this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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THE POLICE PROBLEM

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    The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.

    99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.

    When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.

    When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."

    When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.

    Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.

    The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.

    All this is a path to a police state.

    In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.

    Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.

    That's the solution.

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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.

♦ ♦ ♦

RULES

Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.

If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.

Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.

Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.

Please also abide by the instance rules.

It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.

♦ ♦ ♦

ALLIES

!abolition@slrpnk.net

!acab@lemmygrad.ml

r/ACAB

r/BadCopNoDonut/

Randy Balko

The Civil Rights Lawyer

The Honest Courtesan

Identity Project

MirandaWarning.org

♦ ♦ ♦

INFO

A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions

Adultification

Cops aren't supposed to be smart

Don't talk to the police.

Killings by law enforcement in Canada

Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom

Killings by law enforcement in the United States

Know your rights: Filming the police

Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)

Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.

Police lie under oath, a lot

Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak

Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street

Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States

So you wanna be a cop?

When the police knock on your door

♦ ♦ ♦

ORGANIZATIONS

Black Lives Matter

Campaign Zero

Innocence Project

The Marshall Project

Movement Law Lab

NAACP

National Police Accountability Project

Say Their Names

Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration

 

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MODERATORS
 

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    “Even after a judge required ACS to reunite Ms. Rivers with her baby, ACS continued to subject Ms. Rivers to needless court proceedings and a litany of conditions that interfered with her parenting of TW for months, while the unlawful removal of her baby was ratified by senior ACS leadership,” the complaint reads. “This was not because ACS was trying to protect TW; this was because Ms. Rivers is Black.”

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[–] Astroturfed@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Child was born with measurable levels of THC in its system. So all of you outraged folks are ok with women who smoke cigarettes, drink and cheef up while pregnant right? Smoking weed when you have a kid, whatever fine. Even if it's illegal. This kid is damaged because the mother couldn't quit smoking weed when pregnant. That's not something you should be defending.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There is a recommended maximum amount of alcohol to be consumed whole pregnant. It isn't zero. I'm sure the same should be true for almost any other substance, but as far as I'm aware the guidelines for Marijuana don't exist, though they may. I don't really know. The article does not state how much she used or if it was above or below any recommendations, or that the child had any birth defects related to Marijuana use. In fact, it seems to imply that there wasn't any complications besides legal ones.

[–] smollittlefrog 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Research on using marijuana during pregnancy is limited, but to noone's surprise, it's assumed to be harmful and recommended against.

Using drugs during pregnancy is not okay. Nice to hear this child apparently was lucky.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Again, alcohol consumption has been shown to be safe below a certain level. Yes, "drug" use can be bad if abused, but that goes for all drugs, not just what people typically call drugs which are substances we've decided to regulate for usually no good reason. Caffeine can have negative side effects, but no one is taking people's children away because they drank too much coffee.

[–] smollittlefrog 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

According to the CDC, you're wrong.

There is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant. There is also no safe time for alcohol use during pregnancy. All types of alcohol are equally harmful, including all wines and beer.

The reason caffeine is not as much of a problem is because according to the CDC it has little to no effect on a baby. The worst effect linked to very high caffeine consumption is poor sleep, which is unsurprising.

Caffeine [...] does not adversely affect the infant when the mother consumes low to moderate amounts (about 300 milligrams or less per day, which is about 2 to 3 cups of coffee). Irritability, poor sleeping patterns, fussiness, and jitteriness have been reported in infants of mothers with very high intakes of caffeine, about 10 cups of coffee or more per day.

Also according to LactMed, which is referred to by the CDC:

Studies in mothers taking 5 cups of coffee daily found no stimulation in breastfed infants 3 weeks of age and older.

We conclude: Alcohol does not have a safe level of consumption and is always bad for your child. Caffeine on the other hand is usually completely harmless and in the worst case only causes the normal effects of caffeine, not long term damage. They are not comparable.

Now, is marijuana consumption more similar to alcohol, as in it causes long term damage to the child, or is it more similar to caffeine, as in it only has small and temporary effects on the child?

According to the CDC, marijuana consumption is assumed to cause long term damage to the child.

Some research shows that using marijuana while you are pregnant can cause [...] abnormal neurological development.

[S]tudies suggest that marijuana use by persons during pregnancy could be linked to problems with attention, memory, problem-solving skills, and behavior in their children later in life.

It seems like marijuana is not just part of some "substances we've decided to regulate for usually no good reason", but actually a harmful substance with reason to be regulated.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] smollittlefrog 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

An opinion piece, published 15 years ago? Let's look at current recommendations by renown organisations:

HHS (USA: Department of Health & Human Services)

It is not safe for women to drink any type or amount of alcohol during pregnancy.

DHAC (Australia: Department of Health and Aged Care)

No safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy or while breastfeeding has been identified.

Even a small amount of alcohol can harm a baby's development and may have lifelong effects.

DHV (Germany: Deutscher Hebammenverband)

Im Gegensatz zum Koffein gibt es bei Alkohol keine Menge, die für das ungeborene Kind unbedenklich ist. Es wird sogar empfohlen, bereits bei der Planung einer Schwangerschaft auf Alkohol zu verzichten. Selbst in geringen Mengen kann Alkohol zu Fehlbildungen, Wachstumsstörungen und einer Schädigung des Gewebes inklusive der Nervenzellen führen.

Translation using DeepL:

Unlike caffeine, there is no amount of alcohol that is safe for the unborn child. It is even recommended to avoid alcohol already when planning a pregnancy. Even in small amounts, alcohol can lead to malformations, growth disorders and damage to the tissue including the nerve cells.

RCOG (UK: Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists)

Although the risk of harm to the baby is low with small amounts of alcohol before becoming aware of the pregnancy, there is no ‘safe’ level of alcohol to drink when you are pregnant.

There is no proven safe amount of alcohol a woman can drink during pregnancy.

nidirect (Northern Ireland)

Women are therefore strongly advised to not drink alcohol at all at any stage during pregnancy because there may be an increased risk of miscarriage. The current advice is to avoid alcohol completely.

CDC (USA: Center for Disease Control and Prevention

There is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy

[–] DougHolland@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Sound medical advice for pregnant women is always a good idea.

Following sound medical advice is usually a good idea, too, at least since leeches went out of fashion.

It's not the law, though.

[–] RobertOwnageJunior@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you don't have the fucking self control to stop smoking, drinking or taking any potentially harmful substances during pregnancy, you shouldn't have kids. There shouldn't even be a debate here.

[–] DougHolland@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm always happy when we can find agreement in a conversation like this, and I certainly agree that there shouldn't even be a debate — about enforcing your morality on every woman who may have smoked tobacco, imbibed alcohol, or taken any potentially harmful substance during pregnancy, by having the government seize her child/children. Enforced uniformly, most American children would be wards of the state.

[–] RobertOwnageJunior@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am not trying to say take away every child from their mother because they smoked one blunt, I am saying don't smoke a blunt. Stop being an irresponsible dumb fuck. That shit is never GOOD for your child, and if that's not your priority, maybe you should think on your own morality.

[–] DougHolland@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I am not trying to say take away every child from their mother because they smoked one blunt, I am saying don’t smoke a blunt.

Sound medical advice.

[–] DougHolland@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Oh, piffle. This kid was damaged by being taken from his mother. That’s not something you should be defending.

[–] azulavoir@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 year ago

Both of these statements are true and should be evaluated separately.

[–] kttnpunk@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

THC? so what. We all have microplastics in us and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I bet the air quality in NYC is hurting that baby vastly more than a little pot smoke.

[–] uranibaba@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

You are saying to ignore one problem because of another problem, which is stupid. The first problem still need to be fixed as well.