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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   28225 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 14, 2024

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Damn. I’m not surprised by draconian speech laws so much as search&seizure ones. Do you have no protections against what ought to be an obviously expansive warrant?

I was also going to ask if you’d written whichever of these representatives might possibly run in your area. A statement on this board is weak. A letter might actually reach them. But I don’t know how allocation of reps works in Ireland.

laws so much as search&seizure ones. Do you have no protections against what ought to be an obviously expansive warrant?

Euro hate speech laws get a lot of press in the US in libertarian and conservative circles, but Europe doesn’t have the rest of the bill of rights either- I mean obviously they don’t have the second amendment, but police powers are just generally broader and the rights of the accused narrower. This is frequently relayed as a culture shock by vets who took advantage of being posted in Italy or Germany or wherever.

This is true even in Canada. I was incredibly shocked when I found out that, under Canadian law, evidence could be obtained by the police in a way that is illegal and violates your rights, but it could still be allowed in as evidence during trial if it didn't "bring the administration of justice into disrepute". Illegally obtained evidence isn't automatically excluded like in the US

These things sometimes go the other way though. For example, in Canada, but only in some US states, it is legal to resist an unlawful arrest. It's also legal everywhere in the country to secretly record a conversation that you are a part of, which makes easier to defend your rights.

We also have far more reasonable laws regarding age of consent. We don't have people being put on the sex offender registry for urinating in public or for sleeping with someone a few months younger.

This is not consistent with what I understood the law to be in Canada.

It makes me wonder why so much focus and attention is given to alleged abuses of police power in the United States, to the point that certain incidents in the US also garner protests in Europe, along with various comments from international citizens criticizing America. I could understand if they believe in the ideals of freedom, life, etc. that is shared by American culture, but do they never take the time to look at their own countries and see how much worse they have it?

Because the US is the imperial metropole and what people care about here is what people care about elsewhere.

It is strange when one thinks about it that way. I think one explanation is just "Europeans are more likely to obey cops, ergo, nobody ever dies from not following cops' orders."

Sure, deaths from police interaction make headlines but there are a lot of other things European cops can do that American cops would be extremely less likely to get away with. For example, an American cop wouldn't be able to legally arrest someone on the sole reason of them making a "homophobic remark" (or at least they would have to find another reason) due to the First Amendment.

Also in many European countries (including Ireland and the UK) most police officers are unarmed. So even if you disobey a police officer's orders, in most cases the worst that'll happen to you is that you'll get tased, maced or twatted with a nightstick.

Also in many European countries (including Ireland and the UK) most police officers are unarmed.

I don't think this is the case in most of continental Europe.

You're correct, looking it up it's mainly a Scandinavian and British isles thing

I've written to my representatives on several occasions during Covid, but only one responded (which I did appreciate).

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