u/Kostrom

I started experiencing pain in my hip, groin, and lower back about a year ago. At the time, I was a ways into recovering from my vasectomy. I got worried something was going wrong down there, so I went to my doctor. She ordered some X-rays and an MRI where they found two mildly bulged discs (L4-5, L5-S1) and a slight tear in the L5-S1.

From that point on, the treatment focus was entirely about my back no matter how much I talked about the pain in my hip and groin. The specialists would even mention how it was strange that I was experiencing pain in the opposite side of my body from where the discs were narrowing. I did PT for like six months and none of the stretches helped. Over time they actually started to feel worse. I’ve since stopped exercising and doing any of my favorite outdoor activities like hiking. I’ve gained over 15 pounds (last I checked) and I feel awful every day.

About a week ago I saw a neurosurgeon and he was the first person to even mention sacroiliac joints or pain caused by Sacroiliitis. After looking into the symptoms and reading people’s stories, I realized that this matched my experience almost 100%. I was scheduled to get an epidural injection for my discs, but I canceled that and asked my doctors for more imaging and to possibly adjust my diagnosis. I’m a few years away from turning 40, but I was growing very discouraged about having a bad spine and needing injections every few months. I haven’t received the sacroiliac diagnosis yet, but I’m hopeful that some of the treatments I’ve read about here may help me in the long run.

A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled Thursday that a police officer violated the Fourth Amendment rights of a woman accused of meth trafficking when he searched her license plate in Flock’s automated license plate reader system simply because her license plate was from California, then used her travel history as part of the reason to search her car. The judge’s opinion is one of the first times a federal judge has decided Flock searches can be unconstitutional, and suggested that Flock’s network is “a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance.”

“The Fourth Amendment requires courts to draw a line when the cost is too great. Alaniz’s search in just the ALPR system provided him with more than 50 individual records of Kyle’s whereabouts across the country for an entire month,” Hill wrote. “The Court finds that because the ALPR systems Alaniz used to search Kyle’s historical location information intruded on her reasonable expectation of privacy in the whole of her physical movements, it was a search under the Fourth Amendment. Based on the information in the record, the only reason Alaniz conducted that search was because he saw her license plate was from California.”

“The factors that the government relies upon are the same type of circumstances that everyday Americans encounter on long road trips for many legitimate reasons. Many of us drive longer than we want to get to a desired destination, or to no destination at all other than the road and sights ahead,” she added.

The pressure continues.

Towns/Cities across the country are shredding contracts.

States are doing the same.

• Texas
• Florida
• Pennsylvania

At the Fed, we are seeing

• Massie's H.R. 10221 "Flock-Off Act"
• Krishnamoorthi's H.R. 10366 "NO FLOCK Act"
• Sander's/AOC's H.R. 10691 "Ban Flock Act"
• Hawley's SB [TBD] "Stop Flock Abuse Act"

The tide is turning, and there is an ultra-bipartisan movement sweeping the country against Flock/ALPR.

Onwards!

"In Auburn people power went to work. At the August 10th city council meeting, Mayor Kelly Davis stopped public comments after the 19th consecutive speaker lashed out against Flock cameras. The speakers were prepared with a petition and well-coordinated talking points, making specific accusations about abuses of the Flock system.
Not being able to address any matter until it is an official agenda item, Mayor Davis asked staff to study the ALPR issue, report back and arrange a larger town-hall style meeting."