"Don't Talk To Police" Lectures

The following lectures are by a law professor, former criminal defense attorney James Duane and by police officer and law student George Bruch:





These lectures are about two years old. I have been meaning to post them for quite some time.

Bear in mind that the United States Supreme Court recently held that you must speak up to assert your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Berghuis v. Thomkins. No kidding.

Brady Campaign's Ideal America

In Great Britain, two burglar's broke into Simon Thomas's Sussex pub. Mr. Thomas grabbed his shotgun and stopped the burglars, intending to detain them until the police arrived. Mr. Thomas called the police. The Police told Mr. Thomas to put down his gun.

Of course, the burglars, previously frighted, were delighted. They unloaded the stolen bicycles from their truck and left. The police arrived 50 minutes later.

From the Mail Online. That is the world the Brady Campaign wants for you.

U.S. Gov't: We Don't Need No Stinking Recycling Through Garage Sales

Fox News is now reporting on a story I told you about on August 21, 2009 "Have a Yard Sale, Go to Federal Prison":

Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign.

The "Resale Round-up," launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children's products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don't meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason.

The strict standards were set in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act after a series of high-profile recalls of Chinese-made toys.

So much for recycling through selling your old stuff, so someone new could use it. You didn't need the money anyway.

Have a Yard Sale, Go to Federal Prison

The intrusiveness of federal laws is getting ridiculous. How are yard sales interstate commerce, anyway?

WASHINGTON — If you're planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you'd best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products.

The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that's been recalled by its manufacturer.

Read it all.

Statism is Here

Statism: The belief, almost always unjustified, that no matter what the problem, government can solve it better than private citizens. It is not merely about mandating universally poor health care. It is about protecting our homes and families. Gun control is a typical example. It is the unjustified belief that police, who have no legal duty to protect the individual from crazed nutcases who want to kill, will nevertheless be there and will protect you.

The latest outrage is from a town in California that prohibits private citizens, on pain of criminal prosecution, from fighting fires to protect their homes. No. The volunteer fire department is the only permitted firefighting agency. Leave your own hose at home. Doug Bandow reports here. Here, neighbors were threatened with criminal prosecution for buying a fire truck and organizing neighbor volunteers, some of who are professional firefighters.

My original intent in starting this blog was to focus on stupid government tricks. This report certainly qualifies.