Re: Australia Bans Prayers for Troons-- Up to 5 Years in Prison for Unauthorized Praying

Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

May 3, 2025 at 10:32:38 AM PDT, Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>:

. . .

Then the UK isn't a free society given that a woman was arrested for
praying silently near an abortion clinic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Td5GHNQIgY [5 minutes]

Yes, they have these "protected zones", mostly around abortion clinics,
where all free speech is suspended and you can be arrested for just
existing there if the police determine your presence is anti-abortion
in nature. They've even told people that they can be arrested in their
own homes if their homes fall within one of the zones and they do or
say anything that can be considered opposition to abortion.

Regarding the clips I've seen of people who have been arrested for praying
in one of these zones, my question would be if they're doing it silently,
how do the police know if they're praying or just going over the week's
grocery list in their head? I don't know how burdens of proof work in
England, but I would assume they're at least similar to the U.S. in
that the government has the burden to prove its case, so how does the
government prove the person was engaged in anti-abortion prayer? Does
the government now claim to have the ability to read minds?

I think Rhino's point is well taken.

As to your point, it's the unwritten constitution aspect to common law.
If they had the equivalent of probable cause in the past, then any new law
criminalizing what we'd consider to be ordinary behavior within liberty
we take for granted in America cannot help but erode rights at arrest.

This is a thought crime which, by its very nature, one cannot be
arrested for with probable cause.

Phrasing it in the way we speak of illiberal policing right here on
Usenet, moviePig has already won.

Should we be concerned about other countries? Trump won't commit to due
process. This was from a report of his interview with Meet the Press.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-due-process-canada-greenland-military-action-8da3e853b6cec944ec373fae4d317ac4

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-rejects-concerns-prices-economic-uncertainty-defends-agenda-rcna203512