I know my rights!
A few years ago I was on one of the Stop the War marches in Edinburgh - parading all over the town, with a plan to end at the American Embassy to deliver a petition asking for them to withdraw forces - that kinda thing.

We had made our way round the town happily enough, but when we came up to the Embassy, which lives on a cobbled side-street off the main road, there were barriers and fencing in position across the road, and a large collection of police, who informed us that there was a road closure order in force.

As a then-overenthusiastic law student, I decided to investigate. Wandering over the barriers I read the road closure order in great details, and discovered one fatal flaw in their plans - it applied to vehicles and not to pedestrians. I had done it! I had found a way to beat the authoritative regime and exert my rights as a free citizen of this noble land!

Smugly, I sauntered over to the nearest constable and asked to speak to the man in charge. After a few minutes a very large sergeant wanders over, and I begin to smugly explain how the road closure doesn't apply to us, how we can walk down the road, that they should move the barriers etc etc. He listens politely as I reel off my rights, smiles briefly, then utters the immortal words:

'If any of you lot try to wander down there I'll have you banged up for breach of the peace - so stop complaining about your rights and get back to waving some banners or something.'

Moral of the story: whenever you think you've got one over the legal system, remember its a very big book, and it'll still hurt even if they only throw a small part of it at you...
(Mattle, Wed 11 May 2011, 10:50, 3 replies)

I was on that march
and I remember getting to the American Embassy regardless, so the man had it stuck to him in the end (except the bit where he didn't give a shit about public opinion and went to war anyway).
(StapMyVitals wouldn't mind a bit of that, Wed 11 May 2011, 16:36, closed)

The moral is that the Police are criminals.
They deliberately obstructed your progress despite having no legal right to do so.
They're thugs for hire and nothing more.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Wed 11 May 2011, 18:35, closed)

Indeed. That's how society works.
No one said life was fair.

Welcome in.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 12 May 2011, 10:57, closed)