“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
This is the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution, something that apparently some members of the SF city council are not aware of, even though they put their hand on a bible and swore to uphold it while taking the oath of office, but hey, details, details, details. Who needs the US Constitution when we can be safe?
“It’s unfortunate that the way it’s set up is in question, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that the corner is safer than it was before” said Council Member Vernon Brown. “It has saved lives.”
What was that famous quote by Benjamin Franklin?
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
And it rings true today. There are many things you can do in that intersection to make it SAFE and CONSTITUTIONAL. Something that should have been done from the beginning is to allow DRIVERS to fight their accuser in a court of law.
At least Bob the Builder gets it;
“I’ve long suspected we were over-stepping our bounds a little bit,” Litz said. “It was only a matter of time.”
And Greggo seems to be confused about the role of the Supreme Court;
Council Member Greg Jamison hopes the South Dakota Supreme Court can reverse the decision, but the city will have to live with the results if that doesn’t happen.
Good luck with that. Last I checked it was the SC’s job to uphold the US Constitution and State Law. Better start living with those results.
New City Council Member Michelle Erpenbach is more concerned about safety than dollars, however. She just hopes the city can continue to use the cameras.
“Maybe we’re not doing things exactly right, but if it needs to be tweaked in some way, we’d better do it,” she said.
Damn right you should be concerned about safety. Trampling citizens rights has always proven to be quite UNSAFE. The city council’s lack of constitutional knowledge makes me worry about my own safety.