Can you be charged for obstruction for refusing to answer questions?












1















In the following video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrgVYPkkqX0



An individual is sitting in front of a home when a service call about a "suspicious" person/vehicle is made. The police respond and begin to ask the person a few questions which the person refuses to answer. The individual lets them know that he has a legal reason for being where he is. Unbeknownst to the cops, he is an insurance adjuster. They arrest him for "obstruction" for not answering questions.



Is it legal to arrest someone for obstruction for refusing to answer questions?










share|improve this question



























    1















    In the following video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrgVYPkkqX0



    An individual is sitting in front of a home when a service call about a "suspicious" person/vehicle is made. The police respond and begin to ask the person a few questions which the person refuses to answer. The individual lets them know that he has a legal reason for being where he is. Unbeknownst to the cops, he is an insurance adjuster. They arrest him for "obstruction" for not answering questions.



    Is it legal to arrest someone for obstruction for refusing to answer questions?










    share|improve this question

























      1












      1








      1








      In the following video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrgVYPkkqX0



      An individual is sitting in front of a home when a service call about a "suspicious" person/vehicle is made. The police respond and begin to ask the person a few questions which the person refuses to answer. The individual lets them know that he has a legal reason for being where he is. Unbeknownst to the cops, he is an insurance adjuster. They arrest him for "obstruction" for not answering questions.



      Is it legal to arrest someone for obstruction for refusing to answer questions?










      share|improve this question














      In the following video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrgVYPkkqX0



      An individual is sitting in front of a home when a service call about a "suspicious" person/vehicle is made. The police respond and begin to ask the person a few questions which the person refuses to answer. The individual lets them know that he has a legal reason for being where he is. Unbeknownst to the cops, he is an insurance adjuster. They arrest him for "obstruction" for not answering questions.



      Is it legal to arrest someone for obstruction for refusing to answer questions?







      united-states






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 4 hours ago









      Digital fireDigital fire

      1,80411136




      1,80411136






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2














          According to the ACLU, there are certain questions you have to answer when entering the US, and in some states you may have to identify yourself when stopped and told to identify yourself. Nonimmigrant non-citizen may be required to answer questions about immigrant status posed by an immigration officer.
          Otherwise, you are not required to answer questions by police. A judge can order you to answer questions, but the police cannot. Also, "obstruction of justice" covers things such as destroying evidence, assaulting a process server, communicating with a juror, and can cover investigative demands by prosecutors, but not being uncooperative with police.






          share|improve this answer
























            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "617"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: false,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: null,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2flaw.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f38611%2fcan-you-be-charged-for-obstruction-for-refusing-to-answer-questions%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes








            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            2














            According to the ACLU, there are certain questions you have to answer when entering the US, and in some states you may have to identify yourself when stopped and told to identify yourself. Nonimmigrant non-citizen may be required to answer questions about immigrant status posed by an immigration officer.
            Otherwise, you are not required to answer questions by police. A judge can order you to answer questions, but the police cannot. Also, "obstruction of justice" covers things such as destroying evidence, assaulting a process server, communicating with a juror, and can cover investigative demands by prosecutors, but not being uncooperative with police.






            share|improve this answer




























              2














              According to the ACLU, there are certain questions you have to answer when entering the US, and in some states you may have to identify yourself when stopped and told to identify yourself. Nonimmigrant non-citizen may be required to answer questions about immigrant status posed by an immigration officer.
              Otherwise, you are not required to answer questions by police. A judge can order you to answer questions, but the police cannot. Also, "obstruction of justice" covers things such as destroying evidence, assaulting a process server, communicating with a juror, and can cover investigative demands by prosecutors, but not being uncooperative with police.






              share|improve this answer


























                2












                2








                2







                According to the ACLU, there are certain questions you have to answer when entering the US, and in some states you may have to identify yourself when stopped and told to identify yourself. Nonimmigrant non-citizen may be required to answer questions about immigrant status posed by an immigration officer.
                Otherwise, you are not required to answer questions by police. A judge can order you to answer questions, but the police cannot. Also, "obstruction of justice" covers things such as destroying evidence, assaulting a process server, communicating with a juror, and can cover investigative demands by prosecutors, but not being uncooperative with police.






                share|improve this answer













                According to the ACLU, there are certain questions you have to answer when entering the US, and in some states you may have to identify yourself when stopped and told to identify yourself. Nonimmigrant non-citizen may be required to answer questions about immigrant status posed by an immigration officer.
                Otherwise, you are not required to answer questions by police. A judge can order you to answer questions, but the police cannot. Also, "obstruction of justice" covers things such as destroying evidence, assaulting a process server, communicating with a juror, and can cover investigative demands by prosecutors, but not being uncooperative with police.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 3 hours ago









                user6726user6726

                61.3k455106




                61.3k455106






























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Law Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2flaw.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f38611%2fcan-you-be-charged-for-obstruction-for-refusing-to-answer-questions%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    flock() on closed filehandle LOCK_FILE at /usr/bin/apt-mirror

                    Mangá

                    Eduardo VII do Reino Unido