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Comment by openthc | Hacker News Reader

A little different in USA...question some authority and next thing you know that authority is paying extra special attention to you and your clients (cause we're all overseen by the same agency). At least with FOIA we can get some of the details. And no arrests; just fines and hassle.

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https://theintercept.com/2023/02/05/ron-desantis-florida-vil...

A governor popular enough to be considered for presidential run put a local official in jail for getting in the way of a developer family that had enough pull with the governor.

> On January 30, 2023, a gaunt, 72-year-old Oren Miller — by then a former commissioner, ousted from his seat by a DeSantis decree — was brought handcuffed into the Marion County Courthouse. He had lost 20-plus pounds in the 75 days he spent jailed awaiting sentencing on a felony charge for, essentially, nothing. Or, perhaps more accurately, for fighting back against a powerful, well-heeled ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

This situation is horrific and should have never happened, but to be clear the prosecution was for violating sunshine laws. So the conviction was not for speech, but rather for failing to conduct that speech in public.

Edit: it was actually for perjury during the sunshine investigation.

The prosecution isn't the issue, it's that they put a 75 year old man, who was not a threat to his community and who likely wouldn't flee prosecution due to his age and his connections locally, into jail/prison for 75 days.

That's where the "political prisoner" part comes from. They can prosecute all they want for what may or may not have been a violation, but the overzealousness shown is obviously retribution against this guy.

That's not clear and correct. The conviction was about 'perjury' committed under a subpoena for the sunshine laws investigation concerning a fact (when the phone calls stopped) that turned out immaterial to the sunshine law charges. The prosecution of the supposed Sunshine Laws violation was not successfully completed. The conviction was for speech

I don't think perjury is usually included as part of free speech either, but I take your point. Edited.

A little different in Australia.

Report on corruption and have your house fire bombed

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/23/polic...

I disagree. I've called Senior Legislative Aides and Congressmembers explicitives when I was still on the Hill and haven't had an impact on my professional career.

Fred Hampton may have opinions about how different things are… Or aren’t.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hampton

> And no arrests

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/2023/01/12/p...

Yeah, there are sometimes arrests. And the worst part is that the courts actually recognize these arrests were unconstitutional, but because of qualified immunity these guys can't seek any redress from the police.

You sue their employer.

As of about a month ago, the Supreme Court said they can't, when they rejected Novak's appeal.

If you think things in the US are anywhere near comparable, you're severely underestimating how prevalent and severe this sort of retaliation/harassment is in India.

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