1A violation, 911 access violation, or appropriate response?

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9P3FGQG0&show_article=1

SanFran's BART police shut down cell towers along the BART lines during the same times as a planned protest of a police shooting of a man.

Yeah, flash mobs are a recent problematic phenomenon.

Up until they come across the first armed citizen responder.

Of course, those don't exist in San Fran.


All in all, I still come down on the side of "people make CHOICES.  Don't take CHOICES away from people.  If people make bad choices, they can enjoy the consequences of those choices.  Those consequences can and will include someone putting a righteous whooping on you or adding lead to your body weight in 230gr increments.  But our government was never instituted to be a preventative-maintenance nannytopia, and I don't accept having my cell coverage taken away by Agents of the State for any reason whatsoever."

Aaron Caplan, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who specializes in free-speech issues, was equally critical, saying BART clearly violated the rights of demonstrators and other passengers.

"We can arrest and prosecute people for the crimes they commit," he said. "You are not allowed to shut down people's cellphones and prevent them from speaking because you think they might commit a crime in the future."

Well said.

[Boomhauer]

You're going to see a lot more of this *expletive deleted*it (shutting down cell phone towers and in the future, stuff like internet) in the near future, I fear.

And they'll explain it away and justify it somehow...

[RoadKingLarry]

I agree that we are likely to see more of that sort of preemptive action from .gov.
How long till "they" try it at a TEA party gathering?

[gunsmith]

great, some poor schmo gets a heart attack and you cant call for an ambulance? 

[Boomhauer]

I agree that we are likely to see more of that sort of preemptive action from .gov.
How long till "they" try it at a TEA party gathering?

Well, we are a year and a couple months away from the next election and as you can see, the politicians vying for the seat are really starting to campaign.

This means that the TEA party and similar rallies are going to be increasing in number and attracting increased attention soon. We've got several politicians and news media types really starting to refer to conservatives as terrorists, particuarly in the last couple of months (check out this poster of quotes below). So, I'd say, *expletive deleted*it is going to go down not too far into the future...



http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/the-new-tone/

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

One month, we're criticizing Iran for pulling similar stuff (though they cut off internet as well) - now we're pulling it in our own country.

How the hell do transit cops of all people get the right to do that?

[RoadKingLarry]

After actually reading the linked article .
It looks to me as if BART simply shut down their own cell repeaters that they provide free of charge (ostensibly) to passengers.
Easy out for BART is to simply eliminate the service all together.
Or
Will I soon be able to sue a business that is inside a building that blocks cell service for violating my civil rights.

[Perd Hapley]

I really like that image. I am also tempted to put it in my signature, just for lulz.   

[Jamisjockey]

After actually reading the linked article .
It looks to me as if BART simply shut down their own cell repeaters that they provide free of charge (ostensibly) to passengers.
Easy out for BART is to simply eliminate the service all together.
Or
Will I soon be able to sue a business that is inside a building that blocks cell service for violating my civil rights.

No, the taxpayers in thier area pay for those repeaters, which are in place for safety reasons.  Imagine being in a crowded underground station and you have a heart attack.  Nobody can get a signal to dial 911. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

the taxpayers in thier area pay for those repeaters,

that would be unique
usually the cell companies foot the bill
http://askville.amazon.com/cellphone-work-BART-underground-San-Francisco-LA-Metro/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=58201239

[Jamisjockey]

the taxpayers in thier area pay for those repeaters,

that would be unique
usually the cell companies foot the bill
http://askville.amazon.com/cellphone-work-BART-underground-San-Francisco-LA-Metro/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=58201239

Even still, if the cell phone companies are paying for them (in otherwords, the cellphone users are paying a surcharge), BART has no right to sacrifice safety and the ability to call 911.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

not sure but i'll wager they can allow 911 to stay up while putting the kibosh on everything else. and may well have incorporated language allowing/mandating that to happen in their contract with the providers. not sure their is a constitutional right to cell/data service.  yet

[MicroBalrog]

not sure but i'll wager they can allow 911 to stay up while putting the kibosh on everything else. and may well have incorporated language allowing/mandating that to happen in their contract with the providers. not sure their is a constitutional right to cell/data service.  yet

An interesting moral theory.

[Tallpine]

Isn't this the same BART police that executed somebody in a station a while back 

[dogmush]

Yeah, that's why they're so leery of folks with cell phones.