Apparently, students who go through our educational system are completely unaware of their civil rights:

Despite crackdowns on underage drinking that have pitted police against students, some students say they still don’t know their rights.

Christopher Carpenter, a media arts freshman, said he wouldn’t know what to do if he was confronted by police, or if his rights were violated.

“I’m not sure the average person would know what to do if an authoritative person violated their rights. They wouldn’t know who to turn to,” he said.

Well, here’s my advice if stopped by police:

1 – Keep your mouth shut. Don’t say anything other than Am I under arrest? or Am I being detained? If the answer to those questions is no, then you’re pretty much free to go.

2 – Be polite and do not act belligerent. In fact, add sir to the sentences above.

3 – Keep your mouth shut. Don’t say anything other than Am I under arrest, sir? or Am I being detained, sir? Notice a trend?

4 – If arrested, keep your mouth shut. The only thing you should say is Sir, I’d like to contact my attorney. You do have an attorney, don’t you? If not, get one.

By the time the cops read you your Miranda rights, they already have enough evidence to book you. This is why you keep your mouth shut.

For the record, I have never been arrested or otherwise detained. And I am not a lawyer.

I find it odd that our educational system doesn’t teach students what their rights are and how to react in situations. Public schools mostly teach children to be sheep, which is unfortunate.

Posted in uncategorized on February 18th, 2004 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |