Police respond to reports of a crime. (Getty Images)
Now, I’m all for a little civil disobedience from time to time. Think of Henry David Thoreau being thrown in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax — his way of speaking out against government complicity in slavery.
That’s taking a stand.
“Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them,” he opined in 1849.
But lately, it seems like people have zero regard for law and order.
First, we ran a Stateline story about state and local legislators in Tennessee and Pennsylvania cracking down on the use of “license plate flippers” — devices that allow drivers to obscure or conceal their license plates at the press of a button. It’s very James Bond, I guess.
Police say they are being used to avoid tickets and tolls. It’s generally illegal across the United States to alter or obstruct a license plate, no matter the method, but this takes it to a whole other level.
Then, an Indiana legislative panel heard scary testimony from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office about alleged criminals using signal jammers.
Interim panel hears testimony on signal jammers with ‘terrorism’ potential
When deputies pulled up to investigate a burglary, their radios and computers stopped working.
Signal jammers can block Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and more — impacting devices like phones, doorbell cameras and wireless alarm systems. Sheriff Noah Robinson said one his office discovered had a mile range.
“One doesn’t have to take this too much further to see this has other uses as well, particularly from the terrorism aspect,” he warned.
The jammers are illegal on the federal level but state lawmakers might pass a state law as well, making it easier for local police to enforce a ban.
I realize people will always break laws, but it seems society has tipped more that way in recent years. Scrolling through social media is full of videos where people are beating each other up and bystanders cheer. And, often, the comments are encouraging the vigilante behavior.
Shouldn’t they be calling the police instead of taking a video?
And that brings me to Election Day on Nov. 5. I fear that some people will resort to violence, and I am pleading for civil discourse instead.
Facing increased threats to election workers and superheated political rhetoric, more states are considering banning firearms at polling places and ballot drop boxes. New Mexico became the latest state to restrict guns where people vote or hand in ballots, joining at least 21 other states with similar laws — some banning either open or concealed carry but most banning both. Indiana doesn’t ban firearms at polling places.
We should all be highly aware that we won’t have complete election results the night of — or even the morning after — Election Day. Mail-in ballots take longer to count, and more Americans are using that method than ever before.
It doesn’t make the election suspect. It simply means it takes a while to count ballots and all 50 states have different processes. Some jurisdictions even require hand counts of ballots.
One thing I think would help the situation is if major news outlets would stop calling races based on exit polling. Let the election officials do their job. Calling a race moments after a poll closes makes people feel like their votes don’t count.
After seeing frustration boil over Jan. 6, 2021, I can only hope that cooler heads prevail this year and violence doesn’t occur.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.