bill@persci.UUCP (10/28/85)
>> >>One of the commonly depicted facets of a "police state" is that citizens >>are encouraged to report suspicious actions by their friends, neighbors, >>and relatives to the police. Usually, the implication is that we in the >>U.S. don't have such a situation. >>[...] >>How is this different from the situation in the "dreaded police state"? >Add the Child Abuse Hotlines, where the reporter can remain anonymous, and >(I believe this is still true) the state welfare agency is mandated by law >to "respond" within 24 hours. Of course, one could only use this to >harrass neighbors with children. >Susan Finkelman {zehntel,amd,fortune,resonex,rtech}!varian!susan Not true. All you need is for your neighbor to have "access" to children and he can be "turned in". You can even turn in total strangers. In Washington State this is especially deadly since a few case workers here are known to have falsified evidence, building up cases for conviction where nothing in fact ever happened. Conviction in Washington State carries a mandatory prison sentence. I have seen one innocent acquaintance railroaded into prison by his ex-wife and her religious cult. I suppose she got the greater portion of the property out of the deal, not to mention the kids (none of whom wanted to stay with her..). -- William Swan {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!persci!bill
bill@persci.UUCP (11/06/85)
In article <335@aoa.UUCP> carl@aoa.UUCP (Carl Witthoft) writes: >>> One of the commonly depicted facets of a "police state" [...] >>Add the Child Abuse Hotlines, where the reporter can remain anonymous [...] >Please go flame yourself and save me the effort. >Why the hell can't you take a minute to see what IS happening rather than >what you THINK (and I use the word loosely) might happen. >Example: Boston, MA had "Drop A Dime" program to take anonymous calls >on drug trafficking. Over 3 years, several thousand calls led to over >700 convictions. There is NO record of factititous calls . [...] Well reasoned flame, Carl... Except for your numbers. Several thousand calls and only 700 convictions? What about all the rest of the calls? What about all those found to be "not guilty" (never "innocent")? Were *all* of these just honest mistakes?? Come on, now! As for "what you THINK might happen": Here in Washington State, they don't have anonymous lines, yet innocent people are still caught in it. Once you are in the system it is not a matter of them saying "Oh, we goofed! So sorry!" and dropping it. In case you are unaware of it, these agencies get federal funding on the basis of "body-counts". It is to their best interest to convict each and every victim that falls into their hands. This leads to long and *expensive* legal fights for the victim. The agencies, because they are presumed to not have a "side", hold all the cards. They get access to the child, not the parents. They get access to all the records, not the parents. We know of one case here recently where a case-worker was caught falsifying the evidence (she was coaching the child to say incriminating things against the parents). The case was thrown out of court, but the case-worker didn't even get so much as a slap on the wrist, and is still working to convict others by any means possible. -- William Swan {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!persci!bill "Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country is going to do to you!"