Civil Rights At Play

Motel 6 is known for being a cheap motel.
But now the national chain is being sued by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson for handing over thousands of motel guest’s information to federal officials.
Several Motel 6 locations in Washington routinely provided U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with confidential guest information, some of which occured on a daily basis. Some guest were even arrested based on the information provided.

A Texas sheriff posted to Facebook threatening criminal charges against the owner of a white pickup truck with an anti-Trump sticker decal displayed in the rear window.
Fort Bend Sheriff Troy E. Nehls, apparently unaware the First Amendment protects political speech, posted that he obtained permission from a prosecutor who informed him she would file criminal charges of disorderly conduct against the owner of the truck, which says “Fuck Trump. And fuck you for voting for him” on the back of it.

PINAC correspondent Mike Smith attended a free speech rally in Portland only to be physically thrown out by police.
Smith was at the Patriot Prayer rally at the waterfront last Sunday, which is a popular place in the Oregon city for events and protests. There were several other groups counterprotesting the Patriot Prayer group which is why police were there to keep the peace.

Oklahoma military police, assisted by two Oklahoma state cops, were recorded lying to a citizen journalist in order to get him to surrender identification while peacefully and lawfully recording the Oklahoma Air National Guard base from a public space on August 31.
“Are you aware in the state of Oklahoma when a law enforcement officer asks you for identification that you’re required to produce it?” asked Master Sgt. Jason Cattleman, even though that is a blatant lie.

A Texas judge granted qualified immunity to a cop who shot and killed a man’s dog for barking at him, meaning the cop cannot be held liable in civil court.
A Texas judge issued an order this month granting a cop who shot a man’s dog for barking and allegedly showing his teeth at him qualified immunity, meaning he can’t be held liable in civil court.

Police in Pocatello, Idaho arrested a man for filming an FBI building from public property. It is becoming an all too common occurrence for officers to stop and detain citizens for recording police or law enforcement activity of any kind. But the aforementioned video recording is a First Amendment protected activity, so anyone has the right to do so.

A Florida man won the right to surreptitiously record police officers while making internal affairs complaints without the threat of prosecution when he defeated the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office (SAO) in a federal appeals court ruling.
Prosecutors tried to censor the citizen, who published his incriminating recording of a police chief.

Homestead Police Department (HPD), in South Florida, has myriad problems respecting the First Amendment. I went to HPD this week to serve some officers in a civil rights suit, the story was covered earlier. While entering I discovered that HPD still has not learned that photography is not a crime.

Miami-Dade County’s State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle is censoring at least 100 of her critics on Twitter, including a dozen accounts either named Darren Rainey or with the deceased man’s profile image.
We have pictures to prove it.
It all started when the prosecutor sent a tweet about freedom.

A Florida prosecutor just censored an active duty Navy Reserve Corpsman – on Memorial Day – for criticizing her frequently disparaged record.
Katherine Fernandez-Rundle has been Miami-Dade’s State Attorney since 1993 when she succeeded Janet Reno who became the longest serving US Attorney General in history.