Why Is North Dakota Arresting Journalists For Doing Journalism?
from the this-won't-end-well dept
Two years ago, we wrote about the ridiculousness of police arresting reporters for reporting in Ferguson, Missouri, even though courts had told police to knock it off. Even more ridiculous is that those reporters were eventually charged, leading to a ridiculous settlement earlier this year.And yet... arresting journalists for doing journalism continues to be a thing. As you probably know, there have been a bunch of protests in North Dakota lately concerning the Dakota Access Pipeline. Back in September, after covering the protests and having some of her videos of an attack on the protestors go viral, famed Democracy Now reporter Amy Goodman found out an arrest warrant had been issued for her. It's pretty clear that this arrest warrant was solely because of the coverage reflecting poorly on officials.
On Thursday, Goodman said that she'll surrender to authorities next week. As Democracy Now points out, the criminal complaint against her is so transparently unconstitutional and so transparently about intimidating reporters, that it actually notes that "Amy Goodman can be seen on the video identifying herself and interviewing protesters about their involvement in the protest." Right. That's called journalism. Goodman was basically arrested for doing journalism that the powers-that-be dislike.
Organizations that fight for free speech for journalists are condemning all of this. The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that this is "a transparent attempt to intimidate reporters from covering protests of significant public interest" while the Freedom of the Press Foundation is demanding that North Dakota drop the charges.
And they may want to seriously consider dropping the charges and walking away. After all, Goodman was also arrested for covering protests back in 2008, and that eventually ended with the police and local governments having to pay her $100,000 for violating her civil rights.
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Filed Under: amy goodman, arrest, first amendment, journalism, north dakota, pipeline, trespassing
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And what law was that, exactly?
You seem quite convinced, certainly you know what the offense was - right?
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Oct 14th, 2016 @ 10:55am
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This will continue
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Re: This will continue
as she should, considering it's a second offense. ;-)
-B
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Re: Re: This will continue
http://www.legis.nd.gov/cencode/t12-1c22.pdf#nameddest=12p1-22-03. (PDF)
Unless we can find out how the complaint originated, I can't answer that yet.
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Now the charge is "riot". https://www.thenation.com/article/amy-goodman-is-facing-prison-for-reporting-on-the-dakota-access-pi peline-that-should-scare-us-all/
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Re: This will continue
If every time I got caught speeding I would get a ticket saying someone else had to pay the fine, I would drive 100 mph everywhere I go.
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Re: Re: This will continue
So? With average or higher intelligence you are not eligible as a patrol officer, and they get trained by good ole boys. And then you want to dock their pay for doing what they don't know better?
I do think that the approach of letting the tax payer pay is not the worst one. But the local tax payers, and send them itemized bills. And maybe they will then fscking stop electing politicians into office who promise the most stupid law&order campaigns. Oh, and if a local tax payer has to default on his police payments, forward the bills to the city officials.
Because it is hard to blame morons for doing what they are taught to do. You have to hit someone in the pocket, hard, who actually is accountable for the structures leading to the systematic misuse of police as a local terror cell.
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Re: Re: Re: This will continue
That reminds me of the old - and lame, let's not forget lame - joke about the man who complained to his doctor that his arm hurt when he moved it a certain way. The doctor's advice was basically, "so don't do that".
Well, maybe the police supervisors need to follow that advice when selecting new uniformed personnel, and we the voters need to do much the same thing with our elected officials.
Problem is, we generally don't elect judges. There are states where that does happen, and I'm ambivalent about whether it's a good thing or not. Same thing for prosecutors. I suspect some are elected, some appointed; never bothered to look that up. So, how to get rid of the judge who signed the warrant if (s)he wasn't elected. Or the appointed prosecutor who made application for the warrant to begin with? We can maybe toss the politico who appointed the judge, but that doesn't remove the judge.
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Re: This will continue
Arrest warrants are not issued by the police, they have to be approved by a judge and are usually requested by a prosecutor. This sounds more like local politicians going after her than the police.
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Re: This will continue
And in North Dakota, officials, that are supposed to represent the people are actually claiming 'overtime' dealing with this arrest warrant situation.
A few prominent government bodies are claiming this overtime at a varying amount from 3 to 6x normal hourly salary rates.
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Re: This will continue
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meh...
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amy goodman is just a partisan hack. like an coulter.
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You don't have to like a person to support their First Amendment rights. If the First Amendment only applied to people we like, there'd be no need for a First Amendment at all.
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Which is... what?
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I knew about the protests because I know one of the men who is protesting. Certainly not everyone knows someone. We rely on the media to tell us what is going on in the nation. When the mainstream media fails, we rely on Amy Goodman, and she never fails.
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Point is that First Amendment protects speech, period, full stop. There is no "unless your speaking to further your own ends". Your motives have NOTHING to do with the protection offered. Your allowed to say anything you want for any reason you want, so long as you are doing something in the very narrow list of exceptions. (Those being defamation and yelling fire etc.)
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Three Generations of a Hackneyed Apologia for Censorship Are Enough
Basically, "you can't yell 'fire' in a crowded theater" was an analogy used by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. to uphold Charles Schenck's conviction under the Espionage Act. Schenck's crime was criticizing the draft during World War I.
Subsequent courts have disagreed pretty strongly with this interpretation, and what Shenck was convicted for would certainly be considered protected speech today.
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And the fact that so many people believe it is a testament to the power of propaganda to make people believe in things that aren't true.
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The problem isn't in the example itself, it's in how it's used, and how it's been used since the very beginning. Just because yelling "fire" in a crowded theater is unprotected speech doesn't mean that protesting the draft is unprotected speech. All it means is that (1) some speech is unprotected, and (2) specifically, speech that is intentionally designed to cause immediate physical harm is unprotected.
And the latter is a very narrow category.
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maybe thats the problem
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Okay then. Let me rephrase:
You don't have to like a person's ends to support their First Amendment rights. If the First Amendment only applied to ends we like, there'd be no need for a First Amendment at all.
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This, 1000 times over.
Why is it so difficult for people to get this simple point?
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They think it only applies by their definitions. "You are wrong because I know I am right"
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Because they simply don't *want* to.
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Do reporters have a right to trespass?
Whether or not you support the protesters cause or the government's action, there seems to be a valid claim that reporters don't necessarily get to trespass when they want to cover a story. Yeah, maybe the government is more eager to prosecute if they would like to shut the reporter up, but isn't risk of criminal trespass something a reporter covering a protest might expect? Doesn't seem black and white to me.
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I don't see no banana
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I just...that's......WHAT???
How can you not be able to figure out something so basic?!
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Typo in title
Journailsm vs Journalism.
My fingers type chords all the time, (I "paly" the piano) and my dyslexia does the rest.
:)
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Re: Typo in title
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FOLLOW THE BLACK MONEY
.
Please!... no emails!
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I live near this
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Re: I live near this
i bet this is one of them gummint disinfo botz...
they can have one quisling control hundreds of sockpuppet propaganda accounts...
pretty neat, huh, gang ? ? ?
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Re: I live near this
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Reply to: I live near this
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i may have a solution to a LOT of politician problems....
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Re: i may have a solution to a LOT of politician problems....
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Further!... the W-H-O-L-E O-F E-D-U-C-A-T-I-O-N should be brought within the framework of the MEDICAL MODEL (i.e., a MACRO and MICRO/ LOCAL Public Health Model, and a MACRO and MICRO/ LOCAL Environmental Health Model!)! And inasmuch, as there is NO GREATER FIELD through which A-L-L O-T-H-E-R F-I-E-L-D-S on planet earth can, and should be vetted, than Health!
.
Lastly, in order to "kickstart" the necessary revamping of our pedagogies, would be to MANDATE that Faculties of Education Certify teachers in four essential prequalifications: Applied and Theoretical Teaching (what the teacher is all about!... and regardless of what subjects are being taught!), and Applied and Theoretical Learning (what the student is all about!... and regardless of what subjects students are learning!)! In MANDATING these FOUR PILLARS through our Faculties of Educations, teachers would be equipped with the BARE ESSENTIALS necessary, to facilitate proper teaching, and learning! But, beyond this, MANDATING the Behavioral Sciences through our Faculties of Education, would then bring teachers' skill sets far beyond mere teaching and learning!... and into to the realm of "Behavioral Health"! And once our Pedagogies begin to entertain Behavioral Health, it's then a "stone's throw away" to a C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E-L-Y H-E-A-L-T-H I-N-T-E-G-R-A-T-E-D E-D-U-C-A-T-I-O-N-A-L M-O-D-E-L!... and therewith, dumping the "legacy" of our F-A-I-L-E-D "Educational Systems"!
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To sum up... and to be frank!... NO advanced civilization anywhere within our universe, would base their educational systems... and society!... on anything less, than a T-O-T-A-L C-O-M-M-I-T-M-E-N-T T-O A-N I-N-T-E-G-R-A-T-E-D H-E-A-L-T-H M-O-D-E-L! And thereby, leaving only TWO CLASSES of citizens:... those in need of "healing", and those able to heal! And!... NO MATTER WHAT OTHER "OCCUPATION" A CITIZEN MAY POSSESS... W-H-A-T-S-O-E-V-E-R!... H-E-A-L-T-H WOULD BE AT THE CENTER OF IT, OR, IT WOULD BE ELIMINATED FROM SOCIETY (which should bring to mind the ages old quote: "You're either part of the problem, or you're part of the solution"!... and... a quote attributed to Christ: "Let your communication be yea, or nay!...")
.
Please!... no emails!
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P.S.: for an overview of how a revamped Pedagogy would look, secure an "interlibrary loan" of the work, The Death of Psychiatry, by Dr. Edwin Fuller Torrey! And on an overview of a GLOBAL HEALTH RESTRUCTURING of our many "social infrastructural components", I would suggest an online review of our global health care bodies (such as the World Health Organization, and the World Health Assembly!... and etc.!), and organizations which are pursuing "complex systems research (e.g., the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis!... and etc.!... and see also, the Yearbook of International Organizations, from the Union of International Associations!)"!
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The law is clear and until the punishments really hurt they will continue. Those involved in signing off on this case would be hard pressed to explain giving away 1,000,000 of public funds. Imagine the next time when its 10,000,000. We need to hold our leaders responsible & stop allowing them to hide behind a shield when they ignore the law & should be punished.
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Compensation
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Re: Compensation
So what do you do if the remedy available in court is inadequate? I know what the founders of the United States did.
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Re: Re: Compensation
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"Someone else is paying my fine? Cool, I promise I'll absolutely not do that again then."
Police abuse their authority so badly that they get slapped down by a court and a monetary award is handed out? Fired immediately if the offense was bad enough(and if a judge is willing to crack down on a cop this is pretty much guaranteed, given how insanely high a bar that is) and make the officers and their supervisors personally liable for the amount.
Politician or other 'public servant' use their position for personal gain? Removed from office/job immediately, and assuming the abuse of authority wasn't seriously over the top make them pay back the court levied fine before they can run for office again or attempt to be employed by the government/city/state again, rather than just dumping the fine on the public and leaving the guilty party off the hook.
Fines would work if they were aimed properly, as it stands they just result in the public being hosed over twice, the first time from the original abuse of power/authority and then being forced to foot the bill from it.
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Trespassing
2. They wanted her there.
3. Just because you have an easement doesn't mean it's *yours* - the pipeline company owns only the equipment and hardware, not the land. That's why it's called an easement and not a transfer of land ownership.
Amy Goodman wasn't trespassing. It's not the pipeline company's land.
I hope she gets a good chunk of money. Stupid should hurt.
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Amy Goodwin
Just like your comment? It's called the free press.
You, my friend, exhibit a microcosm of a dangerous trend in this nation -- the same trend that's polling 40% for Donald Trump's brand of demagogic fascism, really little different than Italy 1925-45. It's a good thing we're not in a depression (yet). Trump would probably win.
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Re: Amy Goodwin
And you can bet your rear end he will blame {boogeyman}.
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Re: Amy Goodwin
carl please skip the scare and doom. it sounds like those gunners that say the gov is going turn into 1984 if you dont fully agree that they dont need an m14 ebr.
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Re: Re: Amy Goodwin
Except with technology to spy on citizens that George Orwell could only dream of giving to Big Brother.
If Orwell wrote 1984 50 years ago, using todays illegal spying and assassinations of 'US citizens the government doesn't like', it'd be laughed at as silly and extremely unrealistic.
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Wendy, I think you misunderstood my comment. My bad, should have communicated more clearly. In bad times, demagogues get elected (Italy, Germany, Spain, etc.). This DA who arrested Amy Goodwin is a microcosm of fascism, that abuse of power, the same kind of fascism espoused by Trump and others of his ilk.
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I'd say the damages should be 100million+. Hit the authorities with such a HUGE possible bill that they'll back the fuck off other journalists that they've ordered beaten, restrained, illegally arrested, families threatened with assault etc.
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