Liberty Minute January 28 2014

 Buried beneath the tabloid-bait aspects of Justin Bieber's recent arrest is an illustration of the absurd ease with which police can turn harmless behavior into a criminal offense.

 In addition to a DUI count and related traffic infractions, Bieber was charged with ?resisting arrest without violence.? This supposed crime consisted of reflexively pulling his arm away when a police officer attempted to handcuff him.

 Police are trained to bellow ?Stop resisting!? the instant they put hands on a suspect, and to tack on a resisting arrest charge in the fashion of a football team kicking an extra point following a touchdown.. However, Florida is the only state whose criminal code explicitly criminalizes peaceful non-cooperation with police.

 In 2006 an Orlando ABC affiliate studied 4,000 cases in which resisting arrest was the sole charge filed. Most of those thus charged took a plea bargain. In one 2010 case, an innocent man needlessly assaulted by police was charged with ?resisting arrest? because he tried to cover his head while being beaten.

 The mindset that gave rise to that prosecution isn't much different from the one institutionalized in ancient Sparta, where the police had permission to kill slaves at their discretion.

 Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.