It’s #STFUfriday!
When cops ask you questions, ask for a lawyer and then STFU:
- I am not discussing how I’m doing or where I’m going.
- Am I free to leave?
- I am not answering any questions.
- If they ask to search anything: "I do not consent to a search."
- I want to talk to a lawyer.
You got arrested. You can’t make bail. The only calls you can make are collect calls from the jail.
The calls are recorded and monitored. You have no choice!
STFU about the case on those calls! 🧵
Let’s center the broader problem here. People with means can make bail and then have private conversations with anyone they want. Poor people get held, their visits are normally limited and not private, and their calls are recorded and monitored. Two systems. It’s not right.
Do they actually record and listen to those calls? Yes! Prosecutors regularly use those calls as investigative tools. /2
And yes, we suspect they are now using AI to listen for and flag certain words.
Are you angry someone is lying about you? Talk about it on the phone, ambiguous words get misinterpreted, and are then held against you and BAM, you’ve got a whole new charge: witness intimidation. /4
The only private calls you can make from a jail are to a lawyer at a phone number that you have registered with the jail as a lawyer’s phone number. Yes, they check.
How can this be legal? It’s wiretapping, right? Nope, all the calls have that little warning saying they are recorded and monitored. So it’s permissible, even though you have no choice! /5
Every lawyer will tell you not to talk about your case on jail phones. That’s correct. To people on the outside: DO NOT ASK DETAINED PEOPLE ABOUT THEIR CASES. You are harming them.
Even the mildest conversation can hurt. Pleading for bail money? Telling people how horrible the conditions are inside the jail? If a prosecutor hears things like that, they know you’re desperate to get out. It could make them less likely to offer a favorable plea deal. They know they’ve got leverage. /6
The whole thing is obscene.
As with every #STFUfriday post, I'm a lawyer in the USA. These comments are based on law in the USA. (And they apply to all people in the USA, whether or not they are citizens.) Some US states provide more protections than this. /end
Dave Nathanson
Wulfy—Speaker to the machines