No, you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they did it before you convict them. You can charge them with only a little suspciion, but you might screw yourself if you charge too soon.

One eyewitness can be enough to convict "beyond reasonable doubt," even if the witness is later impeached. http://www.nacdl.org/CHAMPION/ARTICLES/98jan01.htm

Guantanamo Bay.

Are you saying that there would be an extraterritorial spot to dump SINless noncitizens or something else altogether? Two words in what looks like it's supposed to be a sentence but doesn't have a verb don't really express your thoughts well.

I believe that he is saying that you need to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to be imprisioned for a crime but only a suspicion is necessary for the government to hoold you indefinantly without charges.

Ah, but that's (currently) only gfor very specific crimes. With other crimes arresting someone too soon starts the due process clock and means you may have to release them before you've got enough evidence to be able to ask the judge for no bail.

They're being held on suspicion of crimes. I don't know why they're not being charged. I know what the media tells me is the reason, but since the different news channels can't seem to agree I ignore them all rather than try and guess which one, if any, has the actual truth.

Sure, the work of The Ministry of Love would be much easier if The Ministry of Truth would be more efficient.

Last I checked, dogs weren't considered part of civil society... how can they have civil rights?

They supposedly have "animal rights," which differ depending on who you talk to.

I want to meet someone who feels dogs should get SSNs.

I'm all for it as long as the dogs are willing to pay into social security

I'm sure they would if they had paying jobs. More likely it'd just be another drain on the coffers by a jobless group of citizens.

I don't think my dog should have an ssn, but I think she's certainly smarter and more valuable than the vast majority of people.
She's less of a drain on society than the rich people sucking money out of the treasury and labor out of the poor.
In case you can't figure it out, in SR terms I'd be in the ABC camp

Already Been Chewed? Ewww and ouch

Anarchist Black Cross, sorry I shoulda used the plus sign like they do in LA (loose alliances not Los Angeles.) I try to keep my references within game.
When yuou're rich, often your animal friends are usually more loyal (and often smarter) than your your human ones.
In SR terms though, sentience does not gaurantee an offer of a sin, it just means that they might consider you. It took an act of congress before the UCAS granted Dunky a sin. And there are very many creatures with sentinence that many nations would never consider granting sins- ghouls, vampires, naga, merrow, shapeshifters (granted the write up on the last two hasn't been printed yet.)

As an aside, vampires in Germany legal entities requiring only a permit and a voluntary donation source. Obviously they are forbidden from making more vampires. Also, ghouls can have SINs - your ID is not revoked for becoming infected, and there was at one time a discussion about third generation ghouls and their ability to appear fully human with only a small amount of cosmetic accouterments..

IIRC, infection with HMVV is subject to registration, too.

yeah I got this disease that makes me have to eat metahuman flesh. I'm gonna go tright down to the local authorities and tell em all about it ..... tommorrow.

Back to the original question about how SINless can be competent runners:

First off, SR4 runners aren't nearly the experts they were in earlier editions. Oh, they are quite competent but only the hyperspecialized are at the top of their game. A lot of these characters have skill levels I wouldn't be surprised to see on particularly bright college students.

Second, I don't think people realize how much can be learned when you are a) motivated by the need to eat/survive, b) aren't restricted to the pace of formal learning and c) have access to an internet chock full of data and VR training from birth. One exception individual I know was a high level unix admin, a nationally ranked fencer, and an excellent shot with rifle and pistol at age 20. His major in college? Poetry. (He never finished his degree, btw)

His dad was quite the paranoid schizo when he went off his meds (hence a significant arsenal of weapons and my friend's skill with them). Had the world been rougher and the paranoia more justifiable (and less obviously insanity) I could see my friend in the SINless shadows.

Home life and mental illness can both promote a life in the shadows.

So can plausible deniability. Think Dirty Harry and the wide range of "good cops gone vigilante" out to uphold the spirit of the law while breaking the letter one leg at a time.

Awakening is another good justification. "Hey, cool! I can do magic! Watch me levitate a pencil!" "Get out of my mind, Benejezerit witch!" Mages and Technomancers both have the risk of being dissected by the corps or forced into a new "career" not of their choosing. If you are forced to a life of violence, do you want it to be on your terms or those set by the VP of Expedient Affairs?

Going SINless is a kind of renegade "witness protection" service as well. Bad guys of all ilk can use the SIN system to locate you. Getting away from an abusive spouse or a particularly vindictive bureaucrat can be worth dropping off the edge of the world.

Then you've got the people who were skirting the shadows when the Crash2 happened. One of my characters was a DEA trainee who was kidnapped the day before the Crash. The agency basically forgot he existed in chaos and he had to take the "long way" home. Once he got there....he decided he wasn't ready to go back. PTSD, y'know. Happens when you're tortured, walk across a desert and spend 8 months at sea on a tramp steamer.