Unbelievable! Woman is handcuffed and arrested for a late video rental

Libertarian Party ^ | Feb 12, 2002

[riley1992]

Thanks. I'll read that again the next time I'm drunk.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Libertarians/anarchist--nazi syndrome...is it hopeless---fleas on the tail the dog is chasing!

Is English your native language?

[GuillermoX]

WHOOOPS! Change that last "against" to "for".

[riley1992]

This is getting us nowhere.

Toenail, do you agree with this arrest or not?

[riley1992]

Countdown until what? The next time I am drunk? LOL

[Dakmar]

Libertarians/anarchist--nazi syndrome...is it hopeless---fleas on the tail the dog is chasing!

Aren't you supposed to add "glavin" to the end of that, Dr Frink?

[f.Christian]

Oh sorry to disturb you---reality and Libertarians don't mix--repel!

[independentmind]

I wonder how many posters on this thread have read or seen Les Miserables?

[f.Christian]

Try a flea collar--new card board box!

[savedbygrace]

That makes sense . . . if there were a reasonable number of laws, so the average person could know what actions or behavior would be breaking a law.

That hasn't been the case for years now.

[Melinator]

Renting a movie is a transaction in contract between willing participants. The contract governs. Failure to return the movie within a specified time is typically covered by a penalty clause in the contract, without which the Blockbuster would have to prove actual monetary damages for loss of use in court. Failure to return the movie at all is a conversion to the renter's use of Blockbuster's personal property. However, it is not theft. The renter has acquired possession of the tape lawfully, and it is a civil matter whether the renter must even return it. Certainly Blockbuster could argue for the price, and penalties, but they cannot argue it was theft. It wasn't. We do not arrest people for overholding a residential tenancy, or failing to pay their rent the last month before abandoning the premises. Instead, they are sued, civilly.

If you are sued for damages or breach of contract and you fail to attend court, the court does not issue a warrant, they grant a judgment in default. That judgment can then be registered against the debtor and collected by way of garnishment or bank accounts, seizure and sale of preoerty, etc. But there is no criminal penalty for failing to pay a lawful judgment against you. In fact, you can even declare bankruptcy and have the whole debt wiped out.

It sounds like this State passed a law that criminalized failure to return rental cars by legislating a presumption that the car is stolen. Perhaps they felt the presumption of innocence commonly associated with accusations of criminality was outdated in the context of a modern Police State.

Now, the Police are using that same law to charge people with a "crime" for being accused of failing to return a video, the possession of which was lawfully obtained. How anyone can support such an outrageous misuse of the powers of arrest and criminal law is a mystery to me.

In such a circumstance, this woman could have been summarily executed if she failed to go along with the "police officers". Only the most infantile understanding of civil and criminal law could lead a person to conclude that there is no problem with arresting and criminally charging someone for failing to return a video rental.

The Police State is here, and most of you folks, lick it up like ice cream on a warm summers day. Enjoy it.

[patriot31u]

You know I thought that most rental stores took your credit card number so they could just charge the movie to you if you kept it for like 60 days overdue. Granted some people dont have credit cards. But why if they are going to all of this trouble didnt they file a lawsuit against the individual. This seems ridiculous.

[Revolting cat!]

Shoplift? BLAM! Jaywalk? BLAM! Speed? BLAM!

Naw, I think that would be unreasonable. The reasonable solution would be to establish a federal agency to regulate video rentals, along with educational programs to educate the public about the etiquette of renting, playing, rewinding and returning videos and DVD's. Sort of like the successful midnight basketball program. What do you think?

[toenail]

"The Libertarian Party could make a valuable contribution to society by serving as an intellectual guidepost for the Republican Party."

Government schooling is one of the most pressing cases where the LP has shirked its natural calling. When Bush called for more students to consider becoming teachers, the LP should have pounced. They're leaving important matters unchallenged.

[discostu]

My brother-in-law got arrested for a bounced check. Same kind of thing as you: released because the company went out of business in the intervening years.

While it's easy to laugh this off because it's a video I think people are missing the real point. A rental agreement is a contract and legally binding, whether what you're renting is a video or a skiphauler failure to return the item is a violation of the contract and against the law. Nobody here would think it was excessive to arrect had it been a U-Haul she never returned.

[Libertarian_4_eva]

NO, obviously she needs to make restitution, no libertarian has ever tried to justify theft because of the size of the concern being robbed. The point is the apparent mis-allocation of police resources and miapplication of felony theft law to a petty theft. Got me to thinking about the RICO act being applied to pro-life protestors

The RICO act is a perfect example of what law to use against pro-lifers by pro abortion political leaders and judges. Its sad but you will see it being used against them for nothing more then protesting something they see as wrong.

[toenail]

"Toenail, do you agree with this arrest or not?"

Need more info. Theft is theft, but video stores have been wrong before. Did they contact her? Every time I've had movies out more than a few days, they've bugged the hell out of me. This report is too sketchy.

[riley1992]

"Toenail, do you agree with this arrest or not?"

Need more info

LOL. There you go, Guillermo. We have now come full circle and still have no concrete answer. Greener pastures await.