San Francisco is just stupid

Seems easy to me..

 

What's the issue?

False calls to 911 are illegal anyway.

But if it's done with the "specific intent" to harass a person because of their race, like the birdwatching Karen, they should definitely get their ass sued over that too. Of course they probably already had that right. So this act might not actually do anything at all. I think the language "specific intent" covers your concern about more legitimate 911 calls, where a person credibly thinks they are witnessing a crime. If a reasonable person thinks a crime might be taking place, then there would be no "specific intent" to harass.

 

Does SF really have a problem with people calling 911 with the specific intent to discriminate or is this just a perceived issue because of social media?

 

San Francisco has a history of leading the nation in certain kinds of legislation long before they become nationally popular. I don't really mind redundant laws when said laws are meant to provide protections to historically marginalized groups. It's not like SF was creating a law regarding farm subsidies.

 

What’s wrong with existing law?Nothing.

What’s wrong with this additive law? Nothing.

Why are we discussing seemingly pointless San Fran city council ordinances? No idea.

 

Seems like a better idea than criminalizing such calls, the "see something say something" society needs to wind down.

 

What if it discourages people from running to the government anytime they see a black person walking down the sidewalk or a person they don't know in their neighborhood simply minding their own business?

 

Ultimately though, as with anything like this, proving intent will be extremely difficult, though in a civil case the burden of proof will be lower.

 

Making a false 911 call is illegal.

Threatening someone with a 911 call over their race should be too, San Francisco should have spelled out more specific penalties. Otherwise I’m not even sure what this does. I would have assumed the victims of these Karen’s already had a right to sue the false accusers (not just the city), but maybe having a law on the books helps the legal machinations.

 

There was an incident that was posted on this very board for discussion. You can google "San Francisco Chalk Karen"

SF 'Karen' Filmed Confronting Pacific Heights Man Over Writing 'Black Lives Matter' on His Property

 

Why would this discourage people from reporting crimes? Sounds like it only addresses “standing on the sidewalk while black” reports. Actually, because of the “specific intent” the law may not even be that strong.

There is a burden of proof. It requires proof of intent, so like the cocker spaniel Karen who didn’t like being told to put a leash on her dog ”I’m gonna call and tell them an African American is assaulting me”. She outed herself. That is specific intent AND a criminal false report. How many other cases are that clear? Probably not a whole lot. But maybe it has a nominal effect on people who would make race assumptions without seeing an actual crime.

 

I don't understand why everything has to be a crime. I think civil penalties like fines or community service are more appropriate for things like this. I'm wary of turning people into criminals over things like this.

 

Good luck proving discriminatory intent, although plaintiffs can get a good laugh out of forcing defendants to pay for lawyers.

 

How can it both discourage people from reporting real crimes and not discourage people from reporting fake crimes?

 

Isn't that the idea?

 

Do you think “swatting” should be just a fine - or a slap on the wrist?

I think it mostly depends on the severity. If someone makes an innocent mistake, even one based on racial prejudice, then no of course it should not be criminal. Apparently that’s what San Fran thinks too! As they are just considering it civil, I think it would be better if they just spelled out the fines. I..e $1000 for first offense, $10,000 for 2nd offense, and go from there. They are basically just stating a person has a right to sue. But doesn’t a person pretty much always have a right to sue (except where you’ve signed your rights away to a corporation)?

But if you show intent AND make the false report, knowingly filling a false report is already criminal even without the race angle. If you ratchet it up to Swatting someone, I’d even consider that felonious level.