The commander overseeing military operations in Los Angeles said that troops deployed to the city can temporarily detain individuals but cannot make arrests.
That’s fucking bullshit. Detaining people is absolutely a law enforcement operation.
Here’s the relevant section of the article that the title is referencing:
He emphasized that while troops can temporarily detain individuals, they must wait for law enforcement officers to make actual arrests.
Unless the guard troops are working directly with law enforcement, or are there at the request of the state, or the Insurrection Act has been invoked, none of which have happened or are the case, then it is completely illegal for them to be detaining anyone for any reason. Those troops should be refusing to follow those illegal orders. As should their commanding officer, but I’m getting the impression this is not a guy with a lot of critical thinking skills.
Even an arrest is temporary if we haven’t thrown out due process. Habeas Corpus means a judge has to look at things, and decide to extend the detention until trial. Also, the trial has to be “speedy”.
It’s probably not good that there is a mechanism for legally detaining someone for months without them being an imminent threat to themselves or others. But, that’s been status quo as long as I’ve been drawing breath, so I’m used to it.
I believe most defendants choose to waive their right to a speedy trial in order to have more time to prepare. It’s so common that many judges schedule themselves under that assumption and some will even be biased against persons that do not waive that right.
[Judge] Murphy was angry with [attorney] Weinstock because the public defender wouldn’t waive a client’s right to a speedy trial, the complaint says.
I was arrested and bond was set ridiculously high and didn’t waive my speedy trial rights because I wanted to go to trial ASAP and get out of jail. The judge delayed it twice on me and I spent 270 days in jail until I found a bail bondsman who didn’t require any collateral because he believed someone who spent 270 days in jail instead of pleading out for time served wouldn’t jump bail. Charges were dropped shortly after I bailed out. I am not sure how they justified delaying my trial over and over but it was 100% bullshit.
I wish that injustice didn’t happen to you, but I believe it did. Also, it tracks with some of the “issues” with speedy trials in the U.S.
Depending on jurisdiction the clock “stops” when there’s a undecided motion in front of the court and in those jurisdictions it’s relatively easy for a prosecutor and a judge to conspire to put off a “speedy” trial arbitrarily long. I’m sure such tactics could give grounds for appeal, and might even be standing to sue the judge, prosecutor, and jurisdiction for violating your constitutional rights, but they’ll definitely work at least until the are properly and expensively challenged to establish precedent. Plus, I know sometimes constitutional rights are held to protect someone from federal action, but most criminal complains are handled by the states, and not every state has a “speedy trail” in their state constitution.
The criminal system in the U.S. is too easily abused by authority; we need real reform. I think we need do need jails and prisons and adversarial court cases, but there’s got to be some way to get by with fewer of them.
Depends on the jurisdiction, but in most of the U.S. “speedy” (~90 days) is actually the default, and you have to waive your right to one if you’d like more time.
Here’s the relevant section of the article that the title is referencing:
Unless the guard troops are working directly with law enforcement, or are there at the request of the state, or the Insurrection Act has been invoked, none of which have happened or are the case, then it is completely illegal for them to be detaining anyone for any reason. Those troops should be refusing to follow those illegal orders. As should their commanding officer, but I’m getting the impression this is not a guy with a lot of critical thinking skills.
Unfortunately the Insurrection Act doesnt help when the president is the one leading the insurrection
That makes it like extra double super illegal then, I guess
With only 4000 guard I’m sure they were able to be selective with who they sent.
Even an arrest is temporary if we haven’t thrown out due process. Habeas Corpus means a judge has to look at things, and decide to extend the detention until trial. Also, the trial has to be “speedy”.
It’s probably not good that there is a mechanism for legally detaining someone for months without them being an imminent threat to themselves or others. But, that’s been status quo as long as I’ve been drawing breath, so I’m used to it.
Yeah, speedy trials haven’t been a reality since…ever?
I believe most defendants choose to waive their right to a speedy trial in order to have more time to prepare. It’s so common that many judges schedule themselves under that assumption and some will even be biased against persons that do not waive that right.
– https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_who_challenged_public_defender_to_fight_then_heard_7_cases_without_co
I was arrested and bond was set ridiculously high and didn’t waive my speedy trial rights because I wanted to go to trial ASAP and get out of jail. The judge delayed it twice on me and I spent 270 days in jail until I found a bail bondsman who didn’t require any collateral because he believed someone who spent 270 days in jail instead of pleading out for time served wouldn’t jump bail. Charges were dropped shortly after I bailed out. I am not sure how they justified delaying my trial over and over but it was 100% bullshit.
I wish that injustice didn’t happen to you, but I believe it did. Also, it tracks with some of the “issues” with speedy trials in the U.S.
Depending on jurisdiction the clock “stops” when there’s a undecided motion in front of the court and in those jurisdictions it’s relatively easy for a prosecutor and a judge to conspire to put off a “speedy” trial arbitrarily long. I’m sure such tactics could give grounds for appeal, and might even be standing to sue the judge, prosecutor, and jurisdiction for violating your constitutional rights, but they’ll definitely work at least until the are properly and expensively challenged to establish precedent. Plus, I know sometimes constitutional rights are held to protect someone from federal action, but most criminal complains are handled by the states, and not every state has a “speedy trail” in their state constitution.
The criminal system in the U.S. is too easily abused by authority; we need real reform. I think we need do need jails and prisons and adversarial court cases, but there’s got to be some way to get by with fewer of them.
Huh. I was not at all aware of this. Interesting!
You have to request a speedy trial
Depends on the jurisdiction, but in most of the U.S. “speedy” (~90 days) is actually the default, and you have to waive your right to one if you’d like more time.