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Federal court rules geofence warrants are unconstitutional:
In another round of increasingly rare good news in the realm of privacy, individual rights and freedom, two separate US federal judges have found geofence warrants to be unconstitutional.
Geofence warrants have been around for some time now. Essentially, it's a new investigative technique wherein law enforcement, rather than surveilling a suspect to discover if they had been at the scene of a crime, they work backwards by identifying everyone that's been at a particular location and surveilling them until they discover which one of them is a possible suspect.
[...] US courts have recently begun accepting that our smartphones hold so much data about us that they should be protected by the fourth amendment, as an extension of our homes.
Three separate unsealed opinions from two federal magistrate judges have come to the same conclusion: that these warrants lack the probable cause and particularity requirements of the fourth amendment.
[...] It's disturbing to think of just how many Americans' constitutional rights would have been violated if the warrant was granted. Even more disturbing is other such warrants possibly getting granted regularly, aside from what information Google willingly hands over to governments.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 03 2020, @11:49AM (26 children)
The constitution says "You can't put the population under surveillance."
Idiots in law enforcement say "We can put the population under surveillance any time there is a crime to solve!"
DERP!!
We need more rulings like this. And, we need to see some law enforcement and "intelligence" people convicted and sent to prison for violating the constitution.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @12:15PM (11 children)
See subject: You don't have enough spamdownmodpoints to abuse & censor me. I can post as much as I want & you can't stop me.
* You were run dry of abused downmodpoints. Give up already.
I have better things to do than hang around w/ you losers. I'm permanently stopping now because you losers aren't worth my time. But I own this place & I can post as much as I want whenever I want.
APK
P.S.=> You fakename fools still can't stop me from doing what I want @ this shithole site... apk
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by khallow on Thursday September 03 2020, @02:29PM (7 children)
I agree. So why aren't you doing those better things? Go forth and have that awesome time. It's not like shitposting the same nonsense a hundred times is going anywhere here.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:41PM (6 children)
:-) Arguing with bots now? Everybody's crazier than I thought
You know, if we ever get a functional congress some day, they can write an actual law prohibiting this, with real penalties for violations.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:59PM (5 children)
I would rather have a non-functional congress than that. You're not selling the "functional congress" thing very well.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:11PM (4 children)
Then I will assume you are perfectly happy with the one you have. You know that is psychotic, right?
If you can't produce a functional congress, that is a reflection on YOU! Congress is you people! You put them there, so please, save your breath, unless you like playing the fool.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:13PM (3 children)
Nope. And you don't know that either.
We already know you failed to sell the concept. So it's your fault and a reflection on YOU! Congress is you people! You put them there, so please, save your breath, unless you like playing the fool.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:20PM (2 children)
Ah, so sorry, I keep forgetting, being on the inside precludes any possibility of you noticing.
You speak gibberish. You are responsible for the people you reelect. Nobody else can be.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:26PM (1 child)
You're projecting again.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday September 03 2020, @05:40PM
:-) You're talking to yourself again
I'll admit I was expecting better of you. Hope is eternal
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday September 03 2020, @06:37PM (2 children)
There are more than a hundred thousand mod points out there each and every day. So, yeah, you're not going to go beyond what moderation and built in speed limits can handle. I very much doubt there are enough open proxies in the world to do so.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 03 2020, @07:38PM (1 child)
It only has to crap post enough to be highly annoying. And it seems to be effectively able to do that.
The manufacture of that many mod points could be draining the planet's natural resources. The disposal of that many used mod points could endanger the ecosystem. Especially if the mod points all end up collecting in the oceans.
What if there were an increased number of spam mod points handed out? That is, those could only be used for spam. Alternately, modding spam would count against a different daily limit, not affecting the normal daily limit of mod points. Queries could identify users who give out more spam mods, to help spot abuses.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday September 03 2020, @08:16PM
I use all the leftovers in my catfish bait recipe. Recycling and cheap catfish bait FTW!
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by legont on Thursday September 03 2020, @12:43PM (13 children)
It's not even about surveillance any more. The procedure currently is very simple. Let me give a fictitious example.
A girl is raped in a park.
1. Police collect all the visitors to the park and chooses a suspect pretty much at will.
2. Prosecutor offers a plea deal to the suspect, which is almost always accepted.
The difference between the deal and no deal is so huge and the conviction rate is so high that any honest attorney would advise to take the deal.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by legont on Thursday September 03 2020, @12:57PM (1 child)
One may ask how police officers, prosecutors and judges can sleep well after that? Simple as well. A bad guy is typically taken for a suspect. They say to themselves that perhaps he did not raped this particular girl, but he sure raped some other one. With this simple approach we'll put behind bars all of them one way or another.
This is also the reason why most members of this group were not in this situation. We are relatively low on the bad guys list.
The only strategy for a random guy is to stay low on the list. It is called to behave. Whites understand this. Blacks don't want to. This explains the difference in incarceration rates.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @03:02PM
Here is a good article [archive.org] that explains why race isn't a factor in whether an individual chooses to abide by the law. You should probably reconsider your position on this.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 03 2020, @12:58PM (8 children)
A cowed and fearful population, properly trained to accept plea deals? Maybe we all need to grow some balls. If you won't fight for your rights, you will soon have no rights. Respects to Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and all the rest who actively fight in the interest of preserving rights.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by slinches on Thursday September 03 2020, @04:25PM
We should also probably consider promoting high standards of evidence and presumption of innocence as popular concepts. It seems like an accusation sans alibi is all that's required to convict people in the court of public opinion these days. And we are all the same people who are in the juries. If the public respects those concepts then the plea deals won't look so attractive if you're innocent but can't prove you were somewhere else.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by legont on Thursday September 03 2020, @07:01PM (6 children)
Well, let me give a very real example that I just had personally. My next door neighbor's dog made a toilet out of my property while I was on vacation. I complained. The guy is in tree service business so he knew a trick. He reported a tree being dangerous to him on my property. I was ordered to cut it; healthy tree mind you. I asked the forester and he told me that he grants all such requests because he wants no liability for people killed by trees and he lets the judge sort it out. I ignored the order and was sued by the township.
On the court day I was offered a guilty plea for $250 fine plus court fees. I told prosecutor I want to talk to the judge. I tried but the judge said just say guilty or not. I asked for time to talk to an attorney. He gave me 3 days to do it and it was July 4th weekend. I pointed that this was impossible. At this point the judge started screaming that the max penalty he is going to impose on me is $2000 *per day* and that is if forester is not telling that lives are in imminent danger. If lives are in imminent danger, he will get me detained this same night. So 3 days later I pleaded guilty, paid $2000 for the tree removal and $350 to the court. They charged me an extra $100 for the lesson I guess.
Here is my question. Do you really want me to go all in Snowden over the fucking tree? The majority of people will just call me crazy and will be right as I will be crazy by the end of it.
It's a township business. People rat on people and the township collects money so they are paid. End of story.
I actually have a moral question. I have a point to punish the neighbor. They will get him and he will pay his share of the money to the budget. Should I do it?
I also have a bigger point. $2500 is a relatively minor nuance for me. I can just forgetaboutit. Imagine a poor negro who is in similar situations all the time, has no money to pay, and lots' of pride learned from liberal horseshit. That's how true hate is born. One day he will volunteer to be a gas chamber operator for all the government and lawyers and educated in general.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 03 2020, @07:53PM (1 child)
You do realize that there is not a simple, easy, answer to your question, right? Unless, of course, you want or need to take the path of least resistance.
You know the system is screwed up, if not outright dirty. You know the city/county/state/in_this_case_township is in it for the money. We can put aside any attempt to justify "the system", since we agree on that much. You ask "Do you really want me to go all in Snowden over the fucking tree?"
I think we can agree, it's not about the tree, at all. You apparently like the tree a little bit, but you can surrender the tree.
Then, you ask, "Imagine a poor negro who is in similar situations all the time, has no money to pay,"
I can imagine that poor negro, just as I can imagine some poor Mexican, or white guy. Color plays a role in police interactions, but there are poor people of all colors taken advantage of, every day.
And, I will state that by not fighting an unjust government action, you might be letting down all those poor people. Your post seems to suggest that you can afford to challenge the township, rather than take the path of least resistance. Challenging a broken system just might result in the system being - well, maybe not made entirely right, but made a little more right.
If you dig deep enough into the BLM/Antifa protests, you can find a message that all white people are guilty, because we don't fight injustices. I dispute the manner in which they make that point, but there is the underlying point. All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is that good people do nothing.
I've made some attempt to say the same thing, when I condemn not only dirty cops, but those otherwise good cops who shield the dirty cop.
Should you have fought city hall, over a tree? Maybe you should have. You failed to expose a corrupt system, so you share responsibility for the next victim, and the next, and the next.
So, that shit gets complicated, right?
The neighbor? Going after him seems a bit petty. If he's a constantly annoying asshole, I might go after him. I don't know what I would do in the situation, because I don't know him, I don't know you beyond what you write here. You have to make up your own mind about making him pay. You're smart enough to get all of your ducks in a row before you try anything like that, I presume. But, don't be surprised if the neighbor "fights dirty". You best not have a cracked tail light lens, or trash accumulated in your rain gutters, or ever be recorded arguing with the spouse or kids.
To put things in perspective, financially: I am most certainly not destitute, like the "poor negro" you cite. But, I'm obviously not as wealthy as you - I can't "just forgetaboutit" when it comes to $2500. There have been times that I followed the easiest course, and just paid an unjust ticket. Other times, I have fought the unjust ticket or accusation. I never succeeded in exposing a corrupt system, but I have managed to embarrass a couple of people.
BTW - you know where you erred, I'm sure, but I'll point it out anyway. "I ignored the order and was sued by the township." You don't win battles by fighting reactively. You should have been proactive, and sued the city before they sued you. You waited far too long to get legal representation, if you wanted to keep your tree, or if you wanted to expose the screwed up system.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday September 04 2020, @04:20PM
I generally agree with you except one but perhaps the most important point. I don't believe any more that individual actions can change anything at this point. I believe there will be blood. Civil war in worst case. The best case scenario is shock therapy Pinochet style. I make my plans according to this beliefs.
I already escaped one of those once less that two months before it happened and I hope to make it again. One might say that this experience affects my judgement, that I am too pessimistic and it's not that bad. I really really hope so. I pray every day that I am wrong, but I prepare for what I think will happen.
What's really sad is that since I am old and therefore is not expected to make more but have to live on savings, Pinochet is my best friend from pure economic point of vew. I am sure many others see it this way. I't so so morally wrong, but that' the reality.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @08:19PM (3 children)
It seems at this point, all you had to say was "not guilty"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @10:44PM
Yep, smells fishy. He could have dragged it out for months and not spent a dime. And he could have sued the neighbor for emotional trauma. Sorry, don't like this story one bit.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday September 04 2020, @06:13PM (1 child)
My office provides me with cheap legal insurance. So, I did find and consulted a good attorney in a day.
Plea guilty, pay whatever they say and forgetaboutit was his advice.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 05 2020, @02:55PM
Yeah, unless you have money to blow and nothing better to do, just take the loss and let it slide. Criminal charges are somewhat easier to fight if you have money, but if you don't the situation is pretty similar.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday September 03 2020, @07:47PM (1 child)
Let me suggest a counter example that was a real story a few years ago.
Someone steals a credit card, removes its chip and affixes it to a different fake card that doesn't bear the name of the stolen card.
They go all over town, for quite some time, on a spending spree.
Police collect all the cell phone:
* in the area of each purchase
* within a short time window of each purchase
Then identify the single one or two phones that are located at every single purchase time and location
Investigation discovers that these people have all the equipment to mess with credit cards.
Sorry I don't have a link.
I'm not saying I trust police blindly. Quite the contrary. But this sounds like a useful investigative technique when looking for someone who has committed a number of different crime instances, at different times and locations. And especially when this evidence is used to discover far more incriminating evidence.
I would also point out that an investigative technique would be to look at security camera feetage of every single purchase time and location. But crooks could disguise themselves.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 03 2020, @09:30PM
That was a case of slip-shod lazy police work. There are cameras located at most point of sale points. If the cops had perused the video at a dozen or more locations, they could have developed a lead from that alone. Publish the bad guy's image on television and the internet, along with a reward for information, and something is likely to come back soon. Then, they get a warrant to search that guy's home, place of business, workshop, whatever.
Instead of doing police work, the police want the tech companies to do all their work. That is a real problem, IMHO.