How much is your Liberty worth?

It was once said that the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance. John Philpot Curran, July 10, 1790:

“The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he breaks, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime.”

Now that we have lost our liberty, what are the damages to you if you are innocent of any crime but detained, handcuffed or questioned and then released?

When Tampa, Florida police detained Mr. Trezevant in 1984 for 23 minutes, he sued for $25,000.

Trezevant v. Tampa, 741 F.2d 336, determined that damages to liberty in 1984, accrued at a rate of more than $1000 per minute, which is more than 1½ million dollars per day.

That was in 1984 dollars, be sure to adjust your damages for inflation.

As you consider the damage to your own liberty, remember that you have equal protection of the law.
• As was the case in Trezevant, there is no requirement that there be an arrest
• As was the case in Trezevant, official policy or custom is the “moving force of the constitutional violation”
• As was the case in Trezevant, governments are liable for any unconstitutional deprivation of liberty caused by government “custom” even if such custom has not received formal approval through governing body’s official decision making channels
• As was the case in Trezevant, there is no requirement that the policy itself be unlawful
• Your State’s definition of Kidnapping does not require any element of physical restraint, nor does your State definition of “Unlawful imprisonment”.  Both are violations of liberty.
• As in Trezevant, such award is not excessive.
• And as in Trezevant, such award is compensatory not punitive.  To compensate for your loss of liberty, not to punish police behavior.

But Liberty is so much more than physical restraint.

US Supreme Court in Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 US 390, 399: The term Liberty

“… denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint, but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, to establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his/her own conscience… the established doctrine is that this liberty may not be interfered with under the guise of protecting public interest, by legislative action which is arbitrary or without reasonable relation to some purpose within the competency of the state to effect.”

Are you denied the right to contract, engage in any common occupation, acquire knowledge, marry, bring up children, worship God?

What better way to eliminate corrupt officers than to collect damages from their bond?

If you want a good online law course that explains procedures and rules showing how our courts work, I recommend this self-help course: How To Win In Court.

I also recommend RuleOfLawRadio.com