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Generally not. The Bill of Rights protections that matter most during police encounters are mandated by the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, and all states are required to follow them. States can offer more protection of these rights, but not less. There are some variations regarding...
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This is a tricky issue. The simple answer is that citizens who are minding their own business are not obligated to "show their papers" to police. In fact, there is no law requiring citizens to carry identification of any kind. Once you get passed the surface, however, things get much more complicated...
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Simply put, the number of arrests an officer makes is a major factor used to determine his job performance. Police officers know that the easiest way to make arrests is to find people in possession of illegal drugs, so they want to search everyone they can find...
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Unfortunately, police may sometimes search you even if you refuse consent. If they find anything illegal, you'll have to get a lawyer and fight it out in court, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the search will hold up...
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During a legitimate traffic stop, police may order the driver and any passengers out of the vehicle. This rule is intended to protect officers' safety, but it's often used for investigatory purposes...
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Be aware that private security personnel outnumber police officers in the United States by three to one. As a result, you may be more likely to be confronted by a security guard than by a police officer. You must also be aware of the following places where security personnel (governmental or otherwise) are permitted to search you without a warrant...
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Videotaping or photographing police in public places is usually legal, so long as you don't interfere with their activities. Nonetheless, doing so will often get you arrested...
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The sad fact is that most people believe that they are under some kind of obligation to acquiesce when an officer contacts them and asks permission to search them or their belongings. The truth is exactly the opposite...
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Unfortunately, many people get fooled by some version of this commonly used police officer's line: "Everything will be easier if you just cooperate". That's true to some extent -- it will make things much easier for the police officer who's trying to arrest you! -- but when it comes to you consenting to searches and answering incriminating questions, it couldn't be further from the truth...
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No. The courts have made it clear that police officers do not have to tell people that they can refuse to consent to a warrantless search. Also, contrary to the belief perpetuated by popular police television shows, a person will not be read their rights subsequent to being taken into custody. A person only needs to be Mirandized when...
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No. We teach people that they have rights, and that these rights are secured by the principal documents that guarantee our civil liberties -- the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. An informed individual who invokes his constitutional protections is doing exactly what our nation's founders intended. They created these documents to...
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College students suffer from an unfortunate lack of privacy rights in many situations. The university owns the dorm, so school officials can often search rooms at their own discretion. College students still have 4th Amendment rights that apply in other situations...
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No. The Supreme Court has never ruled that police must present the warrant when performing a search. The purpose of the warrant is to...
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Your rights do not disappear if the officer threatens to call in the dogs, so don't let this all-too-common tactic intimidate you into consenting to a search. You have several options...
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No. If a police officer asks your permission to search, you are under no obligation to consent. The main reason why officers ask is because they don't have enough evidence to search without your consent. Don't expect an officer to tell you of your right not to consent. Any time you consent to a search request you are naively waiving your constitutional rights.
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Written by Denise Perry, Power U
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 11:07 |
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Punishment, especially in the form of suspension and arrest has been proven to be ineffective and actually harmful, with high rates of recidivism among youthful offenders, and increased rates of dropouts amongst students. Restorative Justice has been utilized in school districts such as Chicago and Minnesota with amazing results, at times reducing suspensions from 30-50%. The youth of Power U Center have been demanding the Miami Dade Schools to implement a program of Restorative Justice in the schools, starting with Booker T. Washington Senior High as a pilot program. They have been upset with the treatment of students in school as realized last week with the situation at Edison. The school Police promised to have a feasibility study for restorative justice done by January's School Board meeting. At February's meeting School Police Chief Gerald Darling assured us that the report was done and we would receive it shortly. It has now been 3 weeks and there is no evidence that a report has even been started. Power U youth member Travae Brown says "We are tired of waiting for this report and being disrespected by the School Police. The violence that happened at Miami Edison shows exactly why we need Restorative Justice in our schools instead of police who don't respect young people, especially young Black people." It is essential that Restorative Justice be implemented in the schools in order to decrease schools' dependence on arrests and suspensions as a way of solving issues. Restorative Justice is a form of problem and issue solving that provides everyone involved a voice, engaging the community in order to address the root of the problem through dialogue. Punishment, especially in the form of suspension and arrest has been proven to be ineffective and actually harmful, with high rates of recidivism among youthful offenders, and increased rates of dropouts amongst students. Restorative Justice has been utilized in school districts such as Chicago and Minnesota with amazing results, at times reducing suspensions from 30-50%. The arrests and beatings that occurred at Miami Edison on Friday were a tragic and extreme example of a systemic problem that is occurring everyday in Miami Public Schools, and that is exactly what the students were protesting. Black students are particularly impacted by harsh discipline policies and the heavy dependence on police to deal with issues in the schools, as they are arrested at extremely disproportionate rates. Edison Senior Chrisford Green states: "We didn't organize this protest because of just one incident. We just got fed up. That kind of stuff happens all the time here." Power U Center and Miami Edison Youth will be joined by students from the University of Miami and by CopWatch as well as other allies.
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