Our History

Know My Rights was born of a reaction to three police officers who willfully overstepped their bounds in a failed attempt to create a situation in which they could fabricate some justification to make an arrest. The officers, while trespassing in a private residence where they were never given permission nor had any cause to enter, were demanding that an invited guest, present with the consent of the property owners, leave the premises. He refused, and during their exchange of words, the officers were incessantly trying to set traps in which an average American, not understanding the motivations behind the precise manner in which the officers phrased their statements, might reasonably say or do something that the officers could exploit as cause to arrest him. The education this individual received in law school, however, allowed him to see through the officers' traps, and he knew how to avoid them while properly asserting his rights under the law.

Ultimately, the situation resolved itself in his favor and one of the abusive police officers was terminated for his actions, but he never lost sight of how easily that encounter could have gone the other way. He was thankful that those police officers decided to pick a fight with him that night rather than one of half-a-dozen other people who were in the house. People who would not have so easily identified and avoided the police officers' traps. People who, more likely than not, would have fallen victim to these officers' abuses.

The police officers' actions were clearly not isolated to this incident, and he was unwilling to stand idly by and merely hope that the next person these officers targeted possessed the same ability to avoid their traps. He questioned why he should be so fortunate as to escape such injustice because of having gone to law school, whereas people who do not have the benefit of a law school education should have their futures jeopardized solely for the personal enjoyment of a few rogue police officers.

And so, Know My Rights was born -- formed to educate people about the basic legal principles and procedures that they, in the course of their daily lives, may at some point be faced with. By empowering more people with the knowledge and means to assert their rights properly, those looking to circumvent your rights will become increasingly unsuccessful in doing so and will have to face the consequences of their failed attempts. Society needs to change, and education is the best and most effective means to that end.

@KnowMyRights