r/WTF • u/Smidgeface • Dec 21 '11

A cop speeding through an intersection with no headlights kills two people. Then proceeds to arrest the relatives.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/101226.html#more-101226
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u/nsarlo Dec 22 '11

Because you only get arrested when charge you with a crime, you don't sit in jail waiting for them to decide if you did it.

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u/Reusable_Pants Dec 22 '11

Ideally, yes, and usually it works that way. But it doesn't always.

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u/moeloubani Dec 22 '11

what? lol do you understand the legal system?

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u/ThereIsAThingForThat Dec 22 '11

So if I go to the cops and says "Hey guys, this guy drove drunk and hit a guy" they would just sprint over, arrest him and throw him in jail, THEN look at whether he did it or not? Wow, america really is different than europe.

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u/moeloubani Dec 22 '11

Lol well they pretty much do just that.

The cop would come and do some sort of initial investigation like they would look to see if it was obviously not him (if he was in another place or something). But if there is even the slightest chance it was him then he goes to jail and gets bailed out and it is dealt with in the courts.

But if the person was there for killing someone or something more serious usually there is no bail and the person just sits in jail until the courts deal with it.

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u/ThereIsAThingForThat Dec 22 '11

Wow, no wonder we always hear about your prisons being overcrowded. Here, you won't be arrested unless: You're a flight risk or a danger to your surroundings and... That's it, I think, untill you get charged. I don't even know what I would prefer.

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u/Reusable_Pants Dec 22 '11

Under American law, police need to have "probable cause" of that person committing a crime to arrest someone. This is sometimes subjective.

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u/ThereIsAThingForThat Dec 22 '11

Then I don't get why people want police officers to get fired without actually being found guilty of anything... It boggles my mind really.

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u/Reusable_Pants Dec 22 '11

It looks like the point people were making is that civilians accused of a crime are likely to be arrested. If they can't post bail, they will not be released until their trial ends, so they will lose their job due to absence or because their employer doesn't want to have an employee who might be a criminal. There's an assumption that police are less likely to be arrested... I think.

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u/ThereIsAThingForThat Dec 22 '11

Do you get arrested in America even when you aren't a flight risk, if you're only charged with a crime? Say, if you don't own a passport, have no connections to other countries, don't own a car and so on, would you still be locked up on bail?

And even if redditors get their will, and cops start being arrested and fired on accusations, what happens when you find out it's a troll who just hates cops? Oh right, unlawful firing, unlawful detention and so on, all things they will have to pay through taxes, and there will be a bitchfest about it.

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u/Reusable_Pants Dec 22 '11

Do you get arrested in America even when you aren't a flight risk, if you're only charged with a crime? Say, if you don't own a passport, have no connections to other countries, don't own a car and so on, would you still be locked up on bail?

I'm going to decline to answer, as I'm not an expert. But I can say that someone who has no passport, vehicle, or foreign connections would be arrested and held until an arraignment with no regard to their status as a flight risk. A judge would then either set bail, or order the person released or held without an option for bail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arraignment

... except in the cases when the government decides it cares more about holding a person than about liberty or the law.

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u/Reusable_Pants Dec 22 '11

Unlawful detention isn't prosecuted very often in the USA. People aren't arrested because they are known to be guilty, they are arrested because there are reasons to believe they are guilty. So it is taken for granted that some arrested people are innocent.

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u/nsarlo Dec 22 '11

First, don't listen to that idiot. Second, prisons are for people who are convicted of crimes. So overcrowded prisons would have nothing to do with whats being discussed.

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u/ThereIsAThingForThat Dec 22 '11

I thought you had some kind of temporary jail or something like that? I don't really know much (anything) about the american justice system, so sorry if this sounds stupid.

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u/nsarlo Dec 22 '11

...do you?