Last Friday when in Tallahassee I had the opportunity to sit-down with Bruce Benson, chair of the economics department at Florida State University and author of much literature studying the subjection of law creation and enforcement to market forces.
At Cop Block our noted goals are “police accountability, education of individual rights and the dissemination of effective tactics to utilize while filming police.” This video touches on the current lack of police accountability present with a top-down, one-size fits-all bureaucracy and seeks to educate and inform the viewer about potential alternatives that are more rights-respecting and cost-efficient.
What Benson says makes sense to me!
The problem I faced after our talk was not a shortage of good footage but over 20 minutes of solid content – of Benson communicating his ideas and buttressing them with historic and modern day support such as international trade which operates absent of governments through mutually-agreed upon arbitration (something the USSR had to utilize as no one trusted their courts) and railroad police which are private and thus more accountable and effective.
For more, pick up a copy of The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State from the good folks at the Mises Institute (and be on the lookout for its reprint through the Independent Institute). It’s a book that was recommended to me by a colleague that I’ve since hyped-up and loaned-out to many others.
I’m very very wary of any ‘arbitration’ on offer, because of how one-sided the process usually is here in the states. The firms have a vested interest to find in favor of the companies that hire them, even if the facts clearly favor the consumer, and they usually do. I read an article that said one company sided with the corporation that hired them something like 98% of the time.
I imagine the spread would be a little different if the arbitration firm serviced solely corporate clients, but arbitration currently is not a fair or viable alternative to the court system.
Pete,
I think that the arbitration firm that would oversee a case would have to be a neutral third party. Another firm would represent the person(s) bringing claim that their natural rights have been violated. The individual being charged then picks a firm to represent him. If either party can show a conflict of intrest by the neutral firm they would be replaced.Most importantly all people involved with the process would 100% be responsible for their own action.
You compare that to our current system where the conflict of interest is built in to the system. Where the police,proscuter and judge prefer the same outcome, guilty pleas.They have sovereign immunity so feel no personal responsibility for their action. The result: 97% conviction rate and police openly committing crimes and being called heros for their crimes. Not only would private arbitration be a “fair and viable alternative” but also do a far superior job of turning out a better product (justice) then does the court system.
The Constitution Gives us our rights, this needs to be followed by the cops judges, courts Etc. a cop is not the judge or lawyer or executioner hes there to protect citizens rights.and enforce the law .which he swears an oath too. and they have to be held accountable for and to the letter if they violate these rights.under the same laws that they expect us to follow.and same prosecution,trouble is the police have become Robots. there judgement has been taking away, in dealing with people.To them were the enemy, and a walk in to court plead guilty ATM Machine.its not in our best interest to them for us to stand up to them, our defend our rights.Because they have taken over the system to benefit them.they do everything possible to defeat you in the court system. they have to be right no matter what.there’s never free speech in a court.your not a human your a docket No# and all they see is dollar signs.and if you can,t pay that’s another crime in there view, so off to jail you go.and that’s being privatized too and there making money off from that .Its rigged in there favor unless you have allot of money.then the justice system changes.either way you have to pay , them or a lawyer.my self i think law enforcement needs a total overhaul. reeducate the police, half of them just barely get through High school, and don,t know whats in the bill of rights, or are Constitution they swore an oath. to its just a job to most of them. money really has to be taken out of the equation.and they have to start looking at people as humans.and not a group we all have diff. circumstances.we have to be treated as such.the other problem is the law isn’t at all consistent. cops really need to get back in touch with the people. that pay their wages.and redefine what there job really stands for and its not to treat us like the enemy, and a walking ATM. Machine.were humans just like them, and need to be treated with that respect in mind, and maybe we.ll start treating them the same .the way i feel i wouldn’t trust a cop for anything .there starting to look like the crooks there supposed to protect us from ..
No, the Constitution does not give any rights. It may outline them, summarize them, or make a declaration thereof on paper, but that is not where rights are derived from. I still have a right to be free absent some old slave-owning prick’s declarations on a disintegrating piece of paper.