I am pleased how X/Twitter responded to this request.
X/Twitter notified the person, sent a copy of the the subpoena, suggested legal representation, provided recommendations, and defied the NYPD order of silence.
I am baffled by the fact that NYPD can avoid the determination of legality by withdrawing subpoenas.
It seems like it would be in X/Meta/Alphabet's interest to get the question in front of a judge in order to require warranted subpoenas.
Did Michael Gerber, the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters, commit the crime of perjury by signing a document asserting he had authority which clearly he did not?
It's also odd that the PDF redacted the name of Michael Gerber, the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters, when the NYPD issued a press announcement naming him (https://www.publicnow.com/view/A505A75813F7F2F483905D075F4AD...) and tout him on their public website (https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/administrative/legal.p...)
It seems that either Michael Gerber, the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters, is clueless about the law, which reflects poorly on his Harvard Law alma matter, or Michael Gerber, the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters, was illegally using threats and coercion and false subpoenas to investigate political opponents and chill free speech.
Either way, this does not reflect well on Michael Gerber, the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters, nor the Harvard Law school from which he allegedly graduated.
I've lived in NYC for almost 15 years. I've never seen a more corrupt and shiftless organization than the NYPD. It's almost comical. I grew up in a small, Midwestern town and was never anti-cop until moving here, and it got immeasurably and irreparably worse during the George Floyd protests. Every single time anything ever got accelerated or instigated, it was by the police and not by a single protestor. Between the kettling, the instigation, and disrespect it became clear that they're a glorified gang that has operates with almost complete impunity and it shocks me that anyone in the city respects them or considers them a friend to the common good.
The most common run-in I have with them is standing at a crosswalk or sitting in an Uber and watching them put on the sirens and move everyone out of the way just so they don't have to sit in traffic. I'd estimate seeing this happen, oh, I don't know, about a thousand times while simultaneously I have never once seen them pull anyone over for any kind of traffic or moving violation.
If he wanted, he could continue to press this in court, even after its was withdrawn. There is precedent in at least some jurisdictions for this: otherwise, bad actors could keep avoiding judicial scrutiny just like the NYPD is doing here.
I love the closing quote.
> Clancy, for his part, said that he's undaunted, and that the NYPD has no business rummaging through his social media content and metadata.
> "Why would you use a shower curtain and close the bathroom door when you take a shower, if you have nothing to hide?" he asked. "Because it's none of your business, that's why. What the police might want to know and what they have a legal right to know are two different things."Unaddressed is why nothing is done, by the target of the subpeona, the NYCLU, the court, the city, or someone else, about this practice and about the apparent investigation into critics.
They all seem to treat it as a one-off event, when it doesn't seem to be. I can guess at the difficulties involved, but the question isn't raised and the issues aren't examined.
The lawyers in the NYPD that signed off on the subpoena should face ethics charges. There seems to be no gray area here on multiple levels. The NYPD knew it wasn't a valid subpoena and they told X not to inform the account holder.
What's HIDTA? Is that the "high intensity drug trafficking area"? What does that have to do with cop-watching? Maybe they're trying to plant some cocaine on this guy and get him sent away?
Also wtf kind of email is IntelSubpoenas@nynjhidta.org? I guess it probably means "New York New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area" but why do they need their own domain? Why not just use an NYPD email?
Weird stuff.
https://lede-admin.hellgatenyc.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/...
The NYPD actually has 'international offices':
* https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nypd-stationed-oversea...
* https://archive.is/ZOYiw / https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/nyregion/terrorism-nypd-i...
it really is funny how much abuse by the government people in the US will tolerate if it's by cops and not the tax office or trying to make the health insurance market slightly less insane.
why is that? is it like australia, where everyone is just deep down a narc?
Why would a subpoena have a warrant?
"warrantless subpoena" is a nonsense phrase.
> Mallory McGee, an attorney with the NYPD Legal Bureau, using another email attached to the drug task force.
This action puts Mallory at risk of getting disbarred. Submitting illegal subpoena's under the color of authority is fraudulent and a disbarrable offense.
Multiple people at the NYPD broke the law and should face criminal action.
> The notification included a copy of the subpoena, which warned X not to tell Clancy of its existence. "You are not to disclose or notify any customer or third party of the existence of this subpoena or that records were provided pursuant to this subpoena," the document read.
> But X, following its own corporate policy, told Clancy anyway, and suggested he might want to get some legal representation to fight the subpoena, recommending the American Civil Liberties Union.
That's actually the first decent thing I've heard about x since the rename. Good job!
(I assume there won't be any penalties for this action given that it was warrantless in the first place.)
The NYPD is well known for taking attempts at oversight personally[1][2], overstepping both regulatory and legal limits in the process.
[1]: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/08/29/cop-left-creepy-voice...
[2]: https://gothamist.com/news/nypd-officer-poses-as-311-operato...
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In many countries, if you're eg. an engineer, and you fuck things up, you can become personally responsible for whatever damages happened due to your negligence. The company has its own responsibilities, but you, as an engineer carry some personal responsibility too.
Same for eg. doctors... yes, hospital can get sued, but if you, a doctor, a person, fucked up, you personally can get sued, get into trouble, lose your licence etc.
Same for truck drivers... drive too fast, kill someone, drive drunk, play flappy bird while driving... you personally responsible. Pilots, ship captains too.
etc.
Why the hell are all the public workers exempt from that? Cops, government workers, inspectors, etc.... in the best case possible, taxpayers pay for the damages and that's it. Why?! Someone wanted this subpoeana, his job is to know if s/he can actually request it, s/he signed his/her name on the paper... and then.. nothing?