By Michael Swickard, Ph.D. - In a free society the ultimate loss for a citizen is their personal freedom when arrested. Lately some people I know have been arrested for what seems administrative rather than criminal offenses. I do not run with a rough crowd of thugs, thieves and bully-boys. We are mostly pillars of the community.To be sure, criminals should be arrested and incarcerated. But should regular citizens who run afoul of an administrative rule be treated as criminals? There is a difference between criminal activity (robbery, rape and murder) and administrative violations (yard weeds or dogs in someone’s garden.) Tickets for no insurance, seat belt use and parking are administrative in nature as opposed to extreme speed and reckless driving.In the gray area are tickets for a few miles over the speed limit or no turn signal. These are intended to provide revenue rather than extinguish behavior. Should failure to pay parking tickets ever get a citizen handcuffed and perp-walked into the jail? Where is the dividing line?
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Swickard: Arresting the arresting tendencies of authorities
By Michael Swickard, Ph.D. - In a free society the ultimate loss for a citizen is their personal freedom when arrested. Lately some people I know have been arrested for what seems administrative rather than criminal offenses. I do not run with a rough crowd of thugs, thieves and bully-boys. We are mostly pillars of the community.To be sure, criminals should be arrested and incarcerated. But should regular citizens who run afoul of an administrative rule be treated as criminals? There is a difference between criminal activity (robbery, rape and murder) and administrative violations (yard weeds or dogs in someone’s garden.) Tickets for no insurance, seat belt use and parking are administrative in nature as opposed to extreme speed and reckless driving.In the gray area are tickets for a few miles over the speed limit or no turn signal. These are intended to provide revenue rather than extinguish behavior. Should failure to pay parking tickets ever get a citizen handcuffed and perp-walked into the jail? Where is the dividing line? Read more
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