I don't really have a security blanket... unless you count Mr. Pointy.

Buffy ,'Lessons'


All Ogle, No Cash -- It's Not Just Annoying, It's Un-American

Discussion of episodes currently airing in Un-American locations (anything that's aired in Australia is fair game), as well as anything else the Un-Americans feel like talking about or we feel like asking them. Please use the show discussion threads for any current-season discussion.

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Nutty - Apr 23, 2003 10:25:11 am PDT #4030 of 9843
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

at this point, who the hell DOESN"T know their Miranda rights??

I think the idea is, in this country at least, it can be so intimidating to be in a police station that people automatically start going "Yes, sir", even when they know that's not in their own best interest. In some states -- I don't know, maybe all of them -- when you're Mirandized, you're required to sign a form specifically waiving those rights before they'll interview you, just to make it 100% clear that you did know those rights, and everyone was on the same table, and if you talked after that you deserved all of the stupid you'd brought upon yourself.


evil jimi - Apr 23, 2003 10:31:22 am PDT #4031 of 9843
Lurching from one disaster to the next.

Would Buffy have to be blonde?

Yes. The entire premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was to have the stereotypical "ditzy blonde victim" of the past, turn out to be the hero.

"You have the right to remains silent, but it may harm your defence if you fail to mention anything you later rely on in court."

Allowing for the fact that I only know this from watching The Bill -- though not as much as I used to, since they ditched the original premise and turned it into Days of Our Old Bill -- I thought the line was: "You have the right to remain silent but it may harm your defence if during questioning you fail to mention something you later rely on in court."

I notice the UK version of Miranda doesn't even mention asking for a legal representative...

Jim didn't give the full spiel. However, they do inform you of your right to have a "brief" when you're being booked in at the station.


meara - Apr 23, 2003 11:17:08 am PDT #4032 of 9843

Yeah, let me just remind myself to not get arrested in a foriegn country where I don't know my rights. Eek. (Not that I do want to get arrested in America either, but...) cause...

However, they do inform you of your right to have a "brief" when you're being booked in at the station

I'd be all "Um, brief what? Brief smoke? Pair of briefs? Legal brief, pick one off the shelf?" (And how weird does brief look when typed more than once? Very weird!)


deborah grabien - Apr 23, 2003 11:22:08 am PDT #4033 of 9843
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.

Yeah, let me just remind myself to not get arrested in a foriegn country where I don't know my rights. Eek.

meara, unless things have really improved? The one to avoid is Switzerland. They can toss you in a cell, give you no contact, keep you there for 72 hours, and escort you to the border. And they aren't obliged by their own law to tell you why.

This actually happened to a friend of mine, a high-visibility lawyer, back in the early eighties. Turned out to be her last name: she was married to someone with the same last name as the old royal family of Yugoslavia, and several of them had been banned from Switzerland. Barbara didn't find this out until she'd been escorted to the French border and told never to come back. Weirdness....


evil jimi - Apr 23, 2003 11:23:29 am PDT #4034 of 9843
Lurching from one disaster to the next.

meara ... "brief" is UK-TV slang for a solicitor.


Betsy HP - Apr 23, 2003 11:25:36 am PDT #4035 of 9843
If I only had a brain...

Darn. I liked the idea of the prisoner demanding a quickie with the bobby of her choice.


bon bon - Apr 23, 2003 11:26:47 am PDT #4036 of 9843
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

Yeah, let me just remind myself to not get arrested in a foriegn country where I don't know my rights. Eek. (Not that I do want to get arrested in America either, but...) cause...

We're not a fun country to get arrested in as a foreign national, either. :(

I think the English promise to use what you don't say against you is also permitted in American trials, but I'm not sure. You can't use the fact that someone asked for an attorney, but if during questioning the suspect didn't mention the alibi he came up with for trial? That's probative.


meara - Apr 23, 2003 11:32:02 am PDT #4037 of 9843

We're not a fun country to get arrested in as a foreign national, either

Oh, totally...especially the past year or three. But at least here I vaguely know my rights. :)


Trudy Booth - Apr 23, 2003 12:41:18 pm PDT #4038 of 9843
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart

the US has a constitution. It isn't stopping John Ashcroft, so far as i can see.

IIRC, someone has to be busted and then make a challenge on constitutional grounds before a law can be chucked for being unconstitutional.

(A little scenario the NRA delights in ignoring.)


bon bon - Apr 23, 2003 12:47:05 pm PDT #4039 of 9843
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

IIRC, someone has to be busted and then make a challenge on constitutional grounds before a law can be chucked for being unconstitutional.

Yes, American courts can only rule on Actual Cases. Other countries' courts-- including the Intl Court of Justice-- can issue advisory opinions, which don't require a case to be before it. I think this is becaue precedent is not controlling in those systems, but I'm not sure.