Martial Law declared in Arkansas town

P

possum

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This guy has been getting news attention all over the state for a week.

Now, the story's gone national.

They mayor said on an earlier news interview that the situation they were creating was "very much akin to martial law" and was very deliberate and explicit about his intentions to create such a situation.

This mayor thinks he can do this for a variety of reasons.

1) This neighborhood is poor and black.

2) The mayor is black.

He's counting on nobody beyond the town caring what a black mayor does in a black neighborhood in Arkansas.

3) In Arkansas, mayors (black, white, brown, tan, etc) of small towns (along with school superintendents, county sheriffs, and other folks in positions of authority in relatively isolated places) often believe that they can act with impunity, because chances are, nobody beyond their area of authority will care much because it's in Arkansas.

Read the story. This arrogant doofus actually challenges somebody to sue him and the city and says that a judge will see it his way.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080813/ap_on_re_us/arkansas_town_curfew
 
Not firearm related, but none the less it is an interesting story.... Hard to believe that this town is under Marshall law and people aren't raising Cane over it.
 
I think you would need to find someone in the ten blocks in question that is willing to sue. There might not be anyone there that is interested in doing so.
 
From article,"Now if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I'm fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here," Mayor James Valley said. "The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution."

So you are either infringing and you feel it is ok or you are not infringing at all. Which is it Mayor?


The councilman thinks it's his job to decide when people can leave their homes,"As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital."
 
Kreyzhorse:

Not firearm related, but none the less it is an interesting story....
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Taken from the OP's story on Yahoo:

Officers armed with military rifles have been stopping and questioning passers-by in a neighborhood plagued by violence that's been under a 24-hour curfew for a week.
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The police chief said the officers in the field carry military-style M-16 or M-4 rifles, some equipped with laser sights. Other officers carry short-barrel shotguns. Many dealing crack cocaine and marijuana in the city carry pistols and AK-47 assault rifles, he said.
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For the eleventeenth time - Posts in L&P DO NOT HAVE TO BE FIREARM-RELATED. Please read the forum descriptions if you have any questions, or PM a staff member.
 
As an academic question, no constitutional rights should not be infringed.

On a practical level when junkies and scumbags are walking around with guns shooting people what can you do?

Is there a balance to be struck? Or should principles trump all? What if your kids get killed for your principles?
 
Freedom is for good people. Prison is for bad people. When the percentage of bad people in a society gets too high, freedom becomes impossible.
 
Musketeer, Helena in N.E. Arkansas... delta country, not far from Memphis. But, the rest of your statement is pretty much correct. Just for clarification ;)
 
Well, I suppose if people want a War on Some Drugs, they shouldn't be terribly surprised when their neighborhoods become war zones, complete with bullet-pocked walls, and abrogation of basic civil rights by forces of the combatants.
 
What if your kids get killed for your principles?
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I guess in this situation, that if your principles were strong enough, you should probably move. It really comes down to the individual, personal safety, or principles? Sacrifice liberty for security, and lose both is how I feel.
 
On a practical level when junkies and scumbags are walking around with guns shooting people what can you do?
Click to expand...

Find enough folks with morals who will stand up and say "no, not here, not anymore" and who will defend that principle with their lives if need be.

Is there a balance to be struck? Or should principles trump all? What if your kids get killed for your principles?
Click to expand...

The problem is that -someone- already tried to "strike a balance" with the thugs and criminals by treating them with the rules of polite society (by which the thugs don't abide).

Now what, "strike a balance" with another group of thugs who want to steal the rest of what's valuable (namely your rights and freedoms)?

A situation this far out of control doesn't require "compliance with authorities" it requires cleaning out those failed authorities and trying again with a fresh batch.


From the article...
"As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital."
Click to expand...

Classic elitist BS!
 
The mayor is obviously out of control, but what I wonder is do the people who live there care? None of us really has any standing to be outraged. (at least I keep telling myself that.)
 
Considering the actions of a certain former Gov. this guy is just following the Democratic party line.

Never fails to amaze me that the Democrats are always willing to do such things, yet out of the other side of their mouths, claim to support the Constitution.
 
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