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ryandrake | on: Texas woman arrested for Facebook post about town water quality
The point of the arrest was not to win. The point was to inconvenience the whistleblower, cause her grief, and maybe as a bonus make her spend a night or two in jail. Nobody doing this remotely believed that they wouldn't have to settle. They did it to show that if you speak out against them, they'll arrest and inconvenience you. So the next person who gets a thought to speak out might decide not to bother.

Same for the guy in TN who got arrested for posting that anti-conservative meme. Nobody thought they would win, but they want to make everyone else think twice about criticizing a particular political side.

john_strinlai | parent | next
>They did it to show that if you speak out against them, they'll arrest and inconvenience you. So the next person who gets a thought to speak out might decide not to bother.

some of my students have expressed that they wish they could get arrested for a meme and walk away with a couple hundred grand.

i, of course, have told them that they would be playing with fire. but they are still viewing it as a potentially life-changing payday. so, for some subset of people, they might be having to opposite of the desired chilling effect.

ryandrake | root | parent | next
Yea, an arrest on your record, even if you're acquitted and/or get a settlement for police wrongdoing, can still mess you up. There are employers and landlords who will ask you / check whether you were ever arrested, regardless of the outcome of the arrest. Mere involvement with Law Enforcement puts a permanent black mark on your record and can interfere with basic things for the rest of your life.
vitally3643 | root | parent | next
You must not have ever been poor because the idea of several thousand dollars right now completely obliterates any notion of "maybe less money later, possibly"

Particularly if you're young and poor.

Humans don't really work the way you're implying from your armchair.

borski | root | parent | next
I was poor (as in, well below FPL), the son of two immigrants, for many years.

That’s precisely how I thought - getting involved with a “get money now” scheme was not worth the “no money ever again” it often came with. I watched friends do things like this and face consequences later.

Not to discourage anyone from protesting, but not all poor people think alike.

NikolaNovak | root | parent | next
I was a poor refugee, but different people take such situations differently. For my family, it was a stern adherence to law and rules, an extreme low risk approach. For others, granted, it was dismissal of law and rules. Certainly, being poor and hungry made us even more averse to conflicts with the law / police / society / system. Again, others drew opposite lessons and approaches.
alsetmusic | root | parent
> stern adherence to law and rules, an extreme low risk approach.

Were any of the people who took risks also subject to deportation upon arrest? I expect they were all USA citizens with less to lose. Genuinely interested if this is not the case, because this seems very explainable if that aspect is different between you and them.

rolandhvar | root | parent
There's poor and stupid, and then there's poor and smart
lmaoguy | root | parent
I can tell you which one is significantly more common
esseph | root | parent
Ironically some of the smartest people I know aren't at all wealthy.
fc417fc802 | root | parent | next
How would being arrested for memeing be a black mark? It would be a hilarious talking point that I would be more than happy to chat with a landlord, employer, or literally anyone else about. Anyone who would hold that against you is pretty much a textbook example of a bad person (banal evil or some such).
dgoldstein0 | root | parent | next
Some won't ask for details and just reject. Which of course sucks but they may view it as less risky than trying to evaluate the details and make a judgement call.

That said if you do go into circumstances - "I did it to get arrested and get a payout" could also be viewed as a red flag - says "may screw you/the company for money". Probably not the employee / tenant / etc you might want.

pibaker | root | parent | next
I think you are underestimating how anal the entire job and rental application process has become. You won't have the chance of talking to anyone. An automated system runs your name against a database before any human is involved in the process. And why would any human bother talking to someone with an arrest history when there are probably tens, if not hundreds, of applicants who are just as competent as you?
justech | root | parent | next
In a perfect world, sure. But realistically, people don't dig into the context. They see an arrest on your record and move to the next guy. Either that or, some automated system sees you checked 'yes I was arrested before' and filters you out automatically.
tardedmeme | root | parent | next
You don't even get a chance to explain it. Their background check software sees that you were arrested once, and discards your résumé.
cebert | root | parent | next
I could see firms doing background checks not caring about those nuances or taking the time to consider why the individual was arrested.
daheza | root | parent
Especially if it’s just an AI review
Ekaros | root | parent | next
I could see less savoury companies(which is nearly all of them) to see potential whistle-blower like this as a risk in future. Most people are bad people after all. Especially those in hiring roles.
borski | root | parent | next
You’d be more than happy to chat. They often won’t give you that chance.
michaelmrose | root | parent | next
For low level jobs the biggest risk is being automatically filtered out early in the job application process then dying in a cardboard shelter on the sidewalk
buzzerbetrayed | root | parent
I wouldn’t rent my house to someone who has been arrested for memeing. It’s an unnecessary risk with absolutely no upside for me. What happens when they decide to meme on their landlord?
john_strinlai | root | parent | next
>What happens when they decide to meme on their landlord

nothing? maybe a laugh? it’s a meme not a murder

LocalH | root | parent | next
Then you're part of the problem.

Convicted, sure. Merely arrested, with no conviction? Then you'd be an asshole

fc417fc802 | root | parent
> Convicted, sure.

Convicted ... for memeing? I think that would still be absurd. I don't think landlords should be denying tenants for obviously unrelated matters.

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esseph | root | parent
If your house became a meme house, you might actually make more money off renting it.
dylan604 | root | parent | next
Then make part of the settlement having the arrest expunged.
pavel_lishin | root | parent | next
I have an arrest on my record. It has never, to this day, impacted my life negatively. (Aside from the actual experience, including paying legal fees - I certainly didn't get a settlement out of it.)
alexanderh | root | parent | next
This is really far from true, unless you're talking about federal security clearances.
worik | root | parent | next
> Yea, an arrest on your record

What an awful data environment

The fact that you were arrested, charged even, if not convicted should not be discoverable by third parties

Uncivilised

jMyles | root | parent
> The fact that you were arrested, charged even, if not convicted should not be discoverable by third parties

That's how people get disappeared in failed states.

It's perfectly fine to force the state to clearly declare whom they have detained and their reasons for doing so. We also need to recognize that arrests are very often preposterous (or worse, retaliatory) and not hold it (absent other information or further proceedings) against people.

FireBeyond | root | parent
... subsequent to release.

The fact that someone is in custody should be always available. But it should not be up to Joe Random to pay $11 to my State Patrol to find out why I was arrested last week, especially if I wasn't charged.

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beepbooptheory | root | parent | next
As someone who lives this reality (arrest but no conviction), it's in practice not really so bad. It's never come up with a landlord. The last time it came up was after being accepted to grad school and I had to fill out a form about it. You do just carry with you the knowledge that if you ever get pulled over the cop can pull it up about you and have reason to hassle you more.
raddan | root | parent | next
Given that you’re posting on HN and went to grad school, I wonder whether you’ve worked a minimum wage job. Most of those applications ask whether you’ve ever been arrested. It’s been a long time since I worked one of those jobs, but I remember that all of the applications I filled out back then asked me. Thankfully the answer was no.

Working minimum wage jobs is demoralizing on multiple levels. The jobs are often physically exhausting (I unloaded trucks and stocked shelves among other things). But the worst part is that the entire system treats you with disdain. You walk away with the strong feeling that nobody gives a shit. I knew that I wanted and could have better things but many of my coworkers internalized a different message.

theendisney | root | parent | next
Not sure, would you (as a cop) help them with content creation?
zephen | root | parent
"I'm going to hassle you because my brethren have hassled you before."

Yup, sounds about right.

antonvs | root | parent
They don't call it a brotherhood for nothing.
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throawayonthe | root | parent | next
to clarify, is this a 'record' in the abstract sense of 'something that can be known about your past' (someone googles your name and a news article mentions arrest) or some kind of literal record with arrest records etc accessible (publicly? by employers?) in the US?
| root | parent | next
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cybercatgurrl | root | parent | next
this is gonna have chilling effects on free speech in america. people are gonna be thinking twice about criticising authorities after a pattern of this happening on a national level is established
alsetmusic | root | parent
If you let them make you think twice before posting, you're letting them win.

I'm not saying that I don't think twice about how to word things or that I'm some sort of free speech warrior. I'm saying that when I make concessions, I feel bad about it. Try to be brave and keep speaking openly about your contempt for the people in charge.

tamimio | root | parent
Which is why I believe criminal records should only be kept for serious crimes (killing, etc.), anything less, the record gets deleted after few months completely. Otherwise, just as you said, the black mark on the records are worse than serving a whole year in prison, and can be used to exploit others.
FireBeyond | root | parent
While there are a few other ways it can happen, my state likes to say that certain criminal records are available for expungement.

One of the criteria: "The person has reached 120 years of age."

Cool.

kimixa | root | parent | next
And the ones who get the "payday" are just the ones we've heard of.

How many people didn't get media attention, don't have the ability (time/money) to sue, lost that case, and those where the intimidation and "punishment" was successful?

At some level the people doing this intimidation believe it'll be successful. Is that from experience?

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alsetmusic | root | parent | next
> some of my students

When I was young, I might have thought this way for sure. I didn't expect to have a future anyway and this would have potentially been a cool level-up that I'd seize.

Responding to someone in another comment that happened after the parent, when I was young and had no real prospects (despite coming from a well-off but not super wealthy family), I had a lot of mental health issues and emotional issues that didn't seem possible to resolve and it wasn't realistic to think I'd finish a college degree or start a career. Imagine being a well-educated white male in the USA who expects to be trapped working retail forever while peers get white-collar jobs and you can see the appeal. Fortunately, decades of hard work and treatment can make a world of difference, but that's not anything you can bet on when you're young and desperate.

ponector | root | parent | next
Students are young and often have nothing to lose, aside from missing opportunities.
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NoMoreNicksLeft | root | parent
>so, for some subset of people, they might be having to opposite of the desired chilling effect.

Those ones are the easiest though, are they not? Someone going into it with convictions (or even chickening out because they are aware of the consequences) have consolation and inner reserves. Some kid angry that he can't get a six figure salary at age 22 fresh out of college might regret it as soon as they're in the clink, but if that doesn't get them... the 6-10 years of lawyer-wrangling and stress certainly will. All for the payday to not even go half as far as they think... it'll pay down some bills, there won't be any sports cars.

cybercatgurrl | root | parent
not with that attitude there won’t! straight into investments, don’t touch for a few decades and she’ll be right. then again most people desperate for money don’t think like that unfortunately
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eduction | parent
Much like peter thiel’s lawsuits against Gawker, which included funding a guy who dubiously claimed to have invented email and sued Gawker for pointing out this was absurd.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/peter-thiel-email-inventor_n_...

YC and its founders worship him like a hero.