Unfortunately that makes them martyrs to someone. The most effective punishment for tyrants, anthropologically speaking, is ignominy and shame.
Must of been this guy who signed off on the warrant How do we mock him?
My point is that the energy company isn't the one issuing the warrant. Yes they are the ones trying to drive the pipeline through, but they are being enabled by public servants. Those are the people that are making me angry. It's in the nature of energy companies to be scummy. It shouldn't be in the nature of public servants to act against the public's interest.
Yes but you so want to be angry. And you so want to be angry at someone with a face, doesn't matter who it is, so that you can file the whole world away in a neat little box to feel righteous about because if everything is simple and there are good guys and bad guys you don't have to be challenged by the untidiness of it all. ETP is a publicly-traded company with 21 billion in assets. It's held by six different ETFs and a slough of big public firms - Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, you name it. Which are in turn held by mom'n'pop retirement investors, educational endowments, pension plans. Never mind the fact that they sell oil - which heats your home, makes you electricity and powrs your car - you indirectly benefit from the actions of ETP. We all do. Because capitalism. The judge who signed the warrant is executing law. That's his job. Someone made an argument he found compelling and he practiced his profession. This is bureaucracy - a million tiny pieces adding up to a whole because individual actors with diminished agency can accomplish less overall good and less overall evil. If you bank on the notion that people are basically good, a society made up of the basically good will largely do basic good. Considering wars between democracies are less common than wars between tyrannies, there's reason to believe the thesis. You can have heroes without villains. Focus on the heroes. You'll be a happier person.
Nope. The world is made of people. 'Good guys' sometimes do bad shit, 'bad guys' sometimes do good shit. We all (Including this judge) have the ability to make decisions that are in line with our values, in line with the world that we want to see exist. The board of directors of ETP could have made a different decision, they didn't. This judge could have made a different decision. He didn't. The cops who arrested Goodman could have made a different decision. They didn't. Someone on the side of authority could have made a stand. Now, there's a person in jail who we all agree (I think), should not be in jail. You can't shame a board of directors into making different decisions, at least as far as I can tell. You can't shame a faceless corporation. But you can shame elected officials who are acting against the public interest. 'Death to Tyrants is immature and stupid' Fine. We'll use shame instead. BUT THAT MEANS YOU GOTTA POINT A FINGER AT SOMEBODY. Else who are you shaming? I already feel bad enough about the conflict minerals used to keep me alive.so that you can file the whole world away in a neat little box to feel righteous about because if everything is simple and there are good guys and bad guys you don't have to be challenged by the untidiness of it all.
So, no. 1) Arrest warrant issued. This allows the local constabulary to bring a person into custody where they are 2) Arraigned. This is where they are formally charged with a crime, to which they 3) Plead (guilty, not guilty, nolo contendre), generally after prosecution and defense have reached a deal but if not they go to 4) Trial, where (3) is settled for once and all where a judge and/or jury 5) Adjudicates guilt or innocence and then things move on to 6) Sentencing, which may or may not include prison. Considering an arrest warrant was issued for a class B misdemeanor (which includes, I shit you not, both prostitution and "theft of cable television"), the penalty up for grabs is a thousand dollar fine and up to 30 days in jail. So you're six steps out, bubba. This judge you want to hate? They got to decide whether there was enough evidence for (1), not for (6). Tell me again how you're not oversimplifying in search of outrage. Or, alternatively, explain what the US Marshalls are likely to do for a Class B Misdemeanor bench warrant issued in North Dakota when the subject of said warrant happens to be a Manhattanite journalist safely ensconced several states away.