Shock! Real Life Version of 'Minority Report' Right Here in Florida

From the WND News Center to this writer for MHProNews and this Patch is the following, which will be followed by some additional commentary and a video.

WND

Sheriff admits program to predict crime violated Constitution, has failed

Paying out six-figure settlement while promising scheme never will return
By Bob Unruh | December 7, 2024

A sheriff whose department several years ago implemented a program to predict crime, a move that resulted in the harassment of individuals in the county, has conceded its failure, its violation of the Constitution, and promised it will never return.

The decisions are the result of a lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice (IJ) over the schemes by the sheriff in Pasco County, Florida.

According to a report from the IJ, "For more than three years, the Pasco County, Fla., sheriff vigorously resisted a federal lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice (IJ) challenging a controversial policing program that resulted in repeated harassment of children and their families. Today, on the eve of trial, the sheriff capitulated—admitting that the program resulted in repeated constitutional violations and pledging that it will never resume. "

The legal team explained the challenged program "has been compared to a real-life version of 'Minority Report.' Using a crude computer algorithm, designed to predict who would commit future crimes, the Pasco sheriff's office identified a list of 'prolific offenders.'"

Without evidence, people, many under 18, were placed on the list and their families "were subjected to 'prolific offender checks,' during which deputies looked to cite them for issues like having grass that was too long, missing house numbers, unvaccinated pets, and excessive window tint on parked cars."

It's now gone, the IJ confirmed.

"For years, the Pasco sheriff ran an unconstitutional program, harassing kids and their parents because a glorified Excel spreadsheet predicted they would commit future crimes," charged IJ lawyer Rob Johnson, "Today the sheriff acknowledged that dystopian program violated the Constitution and agreed never to bring it back."

In the agreement settling the dispute, the sheriff confirmed his program violated the Fourth Amendment because while law enforcement has an "implied license" to knock on any resident's door, the scheme involved officers who "exceeded" that by repeatedly confronting their targets.
"Second, the sheriff admitted that the program violated the First Amendment, which protects people from being punished for their 'intimate associations,' like with their family members," the IJ said.

Finally, the program violated the due process requirements of the 14th Amendment because the program interfered with the targets' "liberty interests."

The agreement also includes a "six-figure settlement for the plaintiffs," the IJ reported.
"For years, the Pasco sheriff's office treated me like it could do anything it wanted," Darlene Deegan said. "But today proves that when ordinary people stand up for themselves, the Constitution still means what it says."

Evidence uncovered during the development of the case found that one deputy stated as his agenda against one target, "The goal is to get them to move away or go to prison."
Another deputy bragged about getting his targets evicted from their homes.

The Institute also confirmed it found "hundreds of hours of body camera footage, vividly depicting the harassment of plaintiffs and their families. In one video, deputies walk around the back of a plaintiff's house late at night and knock on his window, telling him to come out of the house so they can write him a code citation. In another video, a deputy expressly tells a plaintiff that they are writing her citations because her son was on their offender list. In another, one deputy tells another they are going to 'keep on harassing them, every single day.'"

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WFLA said the following about the IJ case cited above. "The lawsuit, brought against Sheriff Chris Nocco by defendants who claimed they were targeted and harassed by the agency’s intelligence-led policing program, alleged their Constitutional rights were violated."

“The Pasco County Sheriff has agreed that its program of suspicionless searches violated the Constitution,” Robert McNamara, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, told reporters outside the courthouse."

For those who haven't seen the hit Tom Cruise movie, Minority Report, or who must might need a refresher, the official trailer for that movie is posted below.

We moved to Florida from a deep blue state over a dozen years ago and are happy about the choice. But the troubling case in Pasco County is a reminder that the Constitution means what it says but that it also must be vigorously defended by citizens.

Charles Dickens opens his novel A Tale of Two Cities with a sentence that has become famous, per left-leaning Wikipedia:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.[6]

This writer has his eye on a related matter that is tentatively planned for later this week. Stay tuned. But until then, we must all keep in mind that technology can be good or evil depending on how it is used. Until next time, check out some of the related items as well as lighter fare from our smorgasbord of infotainment here on this Patch .

https://patch.com/florida/lake...

https://patch.com/florida/lake...

https://patch.com/florida/lake...

There are surprising insights into mobile homes and manufactured homes in the fact-packed post above. ICYMI, don't.

https://patch.com/florida/lake...

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> The Creepy Line-Peter Schweizer-Dr. Jordan Peterson-Dr. Robert Epstein

> Movie Buffs – Movie Classic - “Enemy of the State” – Lessons Learned

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> USA Today - David Plouffe and Dem Advisers on Kamala Harris Revelation

> Stunning. Tracking Endowments to Top U.S. College and Universities

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> Niskanen Center Praises Manufactured Home ‘Cost Savings’ and ‘Quality’

> Investopedia on Housing plus Manufactured Housing Assoc US Production

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> Thanking God and Promising a Golden Age for USA and National Healing

> Life Boils Down to Time, Risks, Rewards, Opportunities and Choices

> Top 10 States for Homelessness & Top Cities for Crime=Shocking Lessons

> Why do Liars Lie? Why do those Engaged in Paltering and Spin Palter?

> Controversy-Manufactured Housing Institute-Lesli Gooch-Mark Bowersox

• > ‘Mobile Home Values Rising Faster Than Single-Family’ House-Wow Fact$

--> Realtor-What Is a Manufactured Home? The Next Step Beyond Mobile Homes

• > Orlando RE Agent Smith-Younger Adults Will Need $8500 Monthly for Rent
• > Blankley-Goodbye American Dream? Only 10% Polled Can Buy a House; But
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• ---> Renting? Rent too High? Odds Are DOJ Suit vs RealPage Matters to You
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---> L. A. “Tony” Kovach is a publisher who has earned multiple awards in history. He and his family live in a manufactured home on private property in Winter Haven, FL. He is the co-founder of Manufactured Home Living News.com (MHLivingNews.com) and Manufactured Home Pro News.com (MHProNews.com), trade publications serving segments of the manufactured home industry. Having worked in several segments of the manufactured home industry for over 3 decades, Kovach is a widely acknowledged and often praised expert on manufactured housing. ###