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Chemda you acted very bravely by keeping a cool head. According to my experience as a criminal law lawyer you are absolutely correct: a system that wastes all that money on jailing people for offences like yours is complete bullshit.
Yes, people should be punished for their offences; no we should not waste bazillions of dollars arresting people for outstanding warrants. That is very stupid and dumb. There are many, many cheaper alternatives, like not being able to renew your license, like GreeningOA said. That's what happens in Canada when you have outstanding offences like this: you can't renew your license or get a new ID. No, it is not your job to decide what the proper punishment should be, your government should be doing that. They suck.
Keith no one credited you for recognizing that Chemda's civil rights were violated by those dick cops who lied and laughed at her.
In Canada you must be "read your rights" and given a phone call within a certain time of being stopped by the police. If they are not going to arrest you they may "detain" you for a short period but they have to tell you that's what is happening. The cops are certainly not allowed to lie to you - that would be a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (in Canada) and is a major fuckup. When cops fuck up like that here it's a big deal. There must be some equivalent of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the USA and if there's not that's fucked. How are your civil rights protected at all?
Michael you may have had good points - actually you had one good point - that at some point people need arrested if they're constantly avoiding punishment. Well, maybe that is only half a good point because the system jails people who are not posing safety issues but just social nuisances. These people fall through the cracks in the social net (which apparently really sucks in 'Merica) and end up costing the taxpayer zillions of dollars in the bullshit criminal system.
Also you were really insensitive to your sister in that conversation.
Also, a protest doesn't have to be effective to be legit. If it's a protest to Chemda to jump the turnstile in an attempt to thwart the system, it's a protest, especially because she does have the platform on which to explain herself.
My Story (briefly):I was arrested right before I became a lawyer. I jumped the turnstile, got a ticket, didn't pay it, a warrant went out. A year later I get caught jumping the turnstile again. Cop says "okay you have a warrant out for your arrest, I have to arrest you". He doesn't put me in handcuffs (although he mentions he could do so), he writes me out my summons and lets me go after I sign a promise to appear at court. I go to the courthouse and pay my tickets. THE END.
My story would have been different if I was homeless, visibly indigenous, or otherwise marginalized. They may have arrested me and taken me to jail for a night in lieu of paying the ticket. This is bullshit and many lawyers here are trying to change the bullshit system. It is so stupid to jail people for little offences like that! It wastes so much money that could otherwise be going to improving city infrastructure, paying for scholarships, improving health care etc..
Goddammit this episode fired me up.
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