New ‘Distracted Walking’ Legislation Will Outlaw Texting, and Even Talking, While Walking

The heinous “crime” of “distracted walking” has become the latest trend that cities in the United States are looking to legislate into nonexistence—relying on tax dollars and the extortion of citizens to solve the problem instead of common sense.

Stamford, Connecticut, is the most recent city to join the bandwagon, and its proposal would make texting, and even talking, on an electronic device while walking illegal.  

A report from CBS New York noted that “nationwide pedestrian fatalities jumped about 11 percent last year with nearly 6,000 people killed,” according to the National Governors’ Highway Safety Association.

John Zelinsky, a Stamford City representative who is fully in support of the proposal, claimed that its purpose “is not actually to raise money for the city, but to hopefully educate the public.” He said residents will face an initial fine of $30 if police deem that they fit the description of “distracted walkers.”

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“They’re oblivious to cars,” Zelinsky said. “I don’t want any more injuries or deaths as a result of pedestrians getting hit. We’ve had about four or five within the past three or four years.”

According to CBS New York, most Stamford residents “seemed to like the idea,” of the new proposal. However, residents such as Troy Latham questioned why the city feels the need to legislate common sense.

“I think that’s ridiculous,” Latham said. “If it’s an important text message or call they’re getting, like what if it’s too late, what if their mother’s in the hospital and they need someone to call real quick.”

The proposal in Stamford is based on a ban that was passed in Honolulu, Hawaii, in July. The legislation was passed by a vote of 7-2 by Honolulu’s city council, and its fines range from $15 to $99, depending on how many offenses the individuals have accumulated. The ban goes into effect in October.

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Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters that Honolulu holds “the unfortunate distinction of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our seniors, than almost any other city in the county.”

Honolulu resident Ben Robinson told the city council in a written testimony that he sees this new law as a form of government overreach that infringes on personal freedom. “Scrap this intrusive bill, provide more education to citizens about responsible electronics usage, and allow law enforcement to focus on larger issues,” he said.

In addition to the argument over whether making “distracted walking” illegal is a waste of taxpayer dollars that will enforce a law that should be common sense, there is also the question of how police will handle it, and if there will be an increase in cases of police brutality stemming from incidents where officers stop individuals in an attempt to issue citations for walking and using an electronic device.

As The Free Thought Project has reported, there has been a recent increase in police using excessive force when apprehending individuals for the heinous crime of “jaywalking.”

In June 2016, police used a taser on a mentally ill man while beating him with batons in Bakersfield, California. In August 2016, police choked a high school student and tackled him on the ground in Fresno, California. In April, a viral video showed police repeatedly beating a man, strip him naked, and then mock him, in Del Paso Heights, California. In July, a viral video showed police repeatedly hitting a man as they held him to the ground in Millville, New Jersey. The one thing all of these cases have in common? The suspect police were using excessive force on had been stopped for allegedly jaywalking.

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BREAKING: Girl Convicted of Manslaughter For Causing Teen’s Death with a Text Message

Taunton, MA — In the Land of the Free, you can and will be charged and convicted of manslaughter for texting your teenage boyfriend and telling him to kill himself. No physical action was needed on the part of Michelle Carter, then 17, to be complicit in her boyfriend’s death other than sending text over the digital either to be read by the troubled teen.

According to the AP, Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz found that Michelle Carter caused the death of Conrad Roy III, who intentionally filled his truck with carbon monoxide in a store parking lot in July 2014. Carter cried and clutched a handkerchief to her face as Moniz detailed her conduct in explaining how he reached his verdict, but she was stoic when it was formally pronounced.

The court based their case on the fact that as 18-year-old Roy climbed out of the truck as it filled with the poisonous gas and told Carter he was scared, she told him, via text message, to “get back in.”

“This court finds that instructing Mr. Roy to ‘get back in’ the truck constitutes wanton and reckless conduct by Ms. Carter,” the judge said.

As the AP reports, Carter’s lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, argued Roy had a history of depression and suicide attempts and was determined to end his own life. He said Carter initially tried to talk Roy out of it and urged him to get professional help, but eventually went along with his plan.

However, the judge disagreed. He refused to take into account in his verdict any of Roy’s previous suicide attempts.

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While it was certainly careless of Carter not to call the police and inform them of Roy’s attempt at suicide, she was a 17-year-old child when it happened. Also, according to Dr. Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist testifying for the defense, Carter was taking Celexa at the time — a drug that targets the brain’s frontal lobe which controls empathy.

Breggin explained, noting the seriousness of the text messages, that Carter was under the impression that she alone could guide Roy to heaven and she would care for his family.

“I thought you wanted to do this. The time is right and you’re ready, you just need to do it!” Carter wrote in one message.

“You can’t think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don’t get why you aren’t,” Carter wrote to Roy the day of his suicide.

Although prosecutors argued that the above texts support their erroneous claims that Carter is responsible for Roy’s death, they appear to be based more on concern than malicious intent. However, that is irrelevant.

Even if Carter was sending texts to Roy every hour on the hour telling him to ‘kill himself’ — over and over again — she would still never be complicit in harming a single hair on Roy’s head.

The court, in this case, would do well to review the old children’s adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” They would also do well to remember what their mothers asked them when they tried to blame someone else for their actions as a child, “If someone tells you to jump off a bridge, are you going to do it?”

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Luckily, the ACLU agrees.

The American Civil Liberties Union denounced the conviction, saying it “exceeds the limits of our criminal laws and violates free speech protections guaranteed by the Massachusetts and U.S. Constitutions.”

As the AP reports, Matthew Segal, the ACLU’s legal director for Massachusetts, called Roy’s suicide tragic but said, “It is not a reason to stretch the boundaries of our criminal laws or abandon the protections of our constitution.”

The dangerous precedent set in this case is a de facto attack on the freedom of speech and this ruling should be appealed immediately.

After the verdict, the judge ruled that Carter, who is now 20, can remain free on bail until her sentencing on August 3. For sending a text message, she now faces up to 20 years in a cage.