Comments on: Another Recording Cops Lawsuit in Massachusetts

By: AnonymousCoward

AnonymousCoward — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:08:55 +0000

Thanks John. To clarify, and again forgive my lack of expertise, but my understanding of qualified immunity is that it applies when constitutionality is unclear – but after the Sedergen ruling, and the Glik ruling (where the court went so far as to state that no reasonable cop would expect public recording to constitute illegal wiretapping) I would expect there to be a clear chink in the qualification.

By: Homeboy

Homeboy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:39:46 +0000

@ #7,

LOL…Roho, that was brilliant!

By: John P.

John P. — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:30:58 +0000

police officers have qualified immunity which is BROADLY interpreted by the courts, so basically the cops can do more or less whatever they want and if anyone is punished it’ll be the taxpayers who pony up any cash to pay off any lawsuit.

Cops are rarely if ever individually sued.

By: AnonymousCoward

AnonymousCoward — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:08:38 +0000

IANAL so could someone explain if negligence based lawsuit could be attempted when the law has been clarified by the courts? Why are the executors of the law not held accountable for not knowing the law?

By: Whim

Whim — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:13:54 +0000

The police cannot survive without the support of the public.

They drive marked vehicles, and wear uniforms, which means if society no longer trusts or values the police, then they are merely moving targets in a real-time shooting gallery.

By: croaker

croaker — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:22:01 +0000

@10 The laws are already in place, we just need prosecutors with the stones to go after the cops who pull this crap.

18 USC 242 Kidnapping Under Color Of Authority

By: Dante

Dante — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:43:40 +0000

“Paulino was acquitted of all other charges at trial.”

See, there is the problem. The police can arrest you for non-crimes, beat the living crap out of you, force you to defend yourself in court which costs lots of money, and then walk away while saying “Nevermind”.

For crying out loud, is there anyone who doesn’t get it yet? They (police) will behave this way as long as there is absolutely no penalty to them for behaving this way. They are pond scum, disguised as public servants, with better pay, better health care, and better retirement plans than all of us who are forced to sponsor their depraved activities.

Protect & Serve (Themselves!)

By: marco73

marco73 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:44:02 +0000

Maury was bailing a friend out of jail, and the friend exhibits contempt of cop on the way out. So the Roxbury cops are now extending the courtesy beat downs to people who bail their buddys out of jail.

Soon enough, the cops will have to install a drive through lane for beat downs.

“Yeah, can I get some fries with that pepper spray and baton smacking, hold the kicking.”

By: Fascist Nation

Fascist Nation — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:39:31 +0000

“He also was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and assault and battery on a police officer….Paulino was acquitted of all other charges at trial.”

Interesting—jury or judge? Did the video play a part in his innocence? I mean it is rare for a judge to cross the cops by finding anyone innocent of the felonies they heap on you when you have done nothing wrong. Very rare.

By: Roho

Roho — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:31:26 +0000

Kinda’ tempted to write a browser plugin ‘translator’ now. Would replace certain text strings in a page with other strings.
“Disorderly conduct” becomes “Contempt of cop”
“Resisting arrest” becomes “Being arrested”
“Assault on an officer” becomes “Being beaten by the police”

Thus, we get:
“He also was charged with being arrested, contempt of cop and being beaten by the police.”

By: AlgerHiss

AlgerHiss — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:22:28 +0000

#1, someone, other than myself, came up with a quite accurate name for charging people with things the LEO knows will be thrown out: Catch & Release.

It’s done to simply show you who’s boss.

By: Bergman

Bergman — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:19:22 +0000

Given the way police toss around the resisting arrest charge, I’m starting to think the working definition among cops for resisting is “failed to teleport into jail cell without police intervention.”

By: Michael P ack

Michael P ack — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:53:06 +0000

And of course ,lawmakers continue to write vague laws that encourages more arrests in the war s on drugs and dui.Seeing how many are arressted for this non crime we need to wonder.How many innocent people are really arrested each year.With dui I believe atleast 50% are doing no harm or pose any danger..As for drugs,buying and using should,as most here agree,be a personal choice.These charges are much harder to beat and can ruin you life even if your foung not guilty

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:31:21 +0000

The law office representing him is Friedman, Milton.

Just putting that out there.

By: the innominate one

the innominate one — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:14:14 +0000

“The illegal wiretapping charge was dismissed by a clerk magistrate; Paulino was acquitted of all other charges at trial.”

You forgot the rest:

“The cops high-fived each other for getting away with being assholes and went back to work with no repercussions. Later, they were awarded medals for douchebaggery above and beyond the call of duty.”

By: Yizmo Gizmo

Yizmo Gizmo — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:37:15 +0000

“He also was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and assault and battery on a police officer.”

Cool, they gave him the Full Monty of meaningless you-didn’t-bow-down-and-kiss-our-asses charges. They should have thrown in
Public Nuisance maybe, or loitering, just for kicks.