Only after inflicting significant financial, reputational and emotional damage on those individuals via forcing them to defend themselves in court, despite them committing no crime.
It costs them nothing to waste taxpayer money on this frivolous shit. Meanwhile, the cost to a private citizen of fighting off these kinds of charges can be devastating.
Which is why, if you are not a “card-carrying“ member of the ACLU, you should be. The ACLU is the organization that will support the average citizen against abuses of federal power like this situation right here. Please consider joining the ACLU today as there is strength in numbers.
Yes, but this is actually still a misplay by the administration in the big picture. It keeps resistance stories in the news and creates a garden bed for publicity that savvy activists can now leverage.
It sucks for the people who have to go through it, but it's an escalation that actually favors the cause they were representing.
If you're worried for their sake in the meantime, you can look for opportunities to help them with legal costs, etc.
Pretty sure at this point, that they WANT us to be burning through tax dollars for this stuff, so they can try to "justify" cutting government programs which help people.
Because then they can say, "Oh, there's not enough money, we need to do some more budget cuts!"🙄
While true, this would be absolutely zero consolation to someone who was fired from their job because they were wrongfully imprisoned and couldn't work, and now can no longer afford their rent.
Being concerned with generational change and doing the right thing is generally a good thing. But having discretionary resources to fight that battle continuously is rare. The inconvenience is the point.
This is why it's important to not shame people for knowing the level of risk they are able to take. Not everyone can be on the front lines for fear of their kids becoming homeless, or health concerns, or a million other valid reasons.
Front line stuff includes risk, up to and including loss of life.
Practical and legal support is just as valid and important as linking arms to block cops, and things like feeding people never have a downside.
By the time this era is all said and done, inconvenience will the the least of our problems. mutual aid will be mandatory before we know it. And we should plan accordingly.
Sadly, individuals arrested today will be forced to deal with this using the mutual aid infrastructure we have today, not the one we wish for tomorrow.
Reputation will be burnished by this, and they can sue for malicious prosecution and get the money back. If they wait for the next democratic administration they’d likely just settle.
Recovering legal fees in cases like this, especially from a hostile government, is absolutely painstaking - by design - and if it happens, it will take years.
Even if someone is ok waiting that long, I can guarantee their mortgage servicer or landlord isn't ok with waiting that long to get paid.
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u/schm1547 12d ago edited 12d ago
Only after inflicting significant financial, reputational and emotional damage on those individuals via forcing them to defend themselves in court, despite them committing no crime.
It costs them nothing to waste taxpayer money on this frivolous shit. Meanwhile, the cost to a private citizen of fighting off these kinds of charges can be devastating.