If you were raised, like I was, with the idea that the police exist to “serve & protect” then you might be surprised by what I’m sharing today …
But if you’ve been paying attention over the last few decades then what I’m about to talk about should really come as no surprise.
Even so, most people don’t know this critically important information.
A Dangerous Trend in America Today …
These days, believe it or not, it’s hard to not break a law.
Yes, even if you’re a “good guy” and you think you’re not breaking any laws.
We all unknowingly commit crimes, including felonies, in our day to day lives.
“There is no one in the United States over the age of 18 who cannot be indicted for some federal crime. That is not an exaggeration.” This warning is from John Baker, a retired law professor who tried in vain to count new federal crimes created in just the past few years. The same message comes from attorney Harvey Silverglate in his book Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent.
In the piece we republished before on this site:
To understand why we’re criminals requires a basic overview of how law is created and enforced.
Every law hatches a new crime with an associated punishment. A law is both an order and a threat, for if a law carries no threat of punishment, it’s not a law. It’s a suggestion. Politicians mince words by using different labels for their rules – laws, regulations, statutes, bills, acts, ordinances, et cetera – but they all fundamentally mean the same thing: Obey or be punished.
Every year American politicians create thousands of new laws. They are incorporated into volumes consisting of hundreds of thousands of pages of legalese. The laws are grouped into “codes” such as theCFR, USC, IRS Code, and codes for every state. These codes, along with the Constitution,executive orders, ratified treaties, county and city ordinances, and rulings from district courts to the Supreme Courtcomprise U.S. law as a whole.
Although the law is incomprehensible to the governed, ignorance of the law is not a defense when you’re prosecuted by the government.
Suspicion of committing even the most trivial crime subjects you to arrest at the discretion of a law enforcement officer. The Supreme Court has ruled that it’s legal to arrest people for crimes such as driving without a seatbelt orhaving unpaid parking tickets. Arrest can result in imprisonment for months or yearswithout ever being convicted of a crime.
In America the punishments for not obeying politicians’ rules may include monetary fines, property confiscation, imprisonment (including de factorape and torture), and execution.
The application of these punishments is wildly inconsistent and often horrifically arbitrary. The minimum sentence for first degree murder in Illinois is 20 years, but in Indiana it’s 45 years. Compare 20 years for murder with 15 years for having sex on a beach. Or a 5 years for stabbing a man to death. Or a 5 days (yes, days) for raping a 14-year old girl. Victimless crimes often carry far harsher sentences than raping and killing people, such as 25 years for selling painkillers to a friend.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that it’s legal for prosecutors to threaten you with catastrophic punishment – even life imprisonment – for a minor crime if you don’t forfeit your right to a jury trial. (In the landmark caseprosecutors secured a life sentence for forging an $88 check because the defendant refused a plea bargain.)
Because prosecutors wield such enormous power, almost everyone takes a plea bargain. Getting your day in court is a myth perpetuated in TV shows and movies. Innocent people often agree to plead guilty and suffer the punishment rather than risk having their lives destroyed. The system isrigged against you, and your chance of conviction at trial is around 90%.
Consider this …
Study: 49% of Black Men, 38% of White Men Arrested By Age 23
According to a recent study in the journal Crime & Delinquency, almost half of black males and nearly 40 percent of white males in the U.S. are arrested by the age of 23.
This data excludes arrests for minor traffic violations by the way.
That’s, quite frankly, nuts.
And what’s really crazy is that there are 2.3 million Americans in prison or jail.
In fact, the U.S. has only 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of its prisoners.
Really think about that: close to 50% of black men and 40% of white men–which would leave one to believe that this is problem throughout the USA not just of one race or socioeconomic group.
Incarceration Rates Continued To Climb As Crime Fell
The crime rate grew from the 1970s until the early 1990s, but after that it plunged. Incarceration rates increased steadily from the 1970s, but after the crime rate began to fall, it continued to climb unabated.
Here’s a nifty chart to see it visually:
I say all this to lead to my main point:
Never Talk To The Police
This video is a MUST watch for Americans today. It’s gone viral with over 6.1 million views on this version you’re about to see below.
Mr. James Duane, a professor at Regent Law School and a former defense attorney, tells you why you should never agree to be interviewed by the police.
The Police Will Not Protect Your Rights, You Have To Know Them, To Protect Them Yourself
In closing, please remember that you do have rights in America but that the police are under no obligation to protect those rights.
And they most likely won’t.
You have to know your rights and you have to be firm (but polite!) in protecting and exercising them.
What did you think of that video? Did you know that you should never talk to police? Did it help you?