Unfortunate as it may be, police rely heavily on the general public being unaware of their Constitutional rights. A majority of people who become charged with victimless crimes such as drug possession become ensnared in the criminal justice system due to not being informed of their ability to stand up to law enforcement’s attempts to have them waive their rights. As a police officer, I did it countless times. I was even trained how to do it by the police academy.
“I’m going to have to ask you to allow me to look in your vehicle.” Did I ask or order you to do something? I asked, in an ordering sort of way.
I’ve become a real skeptic of “consent” searches for the simple reason that in order to be lawful they must be given freely and voluntary. Three officers surrounding a sixteen year old new driver and repeatedly asking them to allow a search is hardly free or voluntary when the young driver is scared s-less. Of course the exact level of hounding which is sometimes required to obtain “consent” never appears in the police report.
Reports are always written in the way that gives an impression that the police simply asked and received a waiver of rights. In practice, it doesn’t always happen that way.
I think this judge said it best:
U.S. v. Minker, 350 US 179, at page 187 “Because of what appears to be a lawful command on the surface, many citizens, because of their respect for what only appears to be a law, are cunningly coerced into waiving their rights, due to ignorance.”
Most of you who read the things I write know that my pet issue is drug prohibition. I opposed prohibition and subjected myself to pretty intense ridicule when I was a police officer not because I think people should be using dangerous drugs… but because people do use dangerous drugs and prohibition has proven to be an abject failure in stopping it.
One idea that has been bouncing around in my head for some time is getting involved in the political process to try and advocate for both a law which would encourage minors who have used alcohol irresponsibly and all people who have used dangerous drugs to seek medical attention if needed. A person having an overdose of alcohol or drugs presently could be (and should be) afraid to call for medical assistance, as when the EMT’s arrive, so does the criminal justice system.
Overdose deaths do not happen instantly… especially in the case of opiates. They can and should be prevented.
I know a good way. Let’s try and turn New Hampshire into the 3rd state in the nation which grants limited criminal immunity to people requesting medical assistance for alcohol and drug overdoses. I whipped up a sample law to do such a thing and I am in the process of speaking with medical organizations, legislators, and activists to see if I can get support for it.
“I’m officially announcing that I am a candidate for president in the Republican primary“– Ron Paul, earlier today, on Good Morning America.
Shortly thereafter he spoke to a gathering in the town hall of Exeter, NH. The hall was packed and overflowing with energy. (Some of us Keeniacs were in attendance.)
“A bill to reaffirm the authority of the Department of Defense to maintain United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a location for the detention of unprivileged enemy belligerents held by the Department of Defense, and for other purposes” has just been introduced by New Hampshire’s own United States Senator Kelly Ayotte.
I wonder if Senator Ayotte had been born in Afghanistan and watched as her innocent family was black-hooded and taken away to Guantanamo if she would still exhort such deplorable treatment of human life.
Colonel Wilkerson, who was General Powell’s chief of staff when he ran the State Department, was most critical of Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld. He claimed that the former Vice-President and Defence Secretary knew that the majority of the initial 742 detainees sent to Guantánamo in 2002 were innocent but believed that it was “politically impossible to release them”.
