Just because those in a particular profession wear a uniform doesn't mean the all think, feel, or act in a uniform way.
Absolutely agreed. My point was that you aren't going to convince people predisposed to jump to make such generalizations by complaining that you are being lumped in with the bad apples.
The PR problem you are complaining about stems from some gross abuses of power we are seeing on a daily basis. Juxtaposed many times with civilians being treated much more harshly for the same or very similar offenses (aka "the thin blue line").
What I am telling you (from the outside) is that if you don't have a personal relationship with a LEO(s) (as I do) it's pretty hard to read the daily news, court decisions, etc... and not be left with a very bad taste in your mouth and, given their position of power, lump them together. Heck, I've heard this from LEOs in other states when they hear about what goes on in this state.
If you want to change perception, you should seek to change the behavior of the bad apples. Otherwise, people aren't going to see the good apples because they don't get press very often.
OfficerObie59 said:
That makes absolutely no sense if you're talking about a law passed by a constitutional body prior to judicial review.
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Let's step back for a second and think this through. Who's opinion of what is constitutional determines what is in fact constitutional? Yours? Mine? The nieghbor on the corner? Believe or not, the Constitution itself sets forth methods for interpreting whether or not something is in fact constitutional. It's called Due Process.
Yes, within limits... as I said, the Nuremberg defense doesn't work even though it often places the "low guy on the totem pole" in an awful position of having to contradict a law or order because "it isn't right."
The issues I am talking about include violations of due process. Often including violations of "settled law."
To quote the director of the FRB/CHSB: "It may not stand up in court, but that's our interpretation."
Or the SJC when they said "we don't follow the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court."
That's the culture we are dealing with in this state. It's not a matter of just not liking the laws, we have regulatory bodies, Judges and officers violating settled law. Sometimes under the guise of the SJC who itself in violation of SCOTUS rulings, but often times not.
By your standard, the state and its agents should feel free to do anything they like unless there's a specific ruling against it. That sort of behavior is how we got here and why there is so much cop bashing going on.