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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   31241 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 9, 2023

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Eliminating or greatly reducing qualified immunity (for prosecutors more than cops, actually) is a big plank.

Independent investigative bodies to handle police misconduct rather than subsections of existing police forces.

Civil Asset Forfeiture has to go, and so does the excessive militarization (though my definition and most people's definition might differ here). The two impact each other, because CAF funds a lot of military gear.

I'm actually of teh opinion that use-of-force is one of the least pressing issues for American policing. There's certainly bad behavior, and even pockets of systemic problems, but nothing like there is with the casual civil rights violations, the scummy plea dealing, the near-constant lying on warrant applications etc. Some of this, the reform needs to be in the direction of allowing police more, rather than less autonomy. I am also of the view that we need vastly more police, rather than fewer, and a narrowing of the criminal scope (i.e. ending the drug war, streamlining and rationalizing the criminal statutes etc.).

I want more police focusing on fewer crimes with more training and more oversight. I want every unsolved murder to have a mini task force. I want better witness protections.

I know that there is a virtuous spiral to be joined here. We've seen that we can massively decrease the most serious crime rates in a decade or two, and are now in the process of trying to reverse. We can stop anytime, but it's going to take decades to get back on the path.

Eliminating or greatly reducing qualified immunity (for prosecutors more than cops, actually) is a big plank.

Won't that just mean every cop getting constantly sued by everyone they ever put in jail?

Getting jailed tends to mean going to trial anyway. That's kind've the point. I'd be disappointed if the majority of people in jail didn't see a courtroom to get their dose of justice, be it in their favor or not.

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