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Comment by reinhardt | Hacker News Reader

Honest question: do you find, say, police enforcement in a representative democracy also non-understandable? Is the idea that only a few designated individuals have the right to arrest or interrogate someone equally revolting, and that in an ideal society we should either all have this right or nobody?

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> the idea that only a few designated individuals have the right to arrest or interrogate someone

Might want to keep in mind that they don't. Anyone can make a citizen's arrest, and the police don't have the right to interrogate you, you have the right to remain silent.

You're right, but with a few asterisks. Citizen's arrest can only be for felonys. The citizen who is arresting also is liable in the scenario where the arrestee isn't guilty--- because then the citizen arrester could be liable for kidnapping.

(Fact checking myself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen%27s_arrest#United_Stat... I'm almost right. It's any crime in your presence, or a felony not in your presence. And for an incorrect arrest, the charge would be false arrest, not kidnapping.)

You can make a citizens arrest, sure, and you will then likely be sued into oblivion, in addition to whatever criminal charges the DA may file against you.

Only a few designated individuals have the right to do so with enhanced protections, if not outright immunity (to much dismay, in these current times...)

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