See What A Great Excuse The Drug War Is For Cops To Violate People's Civil Liberties?
It's easy to accuse somebody of having, doing, or selling drugs.
It's harder to get the police to believe somebody has 26 bodies buried in their backyard -- which is probably why the police so rarely get tipped off about that sort of thing.
Check out the raid on these two Quincy men's townhouse. Only, whoopsie, after ripping the place apart and violently grabbing the men, not so much as a speck of pot was found. Neil Simpson writes for the Patriot Ledger:
The man said the agents repeatedly ordered him to tell them where they were keeping their drugs, saying that two people had told them that drugs were being dealt out of the home. That man denied that he and his partner were dealing drugs and said the agents never found any in the home.The man said the agents spent about three and half hours at the apartment, ripping their belongings out of drawers and closets, pulling paintings from walls and slicing open envelopes and luggage. The house was still in disarray Wednesday morning, with the couple's belongings strewn across several rooms.
The man said the agents left behind a federal search warrant that listed their address but included no other information about why agents wanted to search the home or what they expected to find. The warrant, which was viewed by a Ledger reporter, referred to several attachments that the man said were not provided by the FBI.
Cops are searching people on Amtrak. Sadly, the man in this story said he felt intimidated into allowing a search.
Some of the reasons they search you will make you sick:
Unusual nervousness of traveler
Unusual calmness or straight ahead stare
Looking around while making telephone call(s)
Position among passengers disembarking (ahead of, or lagging behind passengers)
Carrying little or no luggage
Purchase of tickets in cash
Purchase tickets immediately prior to boarding
Remember that quaint concept of "probable cause"?
This elderly lady had a single pot plant in her backyard. The cops came all military-style -- in a helicopter -- to yank it out, writes Charlene Arsenault in the Wooster Patch:
Pro-marijuana bloggers are having a "field day" with the seizure of the senior's single pot plant. Leafly.com leads with, "The Massachusetts National Guard and the Massachusetts State Police teamed up last month to eradicate a pernicious threat to public safety: a single cannabis plant tucked away in an 81-year-old grandmother's raspberry patch.
No criminal charges were filed against this dangerous drug lord.
via @radleybalko
If you like, here's the Boston Globe article on Peg Holcomb, the 81-year-old:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/10/06/the-lesson-this-drug-bust-never-come-between-year-old-and-her-marijuana-plant/NoueuN1TgVInwfA56d3ajN/story.html
The other story had about 30 comments. This one has more than 100.
lenona at October 7, 2016 6:51 AM
Unusual calmness and unusual nervousness are probable cause. Determining what is unusual is highly subjective isn't it. Voila, now the police have probable cause to search everyone who isn't just the right amount of calm and/or nervous.
Shtetl G at October 7, 2016 8:57 AM
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