[emersonbiggins]

When all else fails, go for the trumped-up charge; that's what I always say!

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')tanding in the Place Where He Was; He Stands Accused, Refuses to Stand and Lose; But He's Still Standing, Better Than He Ever Did; Won't Stand Up for Falling Down

Radley Balko | October 19, 2007, 8:51am

It's apparently a crime to stand still on the streets of Manhattan:

...when Matthew Jones of Brooklyn lingered on the corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue in the early morning of June 12, 2004, gabbing with friends as other pedestrians tried to get by, something unusual happened: He was arrested for it.

A police officer said Mr. Jones was impeding other pedestrians and charged him with disorderly conduct.

Mr. Jones is not taking the charges lying down (so to speak). After trying twice to get the charges dismissed, he has taken his case to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, which heard arguments here on Wednesday.

In the prosecution’s view, it appears, the innocent do not dawdle. According to the original complaint against Mr. Jones, the officer “observed defendant along with a number of other individuals standing around” on a public sidewalk in June 2004. Mr. Jones was “not moving, and that as a result of defendants’ behavior, numerous pedestrians in the area had to walk around defendants.”

Surely there's more to this story, right? Ms. Prosecutor?

Paula-Rose Stark, a Manhattan assistant district attorney, argued that the facts in the complaint were sufficient for the charge of disorderly conduct. Mr. Jones’s reckless intent, Ms. Stark said, was evident from the fact that his behavior was noticeable in the first place “amid the inevitable hustle and bustle of Times Square, the construction, the vehicular traffic.”
...
Reason Hit & Run

[jasonraymondson]

THe guy was standing on the sidewalk and the police didn't taser him???? What is the world coming to when the police don't excercise their authority and beat the living crap out of people for loitering.

That is the domain of our overlords and these loafers had better start recognizing

[paimei01]

Who has read "The Running Man" by Richard Bachman (Stephen King) ?
In that book the police won't let people just to sit on the sidewalk
People had to move, and because there was a policeman on every corner they had to keep moving

That book describes an overpopulated and polluted America, most of the people being poor and living very bad, and just a few very rich.

It is the world we are heading for, similar to "Soylent Green" world, good thing this peak oil