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Anti Federalist
06-20-2018, 05:57 AM
I wish this would lead to more people becoming aware of just how useless cops are, but I fear it will do nothing but lead to a crime wave and even more cops after the backlash.


'Freedom city'? Going beyond 'sanctuary,' Austin, Texas, vows to curtail arrests

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-austin-freedom-city-2018-story.html

By JAWEED KALEEM
JUN 19, 2018 | 11:15 AM

'Freedom city'? Going beyond 'sanctuary,' Austin, Texas, vows to curtail arrests

Ever since the Texas legislature last year passed one of the country’s most aggressive “anti-sanctuary city” laws, some enclaves have fought officials over the extent to which police can ignore federal immigration law.

The state regulation known as Senate Bill 4 has been described by opponents as the “show your papers” law for allowing officers to ask about the immigration status of anybody arrested or detained.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law in May 2017, and Austin was among the first cities to challenge it in federal court. The law is currently in effect while a case against it proceeds.

The Trump administration, in the midst of legal battles against some states and cities for their sanctuary policies, has cheered Texas even as officers in cities such as Houston and Austin have rarely used the law to ask immigration questions. Some cities have indeed followed a part of the Texas law that calls for police to hold detainees believed to be in the country illegally.

The White House has said dozens of sanctuary cities and counties in the country are breaking federal law for not fully cooperating with immigration authorities and has threatened to withhold public safety grants from them. The Texas governor has shared a similar argument, and echoed Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions in his belief that sanctuary cities promote crime.

Amid the controversy over sanctuary cities, Austin this month took its fight against strict immigration law enforcement a step further by declaring itself to be the first “freedom city” in Texas. City Council members unanimously passed two resolutions last week that will restrict police attempts to question immigrants about their status and curtail arrests for nonviolent crimes.

One of the new city resolutions requires officers who question immigrants about status to also say that their questions about immigration need not be answered. The other resolution directs police to avoid arrests for misdemeanors, including those for smoking marijuana, having drug paraphernalia, and taking part in petty theft — crimes that city data shows frequently end in arrests of black and Latino residents.

While Austin is among the country’s first so-called freedom cities, it’s part of a wider movement around decriminalizing low-level offenses and decreasing arrests. According to Local Progress, a national network of progressive city officials, some council members in El Paso and Dallas are also considering “freedom city” proposals.

“Poor people of color in our city are over-punished and over-incarcerated,” said Greg Casar, an Austin City Councilman who pushed for the resolutions. “If people are being arrested less, we can also prevent people from being put in the deportation pipeline.”

“We found that black and Latino residents comprised 75% of discretionary arrests for driving with licenses invalid in the city even though they are 45% of the population of the city,” Casar said. “Black residents are seven times more likely to be arrested for low-level marijuana violations despite having comparable rates of usage of marijuana to white residents.”

Casar said the new rules could prevent up to 1,000 low-level arrests each year. Austin police arrest around 30,000 people a year.
Austin’s new rules passed Friday after more than 100 residents spoke about them at a City Council meeting. While support was wide, groups differed on the need for the “freedom city” title, and what effect it will have.

Ken Casady, the Austin Police Assn. president, said that although the police union supported reducing arrests, misleading data were cited to garner support for the resolutions.

“We do arrest more blacks and Hispanics but the problem we have is that people do not want to look at the reasons why,” said Casady.
He said he thought marijuana usage in public was higher among among black and Latino residents. That, he believed, leads to disproportionate arrests even if overall usage by white residents was comparable.

“We will not tolerate being called racists,” Casady said. He added that officers do not regularly ask for immigration information when making arrests or writing tickets. “To us, this is a symbolic move,” he said of the freedom city vote.

Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, said the new moniker largely amounted to city branding.

“We appreciate the gesture and the idea,” said Linder. “This city has a history of symbolic overtures, but has been inconsistent in providing the kind of leadership that will implement its own resolutions.”

“While the vote has been applauded, the Austin NAACP will continue to work toward more meaningful and substantial changes,” he said.

The group has focused on combating segregation and gentrification in the city, as well as boosting education and employment for African Americans in the city and Travis County. The region is still also recovering from a series of mail bombings this year that seemed to target black families. In March, a suspect in the bombings blew himself up as he was being chased by police.

Many city activists celebrated the council’s decision.

“These policies will protect the constitutional rights of immigrants and make sure that Austin is a safe place to live for everyone regardless of race or immigration status,” José Garza, director of the local nonprofit Workers Defense Project, said in a statement.

Grassroots Leadership, an Austin nonprofit that pushed the initiative, said in a statement that the council’s move was an “important first step.”

“This is a long-term struggle and we are in part one of what is actually a decathlon,” said Rebecca Sanchez, a representative of Grassroots Leadership.

“We’re committed to fighting for a city where we redefine safety for ourselves and not through badges, and where we determine how our communities thrive.”

oyarde
06-20-2018, 06:29 AM
Pretty much just a high rent shithole over ran with dirty hippies .

oyarde
06-20-2018, 06:37 AM
It gets expensive when places are made up of large percentages of people who do not contribute anything .

VIDEODROME
06-20-2018, 07:31 AM
It gets expensive when places are made up of large percentages of people who do not contribute anything .

Well, that is sure to happen if they keep going to prison for relatively minor infractions. Maybe they're trying to find another way.

nobody's_hero
06-20-2018, 08:15 AM
Well, that is sure to happen if they keep going to prison for relatively minor infractions. Maybe they're trying to find another way.

I think they should issue letters, with apologetic undertones. "I'm sorry, but you really must stop stealing stuff", should do the trick.

Danke
06-20-2018, 08:22 AM
I think they should issue letters, with apologetic undertones. "I'm sorry, but you really must stop stealing stuff", should do the trick.


Or pay them monthly...

spudea
06-20-2018, 08:24 AM
Imagine having $400 of property stolen from you but the criminal isn't arrested because MUH RACISM!

Anti Federalist
06-20-2018, 08:24 AM
Or pay them monthly...

We already do.

Anti Federalist
06-20-2018, 08:25 AM
Imagine having $400 of property stolen from you but the criminal isn't arrested because MUH RACISM!

The only way you had $400 is because you oppressed a person of color to get it, white devil.

Brian4Liberty
06-20-2018, 10:28 AM
San Francisco has already tried this. The result is a massive increase in crime "under the limit". Criminals even track how much they steal to make sure they stay under the limit for prosecution.

TheTexan
06-20-2018, 11:38 AM
Without rule of law, there is just anarchy.

May God have mercy on their souls.

Brian4Liberty
06-20-2018, 11:55 AM
Common Sense Crime Fix Killed by State Legislators (https://www.laadda.com/common-sense-crime-fix-killed-by-state-legislators/)


If you had any doubts that many elected state leadership in Sacramento could care less about victims and adamantly oppose even the most common sense solutions to crime, proof was again provided via SB 916 which died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

This bill was proposed by San Francisco area Senator Scott Weiner to help address the car burglary problem plaguing that city. The problem is horrendous: in 2017 there were 31,122 car burglaries reported in San Francisco, a crime rate that was at least four times higher than in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, or Sacramento.

RonPaulMall
06-20-2018, 02:17 PM
So unless you can afford a bike that retains at least a $400 plus valuation even after you start using it , people are now allowed to steal your bike at will within the city limits. Way to look out for the little guy who can't afford a car. Bike crime is a huge problem even in cities where it is against the law.

Swordsmyth
06-20-2018, 02:44 PM
At some point marshal law will be required to seize control of the cities and lock up the criminals and their enablers.

The Rebel Poet
06-20-2018, 03:47 PM
The group has focused on combating segregation and gentrification
Well, which one?

The Rebel Poet
06-20-2018, 03:51 PM
I think they should issue letters, with apologetic undertones. "I'm sorry, but you really must stop stealing stuff", should do the trick.

Dumb idea. They need "theft free zone" signs.

tod evans
06-20-2018, 04:00 PM
Fuck cities!

oyarde
06-20-2018, 04:07 PM
The problem is , yes while they do not belong in jail , they belong at work earning money to buy things ..... the avg person has no idea how really unlikely that is to happen . Avg rent in a shithole like that is 1300.00 per month You can take it to the bank they are living off someone else while they steal your shit . Ya , no thanks .

eleganz
06-20-2018, 04:44 PM
More self responsibility, more guns, more ARMED SIGNS in homes and stores.

Swordsmyth
06-20-2018, 04:50 PM
More self responsibility, more guns, more ARMED SIGNS in homes and stores.

More prosecutions of those who defend themselves and their property.

nobody's_hero
06-20-2018, 05:32 PM
Dumb idea. They need "theft free zone" signs.

Won't work. Someone might steal the sign.

donnay
06-20-2018, 07:27 PM
It's all doublespeak, Winston.

aGameOfThrones
06-20-2018, 08:53 PM
San Francisco has already tried this. The result is a massive increase in crime "under the limit". Criminals even track how much they steal to make sure they stay under the limit for prosecution.

They are just learning....http://www.globallearningcenterllc.com/ART/Math.jpg

Mach
06-21-2018, 01:00 AM
San Francisco has already tried this. The result is a massive increase in crime "under the limit". Criminals even track how much they steal to make sure they stay under the limit for prosecution.

Talk about underground funding.

All those people trying to wash your windshield at stoplights in Austin will be trading in their clothes.

Weston White
06-21-2018, 02:03 AM
I think they should issue letters, with apologetic undertones. "I'm sorry, but you really must stop stealing stuff", should do the trick.

...Or strongly painted pictures, because those always work!


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EhIfs8uOx38/T5pYbDbIUDI/AAAAAAAAAug/9iCg6qaX-1c/s1600/Dont_Steal.gif

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/shutterstock_61789372.jpg