A judge in Texas has ordered a psychic to pay a couple $6.5 million for the harm she caused them by telling police that a mass grave containing 25 to 30 bodies was on their property.
But the major question is why police would act on the basis of information provided by psychics. Surely there must be someone in the police department who could have pointed out that psychics are useless people who prey on the gullible and desperate?
This is another consequence of the magical thinking promoted by religion.
I, literally, facepalmed.
Did they really use “A psychic told me” for probably cause when they asked a judge for a warrant?
Anyone got any stats for popular belief in psychics in the US?
intergalacticmedium @ # 3 -- No, but I can channel some.
What kind would you like?
police officers are usually the best in representation of human stupidity, arrogance, brutality. Just my experience after living 65 years.
The police don’t need to believe in psychics to believe someone might know where bodies are buried. If they do find bodies, the “psychic” will become the primary suspect.
I don’t have quite the experience kraut does, but from what I’ve seen, cops seem to be able to produce a ridiculous amount of certainty about blatantly wrong information; more so then any other group of people I’ve encountered. Plus, they get to back it up with violence.
Anyways, wouldn’t they have needed to bring this ‘evidence’ (or ’cause for suspicion’ or whatever it is in legalese) in front of a judge to get a warrant to tear up the yard, etc.?
So, this is, all kinds of failure on multiple levels. Someone (Raging Bee, now that I looked) suggested over on Zingularity that the cops may have had some preexisting bias against the couple, and were itching for an excuse to make the couple’s lives difficult. Also, now that I poked around to try and remember who else mentioned this story, I see someone (Al Dente) asked this same question.
I really wish all of us Americans would start caring (and respecting) the 1st and 4th amendments with even half of the effort put towards the 2nd. 🙁
Because the police are gullible and often desperate…and just plain stupid?
In many cases, the police have to believe “psychic” tips they receive, because of the chance that the person really does possess some knowledge of a crime, and is claiming to be psychic to cover up the real source of their knowledge.
After the murders at a Buddhist temple on Phoenix, the sheriff’s office took a call from someone at a psychiatric hospital, and on the basis of that person’s information, arrested and interrogated several persons, bullied a confession out of them and charged them with murder.
That delayed a proper investigation, thoroughly trashed their reputation, and unfortunately, led to the election of the infamous sheriff Joe Arpaio the following year.