Posted by Marie, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Feb 26, 2013 at 2:24 pm

I never thought of a washing machine as a deadly weapon

Are laundromats regulated under assault weapon bans?

Posted by Wo\'O Ideafarm, a resident of another community, on Feb 27, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Wo\'O Ideafarm is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

I'd like to know what she did to get charged with "interfering with the duties of a police officer". Another newspaper reported that she was charged with "disobeying a lawful order".

MVPD is fond of this idea that a police officer can issue a lawful order. There is NO SUCH THING as a lawful order. No member of the exectutive branch of government, right up to the President of the United States, can issue an order to a private citizen. That kind of system is called a dictatorship.

The phrase "lawful order" originates in the military context. It is sometimes used, with questionable applicability, to refer to a court order. It is NEVER appropriate when applied to anything that a peace officer utters.

The only significant difference between a peace officer and a private citizen is that the peace officer is an officer of the court and thus can initiate the Court's process. Translation: A peace officer can fill out a Notice to Appear form and ask you to sign it, and a peace officer can file a criminal complaint with the Court. That is the only significant difference.

A peace officer does not have significantly more authority to make an arrest than you do, and a peace officer cannot, except in narrow, particular circumstances described in law, order anyone around.

MVPD: Stop acting as of you are above the law, as if you ARE the law.