Quote:

---

To Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, that sounds as if the administration is saying, "Trust us." And with a phrase as general as "material support," he's not comfortable doing that.'

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by rue:
I'm not going to get my hopes up. Really. I'm not.

***************************************************************
Hope against hope.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by AURaptor:
We survived Japanese-American citizens being rounded up into camps.

We survived The Fairness Doctrine( so far ).

---

Quote:

---

And yet I think Ms. Wolf's analysis is sound. We may be in a much better position to ward off would-be tyrants

---

Quote:

---

but it's good to be shown that what the Admin is saying today, tyrants of the past have also said--you know, in striking detail.

---

Quote:

---

Even if the U.S. is gonna weather this admin. and turn back before going off the cliff, I think it's a good idea to take a good, hard look at that cliff.

---

Quote:

---

ALBANY, Oct. 17 — Millions of people have paused to stand amid the hustle, bustle and neon of Times Square.

And sure, those who pause — to gawk, talk or eat a gyro — can slow the progress of pedestrians around them.

But when Matthew Jones of Brooklyn lingered on the corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue in the early morning of June 12, 2004, gabbing with friends as other pedestrians tried to get by, something unusual happened: He was arrested for it.

---

Quote:

---

His colleague Judge Eugene F. Pigott Jr. questioned what other violations might attract law enforcement attention.

“All I could think of was a bunch of lawyers from the New York City Bar Association standing around trying to figure out where to have lunch,” Judge Pigott said. (The association has offices a block and a half from Times Square.) Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye seemed likewise nonplused. “This is at 2 a.m.?” she asked, wondering how many pedestrians it would have been possible to inconvenience at that hour. “I guess I’m not in Times Square at 2 a.m. very often.”

The court is likely to rule on the case next month. Should it rule against Mr. Jones, the available evidence on the scene on Wednesday suggested that the police would soon have their hands full. Just before 5 p.m., near the corner where Mr. Jones was arrested, stood the following assemblage: a man eating clams out of a Styrofoam container; two men smoking cigarettes together; a man waiting for a woman to finish a phone call; a guy looking at a map; a young woman sending a text message; two men handing out tour brochures; and a family of five, including an infant in a stroller, who stopped to look at the brochures.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by canttakesky:
How is this for police state?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/nyregion/18movealong.html?_r=1&oref=
slogin

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by canttakesky:
What scares me is that Mr. Jones was coerced by *an entire system* to plead guilty, for doing something anyone of us could have done.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Cuffed for pleading innocent in court to a traffic ticket (that I really WAS innocent of), and threatened with a night in jail. "You're not gonna win this one" was whispered to me.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Hero:

Yeah right. Unless you refused to sign the ticket...in which its a slightly less emphatic...'yeah right'.

Generally you can't be arrested for summons offenses.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by leadb:
Hero, what is the proper re-dress for someone in Chrisall's shoes, assuming he/she really is innocent and has a substantive defense? Take the time for appeals? Can you even appeal a traffic summons? Can you get your money back if you bring in a lawyer?

---