member of the Baltimore City Council would like his city to be run by the police. As City Council Vice President Robert W. Curran originally told The Baltimore Sun, "Desperate measures are needed when we're in desperate situations."

Here is his proposal, from the AP article:

Under Curran's plan, the mayor could declare "public safety act zones," which would allow police to close liquor stores and bars, limit the number of people on city sidewalks, and halt traffic during two-week intervals.

Police would be encouraged to aggressively stop and frisk individuals in those zones to search for weapons and drugs.

Later in the article, he explains where he got the idea:

Curran said he modeled his plan after an approach advocated by Philadelphia mayoral candidate Michael Nutter, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday. Nutter has called for declarations of a "state of emergency" in high-crime neighborhoods, where police would conduct aggressive stop-and-frisk searches and impose curfews.



.........................

[bullimiami]

1. John Waters vision of Baltimore says it all for me.

Im sure hes not surprised.

[Cobalt-60]

5. He needs to find his way into the House of Wax

as their new Joe Stalin.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. To what "desperate times" is this man referring? Life in America, under Bush?

It sounds as if he wants to pick a neighborhood in which to declare this "state of emergency" and fucking harass the hell out of those in poverty. :mad: MKJ

[AspenRose]

12. Yep

Baltimore has a high minority population. So does Philly for that matter (referring to post downthread)

[glowing]

3. Wow... You wouldn't think of taking the money spent on all

these police and putting in social programs that naturally appeal to taking people off the street and giving them education and inspiration.

[Greyhound]

9. That would be SOCIALIST! You commie pinko.

Go sit in a corner and just think about what you've proposed.

(is the :sarcasm: smiley necessary?)

[glowing]

14. I get the sarcasm... but I'll respond a bit more.

Normally, I'm not much for socialist agenda. But we as a country have not done well. It is ourselves that have lost the streets of America. I really hate all the subdivisions in this country. If we are all equal, then let us be equal. It is the separation in our laws that have allowed us to become un-equal. Between the class war, race war, and sex wars... we are fighting one another for what reason?

I think a lot of policies that were designed with good intention have ended us in a mess, unprepared, uneducated, and waiting for the govt to save us.

Its one of the reasons that I try to learn everything. I want as little from my govt other than to uphold the constitution. Sometimes I wonder if we erased all the crap and started over at the beginning, would we be right back to the same place in another 200yrs from now?

[Greyhound]

16. The Constitution was a pretty good piece of work, but they depended

on people maintaining the knowledge of its intent and the reasons for its provisions. They depended on those in power acting with honor for the general good, to do what was right most of the time. They created mechanisms to remove individuals that abused their power, but they relied on others in power to use them.

In short they didn't count on corruption becoming the rule, and the people tolerating it.

[L. Coyote]

4. X-Post: BALTIMORE, PHILADELPHIA MOVE TOWARDS MARTIAL LAW

cyberpj Mon May-21-07 08:54 AM - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3273873

BALTIMORE, PHILADELPHIA MOVE TOWARDS MARTIAL LAW

This was very hard to find on the net (only the Baltimore Sun article that I could find) but it was big news in Philly all weekend on the local talk shows. I heard it once on local news, but I couldn't find anything about it in the Philly papers.

Please, recommend it up the front page if you also believe it needs attention.


BALTIMORE, PHILADELPHIA MOVE TOWARDS MARTIAL LAW
Saturday, May 19, 2007
JOHN FRITZE, BALTIMORE SUN

Large swaths of Baltimore could be declared emergency areas subject to heightened police enforcement - including a lockdown of streets - under a city councilman's proposal .................................

[mcscajun]

6. That's It! We've stepped through the looking glass...

...and smashed it behind us.

[az chela]

7. George Orwell rides again!!!

[MissWaverly]

8. I saw a show on PBS about a bike shop in Texas

that teaches kids how to build their own bikes, it has done wonders for one of the worst neighborhoods there, here in Baltimore,
the kids end up in trouble becuz they have no supervision and they drift in the streets, they are not allowed to ever bring their
friends inside, so all social contact is done on the street with no parental involvement. If the kids had after school programs
and social networks other than hanging, we would have a safer and better country.

[WinkyDink]

11. Same has been done with chess, music, calculus, and I'm sure a myriad of other means of

reaching youth through appeals to their need to achieve.

[MissWaverly]

15. there's nothing for kids to bond to in a positive way

Even back in the fifties and sixties, we had dances, here in Baltimore, they had a local "dance party" and kids were either
trying to get on Tv and perform for the live dancing or watch their friends on Tv. Buddy Dean who was the model for
Hair Spray, thought up figuring what records were popular with kids by checking to see what was selling.

[Fox Mulder]

10. What year is it? 1984?

[KamaAina]

13. In Baltimore, apparently, yes

George Carlin had my original hometown pegged pretty well with his introduction to a network newscast: "It's eight o'clock in Los Angeles... it's nine o'clock in Denver... it's ten o'clock in Chicago... (higher, nasal voice) In Baltimore, it's 6:42!" :P