Exactly! If you're in the government, you can violate our core governing law and receive zero retribution. If you have nothing to lose, the only thing that restrains you is your better angels.
"The First Amendment is not a game setting for the government to toggle off and on, It applies in times of tranquility and times of strife.” Greatest statement ever by a judge. There still should be some consequences for the school superintendant who started all this by telling the Sheriff to get the post taken down.
There was a great quote I heard from an auditor. I don't quite remember it correctly, but it was something like "the best acknowledgement of rights, is the ability to use them". Very similar to what the judge said.
I can all but guarantee that this family is now in the cross hairs of the Sheriffs Department. Law Enforcement is not known for losing anything gracefully.
@MuzzaHukka pretty much if you get on the bad side of local law enforcement the only way out of it is to either make them like you somehow or go elsewhere personal prejudice isnt supposed to be a factor in law enforcement but the officers are human and it very much can be they do target people they dont like more than those they do
@@MuzzaHukka potentially. But it also depends. If it's a county right next to that one, there's a good chance that that Sheriff knows the other one pretty well. So just moving to a new county might not be enough. You need to move to a new county where that Sheriff doesn't know that one.
The police believe they can hide behind qualified immunity and their is no accountability. It emboldens their behaviour to the point they don't care their transgressions are recorded for all to see.
Now that this is over, I honestly think the girl's family should go after the school principal for slander and libel because they said she was lying and only seeking attention. So they literally called her a liar and an attention seeker in a letter sent out to the entire School District! And I hope once you bring suit against the school, she will win at that juncture as well.
If I had been her father, I would have simply told my daughter, "Under no circumstances are you to take that post down. Let him take me to jail, I'll get your college paid for by him and the sheriff."
while nice on paper (or web comments) the reality is I can't afford the arrest and subsequent possible loss of my employment, and I'm sure many are in the same boat.
I would also be questioning and addressing why someone from the school was looking through her Instagram posts, then going around telling other students and parents that what was posted was false, meaning there was no one with Covid and not dealing with it appropriately. All the while contacting the Sheriff about it, it's just mind boggling to me.
They look through the students posts in case of shooters who sometimes have big mouths of course teens always have big mouths whether they actually want to hurt someone or not
@@TheresaHall-vl1bm that's still creepy. 44yr old Mr Jones gym coach sifting through 14yr old Alexa's Instagram pictures. I figure that's the parent's job. I wonder how many pdf files are in schools. Can the kids not set it to private/friends only anyway? Or, I guess that defeats the purpose of attention seeking behavior.
@@MattH-wg7ou schools do it like crazy since the shootings started. I find it inappropriate that a child can't even say something they don't mean without paying for it. During covid when they were doing online school some kids got suspended because they gasp own fake guns at home and gasp dared to touch them
@@TheresaHall-vl1bm theyll do everything BUT look into the real connections with all these events...SSRIs and other antidepressants. Something like 96 percent of these perps are on them. Could be a selection bias, theybare depressed after all...or it could be... But we should at least be taking an honest scientific look into it to estabish causality or even proper, controlled-for correlation if nothing else.
terrorism tĕr′ə-rĭz″əm noun The use of violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals. Time to hold gov't agents accountable for their TERRORISM.
@@billmullins6833 only as narrow as necessary. Essentially: if the government does it, it's "policing," if white people do it it's a "lone wolf" unless it involves explosives or anthrax, and if anyone else does it it's "terrorism." It's also "terrorism" if anyone with dark skin has a peaceful protest, but that's a different issue.
Actual consequences for the public employee? No? Nothing gained. They’ll just do it again. That’s how the tyranny is perpetrated. They pay off the complainant with their own tax money, and business proceeds as usual.
Not quite. The win goes down as a huge embarrassment for the Sheriff and his office. The Sheriff is a politician and will need to explain himself next election. Also, the office is now on notice that there could be a large settlement if any of them violate someone's First Amendment rights. Also, there would be no qualified immunity for the individual officers.
If you do something they say is wrong, there's money involved always. The lawyer lied in court to win a case, he should, either out of his pocket, have to pay damages or be dismissed. They are supposed to be above reproach. And, the whole thing was silly. For he police to come out to her house over a social media post is the beginning of facism if not already ongoing from the way police officers love to exert their authority for almost any reason. And, as a sidenote. Fire all female cops.
@@BlankBrain These "defund the police" gain ground because the police's natural allies are alienated by their disregard for Constitutional rights, civil liberties, lack of moral integrity and lack of common decency.😱
@@BlankBrain police can lie if they are say undercover, in a sense that if you ask them directly are you a cop, they can say no and it's okay. Playing big brother and getting in people's personal business that's not okay, lying to the public about official duties or actions not okay. That's just plain wrong. But they have badges and guns and each other so it's all good with them. After all cops see it as us against them being the public. Give someone a hammer everything starts looking like a nail.
He and all law enforcement, already have the legal right to lie while conducting an investigation, whether in public or private. The term for this legality is Subterfuge. chatting to you on the street is technically "an investigation." We all love when they lie to a kidnapper or associates to find the missing and endangered child. Hate it when it is at our front door or car door for something that is completely legal.
No doubt. This isn't the ONLY incident of small town Admins sending the Police to a Citizen's home threatening arrest over posting thoughts on Social Media ...
@@SonsOfLorgar authoritarianism is not partisan, both left and right want to control speech they don't like, for example, allowing BLM protests but shutting down all other protests. They also want to control your body, for example, vaccine mandates and abortion bans. Educate yourself.
The sheriff's attorney said her posts “caused distress and panic within the school system and law enforcement acted at the request of school health officials in a good faith effort to avoid unfounded panic.” What utter BS.
If I remember correctly, the school official that complained is now a middle school principal. Whatever the current position is, it's disturbing that this individual is still in a supervisory position around children.
@@IrishFast ... and that's an overreaction on your part. Hopefully everyone learned something from this. You don't learn when the moment you cross the line your head gets cut off.
@@jwo7777777 someone with a history of overreacting and a lack of understanding of American constitutional rights has no business being anywhere near the education Field
When a uniformed officer shows up to your property he is there under color of law and any comment he makes, like "Start taking people to jail" is a threat of arrest. Any rational thinking person would perceive it as such.
Lawyers and cops are an industrial machine. That only feeds on pain and suffering of the people that they are supposed to serve. Laws are as they see fit to keep the machine going. Every thing a cops or a lawyer does, they get paid. The victims do not, only pay. Most times they pay with jail time. Keeping the industry of pain and suffering going. Only country in the free world. That will build more prisons that public housing to help the poor.
What I find even more troubling is that the sheriff's department is more interested in policing social media and arresting someone for saying they have COVID when they might not rather than focusing on real law enforcement where you arrest actual criminals and such.
I often think back to my days as a young law enforcement officer in the 80s. The world is now a different place indeed. I could have never imagine the legal issues we are dealing with in relation to a digital world! By the way, what are today cops being taught during the Constitutional law block at the academy? Thanks for the video!
@@shirleyrichard-qv9lwthe 10 amendments which the bill of rights consists of is all the cops need to learn, and could be learned in less than 6 hours.
@@bruceboyer8187 Thing he means from the sheriff's own pocket not tax payer money. Personally I say that's the issue, they take a bad action, then defend that bad action with tax payer dollars and then even if they are forced to pay, they pay with tax payer dollars. They never learn the harsh lesson of having to take that money hit when they do wrong. Not our police, not our schools (teachers might have to, but never the school admins), not our judges. They won't learn because they are never personally held responsible.
How about a federal investigation for civil rights violations. Looks like a Sheriff and a deputy need to do prison time. And the lying sheriff's attorney lose his license. Serve time with the Sheriff.
@@willweng305 They lie all the time, it's just almost impossible to catch them unless you video record it. Even then it hardly gets them disbarred, let alone criminal prosecution...
The Health Department, the School Principal and Superintendent of Schools should be liable also because they all conspired with the Sherriff's office to intimidate to remove post. No one from the school contacted the student or parents to resolve the situation but conspired with the Health Department and Sherriff.
Oh no, a conspiracy theory...oh, wait, it isn't a theory it is an actual conspiracy! How about that, the school and the health folks conspiring with the LEO's to show they have the power!
I agree the sheriff should be voted out, but I don't think they we're acting in bad faith or maliciously here. Law enforcement aren't lawyers or judges. And asking a officer to go through the same level of education as one plus everything they need to learn is unrealistic. This should be a lessons learned by the department and if the deputy involved has repeated similar cases then that's a problem, but it's unrealistic to expect anyone to be perfect at their job even police. It is expected that they learn and are competent enough not to be abusive.
@@Osseric "Stop saying what you're saying or we'll arrest you" doesn't require a deep legal understanding to identify the problem with it. If a officer doesn't realize that had first amendment issues, then we have a problem on the basic IQ level.
@@Osseric Disagree in this case. This was such a clear violation of constitutional rights, and being completely not about anything in any way illegal, so obviously beyond the duties of police, there is no ignorance excuse I would find credible. This was a police department that dispatched an officer to order private citizens to take down a social media post that was in no way a threat of violence, under penalty of being taken to jail if they don't. We expect soldiers to not follow unconstitutional orders, and be subject to prosecution if they are "just following orders" and crimes are committed. I think expecting the same of police is a pretty low bar to hold them to.
There are really really bad cops that actually do get away with murder that are on the Force still. I'd like to see these people go to. I'd also like to see some bad Doctors retire too.
@@Osseric It isn't a matter of being perfect. The Sheriff is responsible for upholding the law. That means they need to be knowledgeable of what the Constitution and law allows. Yes, they may make mistakes and that is why they have qualified immunity. If that mistake is blatant then there may not be that immunity. As for punishing the officer, this is not a question of abuse. He was ordered by the Sheriff to do something and he followed his orders. That doesn't make his actions legal but that would probably give him personal immunity. It isn't that I agree, but that is in considering previous cases.
Your annoyance at the police attorney denying there had been an arrest threat shows you are a good man Steve Lehto and a very good lawyer as well. I hope you get clients who appreciate your moral belief in the laws that you work under. Kudos to you Mr Lehto and stay safe. The world needs more people like you. 👍👍👍👍
@@mulengroak4687 in Germany police trainees get educated together with Students of law that will become lawyers. same Uni, same course, same Professor, same test. two thirds don't make it through the law course.
Believe it or not even the conservative republican church going lawyers I know....they aren't ACAB but they are "an alarmingly amount of officers are worse than gang members and the "good" officers fall in line with them 99.9% of the time when it matters" the two lawyers I'm talking about only worked in the state attorney's Crimes against children division. That always made me wonder. I never felt like opening that Pandora's box in conversation. I'm going to a party with one of them next weekend. I'm going to try to get her friend who's a public defender tell me her stories. Shes on the same page with them about cops but center in political beliefs.
Why no name of the attorney who lied? As an American I need to know the names of cops, attorneys, and especially the judges! Without that the whole equality level playing field doctrines are dangerous lies, and there is no reason to trust or respect the judicial system in its entirety! Are we free to believe that the whole damn system is a lie, or will I be arrested for thinking what all the evidence points to? Let’s look at what the “justice” department is doing to Assange in my name! They can pound sand! I can not honor a thing without honor. And I don’t. JWC
One of the problems with law enforcement today is they don't realize that unless a citizen is clearly in violation of the law....we are in charge....not them. Many police officers think that citizens need to do as they say.... because THEY say so.
"Nominal damages" doesn't include the cost of her $1,000-per-hour attorney?! The hell it doesn't!! I'd demand that they pay all my attorney's fees, that's for damn sure!!
That's not a realistic introduction to adulthood. A real introduction would be losing, over and over and over. That's how life really is, the good guy hardly ever wins.
The school did nothing wrong. Legally. Anyone may make a complaint to the police. That doesn't mean the police will go and arrest someone, but it is a right. Only if the report was false or harassment would you have any recourse.
@@alanmcentee9457 ok...but if I'm remembering this correctly, it was the Teachers& Admins of her Highschool who first got upset by Her posts... I believe they even suspended her (academically and from sports program) for not taking down her Social Media comments. Then the Principal & Superintendent got involved...who ultimately called their friends at the Police Department to use "force" to shut up this teenager , yeah? Ironically, G. Orwell's 1984, is still required reading@ this highschool 🤫🦉
@@HappyHoboRecovery the girl had a few more years of school. Bringing a lawsuit against the school would have been awkward in that how many school options would she have instead of the public school?
@@donnavandezande3905 I get it. I have kids in highschool too. But at some point I need to teach / show/ support challenging Authority in a respectful manner... How to stand up for yourself, loved ones and neighbors. What I won't do is teach passive aggressive or submissive behavior in Our household, as both run counter to foundemental values my wife and I believe in. And at the risk of being called a Daren/Karen... standing up to people who think they have Authority over expressing Ourselves.
I'm impressed by the citizens that pursued this particular civil suit - nobly willing to commit their time and resources in the hope of protecting their constitutional rights, and that's all. And they got a clear judgment in their favour. Sadly, this successful suit does nothing to advance citizens' protection against abuse of their rights. Had there been punitive damages attached to this ruling, it would be a deterrent against future similar actions by the Sheriff, his employers and/or his fellow law enforcement officers.
I'm disappointed that the family wasn't awarded at least some money for their efforts and whatever the Attorney's costs were (even/especially if they were defended by the ACLU).
That attorney needs to have a complaint filed for knowingly (or ought to have known) that their statement was clearly incorrect. The Sheriff and deputy should not only be charged with abuse of power but aren't they sworn to uphold the constitution? if so, they have breached their oath to do it. If the school asked the sheriff to get it down, wouldn't that also now be a conspiracy?
The crime committed was a violation of a federal statute 18 usc 241 Conspiracy to Deprive Rights or 18 usc 242 Deprivation Of Rights Under Color Of Law.
I heard recently from someone on RU-vid that western governments hate freedom / liberty; and, quite honestly, with how I've seen things been going down the past 20 years, and with these kinds of cases in the Courts, I am leaning toward the statement holding truth. Thank you for sharing this story with us all
So well said, ah yes, the American way. Make up laws that suit me not the laws that I am sworn to uphold, never to serve and protect. Use and abuse lie, expect privilege,come on brother cop you caught me driving drunk,but I'm only a mile from home... okay go ahead go home...
As a retired police chief I am incensed that a Sheriff would have done this to this young lady and her family. Disorderly conduct? The act of threatening thus family was disorderly and I hope the Sheriff’s office is held financially responsible.
Held financially responsible by whom? Who is there to hold sheriffs accountable? Sheriffs have an enormous amount of power and substantial political influence, but answer to no one on the day to day. There is no real oversight for sheriffs in this country.
Many people that had it, tested negative while sick and then tested positive for antibodies afterwards. The truly scary part of this is that the Sherriff, who I feel confident has zero medical expertise, believed he had the right to silence someone that potentially posed a severe, emergency health concern for the residents of that area. The Sherriff and all deputies that upheld these gestapo directives should all be fired. They are all too dangerously mentally incompetent to wear a uniform and carry a weapon.
"We don't use the money we steal. We give it to the Feds who separately give us money." oh, wait, that's what they actually say in Equitable Sharing Cases. Makes me wonder why I can't say, "No, I don't owe taxes because I don't earn money. I work for free and my boss separately gives me money."
My issue here was that the police lied,bullied, harassed,and even threatened with arrest this family to comply. This is why more citizens are videotaping police interactions and have dash cams installed in their vehicles.
Pretty much every "guilty" verdict against the police for violating 1A, is also proof they violated their oath to uphold and protect the constitution. What, if anything is the prescribed penalty for violation of that oath. I would think at the very least a termination of employment, since "lying on your resume" is a valid cause for dismissal in pretty much any employment scenario.
It's got to be proven to be intentional though. Not sure if you can blame the deputy for following the Sheriff's orders, though arguably he shouldn't be following "Unlawful Orders" which this clearly is... Either way, they need to do some retraining! 😅
So, to be clear, he was calling out the lawyer publicly said no one was threatened with arrest while stipulating court the facts (which included a threat of arrest was made) was true? I might have missed that point. lol. I would hate to see this lawyer being the only one being punished for this Schrodenger's arrest threat.
Yes absolutely sue the individual involved police or lawyer on a personal level, forcing them into bankruptcy so they can have their friends in blue start a GoFundMe page for their brother in blue. Maybe if we start bankrupting individuals for egregious behavior that goes against what they're sworn to uphold will things then start to change
The cops and the lawyer should have been made to state what they did. Then explain why its wrong. Lastly make a public apology. This also should be on all major news media for a week.
I love how it’s unlikely that attorneys are allowed to make false statements, but it is allowed and encouraged for police to make false statements. Rules for thee but not for me woohoo!
With such a clear violation of The Constitution the law enforcement officers involved should be fired outright & barred from returning to any LEO related job. Disgusting behavior & a gross violation of the trust invested by the public in law enforcement officer's everywhere.
When they denied anyone was threatened with arrest, it was semantics: *technically* the Sheriff could have been threatening kidnapping and false imprisonment with no arresting involved. When they admitted to threatening with arrest, it's because they realized that if they voiced the semantic alternative, that would be much worse than just admitting to the real meaning of the words. Ridiculous? Yes. The whole case is ridiculous. I'm glad the girl and her family won.
So the girl's family is presumably out attorney's fees, not to mention their own time, and yet there is no real penalty for the Sheriff? How is this justice?
Should have at least sued for legal fees. Police was using intimidation and even if arrested would be an inconvenience to the family...to send a message over a random post.
For that matter, I dimly recall some recent cases where lawyers told the public they had this long list of evidence, and then turned around and told the courts pretty much "we don't got nuthin'". Anyone else remember that?
Man wtf. When i heard he said the police wanted her to take down some post I assumed it was something really edgy and was directly provoking the local authorities but no, they were just basic blog posts. The police interjected themselves in a matter that had literally nothing with them. I’m glad she won.
Perhaps the PD could give up their right to Civil Asset Forfeiture. Either that or place the offending officer and sheriff in a set of public stocks for a day at the seat of county government.
ffs, steve spent 20 minutes complaining about this one point 10 times, presumably attorneys have a freedom of speech as well. Is steve supposing that "the state bar" should be holding their conduct/ speech outside of court to a standard ? If only we had an attorney around here to consider this question. B-)
Oh yeah I watched that video where the police made her delete that I was so damn mad I'm glad to hear this update and she won I might not know nothing about law but I can see when something's right and when something's wrong
@@jaysandt8491 I agree ethically, but how can they pay if they're in jail? There should be an easy path to garnishment in these situations. If they don't have an income, it should also be made easy to get a lien on any assets they have. I don't know what happens if they declare bankruptcy.
The school was wrong as well. It was the school that contacted the sherriff office demanding they take action against her. The schools often misuse law enforcement.
Here in California, the criminals will never be all gone, because the government keeps releasing them on various pretexts such as overcrowded jails or the pandemic. I never realized that one of the reasons may be to keep the police departments fully employed.
@@exrobowidow1617 maybe you are sure they are all guilty i am not traffic violations and jaywalking should not be jailble offences but they are now and it is getting worse go ahead and offend an police officer and see how long you spend in prison they lie and the court knows it and they tell them it fine
@@darleneclarke4001 your statement is proven fact. Absolutely the police lie and then purposely cover it up until oh my, I was actually caught on video surveillance that I was not aware of. Oh well, time to change zip codes and work for a different law enforcement agency.
“Greater good of the community” is an arbitrary standard based on interpretation and perception. That a school superintendent can call a sheriff and have them threaten someone outside of actual laws should scare the hell out of people and get this sheriff out of office, superintendent fired, and both jail. People that think this way have no business in our society. Also the good Sgt needs to be out of a job. Clearly he will follow orders to the bitter end of whatever human rights violation he’s ordered to do.
@@mikegreene8461 And quite often by otherwise articulate people. I don't get it. My second biggest annoyance is the new thing where people don't insert the "to be". "NEEDS REPLACED" "NEEDS RESTORED" "NEEDS DETAILED" Also from otherwise really smart people. Watch JR go does it all the time. And he has a very strong command of the English language.
I would've absolutely refused to let my daughter take the post down. That said, I'm a licensed attorney with plenty of vacation time I can take (and I'm kind of a jerk). I can totally understand someone else not wanting to take the ride.
Attorney made a false statement? Didn't you say on another video an attorney cannot lie for who they are representing? Attorney should be investigated and possibly disbarred for this. Sherriff and deputy fired and not allowed to be in law enforcement forever anywhere.
@@neilkurzman4907 actually yes you can, but ridiculous asking will probably not be approved and too much BS will probably just piss the judge off. But you can reasonably ask for lost time which is basically what it cost you in work hours missed which is calculated, court fees, lawyers fees, and emotional damages
@@neilkurzman4907 You misunderstood what I said. You can say you want these as a result, but it doesn't mean that they have to give you what you want. The judge will look at what you requested for and decide what you deserve from what you requested usually. Which is why requesting ridiculous things should not be considered because you just may effect the judge to see you in a bad light. And yes you are right it's best to do it within what legitimate for the case which is what lawyers should recommend. But they can literally ask for anything it won't be granted and a lot of times it could cause the case to be dismissed as a waste of the courts time.
@@neilkurzman4907 Understood. Funny enough the fact this case didn't really ask for much probably is a factor in making the judge decide that they won. Few people realize that even what they are asking for in damages is taken into account. And yes the OP probably is as you suggested.
