If you witness a crime you can arrest the criminal. It's basic civics. Something you might find about in an institution of higher learning. Don't know if they have one of those in Oberlin.
In abstract both arguments (strict enforcement of all laws; and that the system's results are inhumane so lesser laws should be ignored) make surface level sense. A middle ground sounds best (some laws are loosened, leniency is used on first offenses, prison system reform to rehabilitate instead of punish, etc.).
One person is more culpable in the life ruining than the person who contacts the police.
An employee took a photo of the shoplifter in the act of stealing, the shoplifter got angry and assaulted the employee for this. That's when then the employee tried apprehending the shoplifter.
Assault, not petty theft. Also, doesn't violence turn theft into robbery?
Except that's not what happened. The shopkeeper was assaulted and another shopkeeper (a member of their family) also assaulted before they pursued the assailant.
I totally agree that the “tough on crime” strategy doesn’t work. But the solution can’t be to let people get away with petty crimes or even make the perpetrators into victims. Law abiding citizens need to be protected.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-shooting-georg...
He did not say “if you witness a crime you can call the police”. I don’t want a society where any random yokel thinks he can detain someone.
For example, from Wikipedia:
“In the United States, a private person may arrest another without a warrant for a crime occurring in their presence. However, the crimes for which this is permitted vary by state.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen's_arrest#United_States
> Georgia just outlawed that practice
Not exactly; they clarified the circumstances under which a citizen's arrest can be made[0], "including shopkeepers who witness shoplifters and restaurant owners and employees who witness 'dine and dash' customers."
[0] https://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/995835333/in-ahmaud-arberys-n...
But that law was in fact “argued against” in the very red Georgia and it was repealed by a Republican legislation and Republican governor
You really think any random person can detain someone? Do you also think you can force someone to stop for speeding? You can arrest someone for smoking weed as an ordinary citizen?
Do you think you can sleep with a prostitute and then arrest them?
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/20/c...
But in theory, what they are supposed to be able to do is surprisingly similar.
On detaining a random person, quoting https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/citizen%27s_arrest, In general, the ability to perform a citizen’s arrest is the same for a regular person as it is for a police officer without a warrant.
This is completely hypothetical, I don’t own a gun.
But, because of the incident I posted. Even the very red GA and the Republican governor thought that it might not be a good idea to let any random yokel detain someone
https://apnews.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-georgia-arrests-gov...
If an Officer makes a wrongful arrest in the line of duty, Qualified Immunity will go a long way to shielding them, whereas a citizen without Qualified Immunity would be subject to wrongful arrest lawsuits and kidnapping charges.
I don't think there's much chance the cashier here grabbed the wrong person.
That’s false, for the reasons I’ve outlined. The courts have created a specific special legal status that applies to police, but not to ordinary people.