I’m a fan of proportional punishment. That is to say punishment should match the crime, so if somebody has stolen $100.00 from you then you should be able to get $200.00 out of them (as the thief stole your right of ownership over $100.00 you should be able to retrieve that money and punish him by taking his right of ownership over $100.00). So when I read a story about a man facing life in prison for filming the police you can bet I’m not going to find the punishment reasonable:
When cops in Illinois started inspecting Michael Allison’s vehicles parked on his mom’s property, he turned on his camera while he went to see what the hubbub was about. That didn’t put that happy of a face on the police officer, and now Allison is facing 75 years in prison for hitting “record.”
Authorities have charged Allison, 42, with five counts of eavesdropping, each with a maximum of 15 years in prison. He is looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars because the state is applying an archaic law to modern technology to keep citizens from snooping around cops.
That’s right, Allison is facing 75 years in prison for recording the actions of public “servants.” As public “servants” are supposed to be our employees it would seem logical that we should be allowed to keep tabs on them while they’re on the job. But in actuality they view themselves not as our employees but our masters and thus believe they can rightly demand complete obedience.
Still 75 years for simply recording the police is insane. That’s a longer sentence that many receive for murder. I think a system of justice would require somebody who murdered another to receive a much harsher punishment than somebody who simply recorded a police officer. Hell I’m not even sure how the state can justify enforcing a law against recording police officers in the first place.
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