General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTexas Representative Proposes Bill to Make Filming the Police Illegal for Everyone But MSM
Austin, Texas On Tuesday, a bill was filed by Texas Representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas), HB 2918, which would turn private citizens who film police into criminals.
The bill attempts to usurp citizens of the ability to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions by negating peoples ability to create an accurate and impartial record of police interactions.
If passed, the bill would amend the current INTERFERENCE WITH PUBLIC DUTIES statute (Sec. 38.15), to include language only allow filming of police (within 25ft) by news media.
The term news media is then defined as such:
(A) a radio or television station that holds a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission;
(B) a newspaper that is qualified under Section 2051.044, Government Code, to publish legal notices or is a free newspaper of general circulation and that is published at least once a week and available and of interest to the general public in connection with the dissemination of news or public affairs; or
(C) a magazine that appears at a regular interval, that contains stories, articles, and essays by various writers, and that is available and of interest to the general public in connection with the dissemination of news or public affairs.
Notice that private citizens, and internet based sites are not listed as qualifying as news media, thus allowing the marginalization of anyone that is not part of the old corporate media structure. This also means that a citizen wouldnt be able to record their own interaction with an officer.
The law is intentionally structured in this manner as a means of controlling the narrative of police-involved incidents. Traditional news outlets often rely almost solely on police talking points when running a story involving the police. Its extremely rare for them to allow the victims version of events to be part of the narrative, especially when conflicting with that of the police.
<snip>
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/texas-representative-seeks-filming-police-illegal/#6GepH1SxljTlVMra.99
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)that a Democrat would do that.
Man, this guy is a fucking asshole.
villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)Jason Villalba (born March 26, 1971) is an attorney for the firm Haynes and Boone in his native Dallas, Texas,[1] who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 114 in Dallas County.[2]
Villalba is the only Hispanic Republican freshman member of the Texas House in 2013.[3] His district is affluent, largely Anglo, and spans north Dallas from Lake Highlands to Preston Hollow.
Background
As a child, Villalba became interested in the televised speeches of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan According to an interview in D Magazine, Villalba saw an improvement in his own family's economic standing during the Reagan administration: "We could actually go on a vacation. Things changed for us for the better."[4] As a result Villalba became a Republican at an early age. Unlike many Texas Republicans, he is not a former Democrat.[4]
A fourth-generation Texan, Villalba graduated from South Grand Prairie High School in Grand Prairie in the Mid-Cities section of Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties. He then studied economics and finance at Baylor University in Waco and subsequently received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.[4] At Haynes and Boone, Villalba specializes in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, private securities, and general corporate law.[5]
Villaba is a member of the Dallas Childrens Trust, the fund-raising mechanism for the Children's Medical Center. He has also served on the development committee for the Dallas Zoo. He became the chairman of the Dallas chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, a political outreach organization founded in 1967. Through this capacity he became a supporter of Mitt Romney in the 2008 presidential campaign. Four years later, Romney repaid the favor, while on a stop in Texas, he took time to endorse Villalba in the state House primary. Romney called him "a capable and effective leader." Romney made no other endorsement of this kind while running for president for the second time in 2012.
Villalba and his wife, Brooke, reside with their two daughters in the Preston Hollow neighborhood in north Dallas. He is Methodist.
Political career
When Republican Representative Will Ford Hartnett did not seek reelection after twenty-two years in the legislature, Villalba won the Republican nomination in a contested runoff election in District 114. His opponent, Bill Keffer of Dallas, had been from 2003 to 2007 the representative in District 107. Bill Keffer is the brother of still-serving District 60 Representative Jim Keffer, a Republican from Eastland, near Abilene, Texas.[6]
In addition to the support from Romney, Villalba was endorsed by retiring U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who said Jason Villalba is a hard-working, forward-thinking leader who we can depend on to lead for today and for the next generation of Texans.[7] She also referred to him as "the future." [7] Hutchison also made no other endorsement of a candidate in 2012.[4]
In the May 29 primary, the 1,138 votes (11.4 percent) polled by David Boone were sufficient to require a second round of balloting on July 31 between Keffer, who led with 4,745 votes (47.5 percent), and Villaba, who finished with 4,114 ballots. (41.2 percent).[8]
In the Republican runoff, held along with the Ted Cruz-David Dewhurst contest to choose the nominee for Hutchison's U.S. Senate successor, Villalba reversed the order of finish to defeat Keffer, 6,100 (51.8 percent) to 5,683 (48.2 percent).[9] Villalba attributes his victor over Keffer to "shoe leather and determination".[4]
In the general election, Villalba defeated former Democratic Representative Carol Kent, 33,970 votes (54.2 percent to Kent's 28,762 (45.8 percent).[10] In the 2008 general election, Kent had unseated Republican Representative Tony Goolsby of Richardson in the neighboring District 102. She served one term from 2009 to 2011,[11] having been unseated in 2010 by the African-American Republican Stefani Carter.
Legislative record
Villalba serves on the House committees on (1) Business and Industry, (2) Environmental Regulations, and (3) Redistricting.[5]
In 2013, Representative Villalba voted with the majority in both legislative houses to require enhanced safety standards in clinics performing abortions and to forbid the practice after twenty weeks of gestation.[1] State Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth staged a nationally-watched filibuster against these measures, which have since been signed into law by Governor Rick Perry.[12]
Villalba voted to require narcotics testing of those receiving unemployment compensation. He voted against a free breakfast program for pupils in public schools.[1] He voted for House Bill 950, which would have required Texas to establish state standards of equal pay for equal work regardless of sex. Such requirements were passed nationally through the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The House vote for passage was 78 to 61, but after approval in the Texas Senate, the bill was vetoed by Governor Perry.[13]
Villalba voted against term limits for the statewide constitutional officers, including the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the attorney general. The measure died, 61-80, in the House.[14] Villalba voted to forbid the use of state funds to enforce national gun-control laws. He voted to reduce the required hours for concealed handgun training courses. He supported the authorization of concealed handguns on college campuses. He voted to establish school marshals.[1]
<snip>
On March 10, 2015, Villaba introduced a Nazi like bill to ban private citizens from videotaping police officers while police officer work, allowing only prior approved sources from filming arrests.[16] The bill, House Bill 2918, seeks to overturn the 2011 U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruling, Glik v. Cunniffe, which states that citizens have right to videotape police in action.[17]
Someone got in a sneaky edit on Wikipedia - "Villaba introduced a Nazi like bill to ban private citizens from videotaping police officers while police officer work..."
adieu
(1,009 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)The intent can only be evil.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
Xipe Totec
(43,890 posts)n/t
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)All we have to do to stop police criminality is vote in new judges and prosecutors (or representatives that appoint them).
Behind every criminal cop is a complacent and/or complicit court system.
Trillo
(9,154 posts)It's okay for police to gather evidence against citizens: it's not okay for citizens to gather evidence against police.
From the article,
This is an unmistakable example of the ruling class attempting to provide cover for its paid enforcers.
Panich52
(5,829 posts)From ACLU:
(Updated July 2014)
Taking photographs of things that are plainly visible from public spaces is a constitutional right and that includes federal buildings, transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties. Unfortunately, there is a widespread, continuing pattern of law enforcement officers ordering people to stop taking photographs from public places, and harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply.
Your rights as a photographer:
When in public spaces where you are lawfully present you have the right to photograph anything that is in plain view. That includes pictures of federal buildings, transportation facilities, and police. Such photography is a form of public oversight over the government and is important in a free society.
.
.
Special considerations when videotaping:
With regards to videotaping, there is an important legal distinction between a visual photographic record (fully protected) and the audio portion of a videotape, which some states have tried to regulate under state wiretapping laws.
More
https://www.aclu.org/kyr-photo
AND
from infowars:
The state of Illinois has some of the harshest eavesdropping laws on the books, and those statutes have been frequently abused to prosecute individuals for filming police actions in public in numerous cases.
Now, a fresh Supreme Court decision has declared this to be a violation of the First Amendment, refusing to hear an appeal from Cook County officials to allow prosecution of those recording cops, and instead upholding a lower court decision that resulted from an ACLU lawsuit.
Violations of the eavesdropping statute, designed to prevent covert recordings without consent, but which have been applied to public photography, carry a harsh maximum sentence of 15 years in Illinois, while most states recognize the lack of a perception of privacy in public places.
http://www.infowars.com/supreme-court-upholds-right-to-film-police-even-in-illinois/
Faryn Balyncd
(5,125 posts)K and R.
whereisjustice
(2,941 posts)buy public office, this is what we'll get.
The police are empowered to shoot and kill anyone who looks at them funny and we are nearly powerless to hold them accountable. Even more disturbing is the lack of any representation on this problem from the Democratic Party.