It's the latest example of disputes this year between Census workers protected by federal law and residents who don't want to deal with them.
The Census worker, Russell Haas, found trouble on Hawaii's Big Island on March 20 when a resident refused to accept Census forms and told Haas to leave his fenced property.
Then the resident, a county police officer, called his co-workers at the Hawaii County Police Department. Haas was then arrested.
I have to say I am not surprised and I am happy this has happened and it may challenge the federal worker's authority, BUT, I have to say it comes from a favoritism of sorts in that a police officer was the property owner in question and points to special treatment. We've published cases here where some people were not so lucky in their hostile response to census workers and in some cases were shot and killed by local police. My bet is that it will be thrown out as judges are not likely to challenge federal jurisdiction, particularly in Obama's home state and during his administration. Still, if this isn't a case that cries for universal castle doctrine in this country, I don't know what is. No one has the right to come on your property without your permission, and that includes government and police. And if they are asked to leave, they should.Census workers have met more hostility than they did in the last count. The agency tallied 436 incidents involving assaults or threats through June 29, more than double the 181 incidents in 2000.
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3 comments:
I think there is a vast difference between a census worker coming onto your property unbidden and a police officer acting in the scope of his office.
However, I was happy to see a precedent set for the Census Bureau. I think the matter of how it will be adjudicated in the County Courts is up for grabs. It may one day be overturned if it is taken to the courts of appeal in Hawaii, the Hawaii Supreme Court or the US Supreme Court -- but locally, Haas could be convicted.
There is a difference, but if asked to leave, they should. I would ask, what is the definition of the scope of their job? For instance, they could dream up a scenario that gives them reasonable cause, or conversely, and this has been in the courts, policie have no obligation to protect individual citizens, just society as a whole. This happened when a woman was held hostage in her home and the police came to the door. They didn't deduct something was amiss and they left. She was repeatedly raped. She sued and lost due to this. For me from a libertarian perspective, any agent of the government, just as the government itself should be limited. If there is something hokey going on and the police want to investigate, get a warrant if the people are uncooperative, but ultimately, it should be up to the property owner. I am a firm believer in the castle doctrine, and shall issue and even open carry. It's makes for a more polite society.
I will also add that my maternal grandfather and his son were cops. I also dated a cop for 5 years who worked in the 46th precinct in te Bronx. My grandfather was a different kind of cop than we have today. My uncle not so much, and the woman I dated was a pip. Some of the shit cops do definitely falls int he grey area at best and from a privacy 4th amendment perspective, it's not too good, and I am not even into the physical abuse shit yet. I remember she broke her radio on some guys head because of what he said. As a private citizen, I would never get away with that behavior.
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