In 2015, Democratic Elk Grove Assemblyman Jim Cooper voted for Senate Bill 34, which restricted law enforcement from sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with out-of-state authorities. In 2023, now-Sacramento County Sheriff Cooper appears to be doing just that.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) a digital rights group, has sent Cooper a letter requesting that the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office cease sharing ALPR data with out-of-state agencies that could use it to prosecute someone for seeking an abortion.
According to documents that the Sheriff’s Office provided EFF through a public records request, it has shared license plate reader data with law enforcement agencies in states that have passed laws banning abortion, including Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas.
Adam Schwartz, EFF senior staff attorney, called automated license plate readers “a growing threat to everyone’s privacy … that are out there by the thousands in California.”
Man, I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but this just sounds like we’re one step closer to states actually restricting travel.
Everything in the GOP is projection. I remember at the start of COVID, the republicans were freaking out about lock downs and how the next step was restricting interstate travel, and now they’re monitoring who’s leaving and entering the state and forwarding that info to states with bullshit laws.
This is an after effect of democracy. Democracy is not all shiny and bright. If you don’t pay attention to what the citizen around you are thinking then you will end up following stupid laws. Once you accept the rules of democracy your interest becomes that you spread your opinion around, not that you stay passive, not caring or respecting too much what other people think.
While you stay idle, other people, in this case religious people, are knocking on doors, pushing their ideas and eventually win vote, win elections and push their bible into laws.
Remember that faith is a powerful engine that is constantly pushing against you if you are not religious. You have to show some resistance and some initiative if you don’t want to get caught off guard like the american women did with the abolition of their right to an abortion.
So, no, this isn’t the logical outcome of democracy.
This is a democratically elected official (the sheriff) violating a law that went through the legitimate policy making process of the CA state government. This is not the result of direct democracy, it’s the result of a politician class that sees itself as exempt from ethics and law. See also: this SCOTUS, republican grifters
My city is chock full of these readers and as far as I can tell, all they do is reduce law enforcement activity.
Now, if a vehicle is stolen, they’ll put out a BOLO and check the cameras. Doesn’t show up on scanners? Man, that sucks, here’s your case number. Do you have CCTV footage of the thieves clearly showing their faces for several minutes during the theft? They won’t even reply to emails/calls to give it a proforma look, much less actually investigating the crime.
Good thing I had a good comprehensive policy.
I’d LOVE to see stats on how jurisdictions actually use this technology to do law enforcement activity. How many cases does it assist in closing per dollar spent? I am extraordinarily skeptical that they actually work for the stated purposes.
Good thing I had a good comprehensive policy.
That’s what they rely on, they just figure “fuck it, insurance will cover it” and don’t bother. Really annoying when you think about how much less you might be paying in premiums should they take this seriously (and have prosecutors willing to screw a thief to a wall instead of just plead down). I’m ready for AI powered auto-turrets loaded with wash-resistant stinky paintballs.
That’s American a nutshell. We replaced regulation, law enforcement, and governance with the system of insurance and lawsuits. God, this shit is what Ralph Nader was running to try and fix back in the ancient history times when the Democrats were the party of free markets and the language of progressivism barely existed.
Through all this I don’t understand how you can be prosecuted in your state of residence for something you did legally in another state. Does that also go for buying alcohol on Sundays or gambling at a slot machine?
Is this really prosecutable or are they just using it to harass people until the courts tell them no?
Texas passed a law in 2021 law that allows civil lawsuits against a person who “aids or abets the performance or inducement of abortion.” It does not specify whether the aid would have to happen within Texas. Oklahoma has a similar law.
Idaho’s House Bill 242 makes helping a pregnant minor get an abortion, whether through medication or a procedure, in another state punishable by two to five years in prison.
Other Republican states are working to prosecute what they call “abortion-trafficking”.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/abortion-state-lines/
