Mimosine said:
clearly you've never been arrested.
You're right that I've never been arrested, but I've been asked to stop taking pictures without getting backroomed. I've also been asked by police at gunpoint what the hell I was doing, and I've denied police permission to search my car - all without being arrested.
I consider that as being a reason why I'm more qualified, not less qualified, to comment on the topic.
Mimosine said:
the police aren't your friends. 'security' aren't your friends.
They don't need to be your friends. You just don't want to give them an excuse to be your enemy. Refusing to answer questions, while perfectly within your rights, is confrontational. Calling your lawyer, while perfectly within your rights, is confrontational.
Mimosine said:
do not give statements, do not hand over evidence do not cooperate.
This will certainly save you from being legally prosecuted, but it won't save you from being legally detained. The statutes are broad for a reason, and as much as you, I, or the ACLU objects to the practice, casinos (and police) will continue to detain people on flimsy suspicions of cheating.
What it comes down to is how much your time is worth. Are you willing to spend a few hours backroomed until the police clear you, or would you rather sacrifice a few rights and walk away immediately.
There's not going to be a monetary settlement in this case - remember, in order to win, a plantiff would have to prove that the casino had
no reason to
suspect illegal behavior. Even if those suspicions don't materialize, if the casino was well-justified to have them, they won't be held liable.
Think about the parallel to getting stopped by the cops on the freeway - if they ask for permission to search your car, you're more than within your rights to deny them. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that's the end of the confrontation and you get to drive away. The police can hold you there for a reasonable time (at least an hour) to get a K9 unit and sniff for drugs from the exterior. And when/if the canine unit doesn't find anything, you can't sue for false detention - all that's needed is reasonable suspicion, not ironclad proof, for detention. So if waiting around for an hour in the back of a squad car is worth the absolutely legal, principled point of holding on to the vestiges of our Fourth Amendment rights, by all means, thanks for taking one for the team.
