Posted on 02/12/2002 8:54:53 AM PST by toenail
WASHINGTON, DC -- A New Hampshire woman who was arrested, handcuffed, and had her car impounded for not returning a late rental video is the latest victim of America's wacky criminal justice system, the Libertarian Party charged today.
"You don't return a video on time and you get treated like Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs, and end up starring in Girls in Prison -- what kind of sense does that make?" asked George Getz, the party's press secretary.
"Yes, it's easy to make jokes, but this is a case study of how, in a society where politicians can't stop writing laws, everyone eventually becomes a criminal -- even if your only 'crime' is forgetting to return a video."
The saga of America's Most Wanted Video Criminal started on Thursday, when Jessie Cohen of Portsmouth, New Hampshire was stopped by police for having a broken tail light on her car.
During the routine license check, police discovered an outstanding warrant for Cohen, dating back to 1997, for allegedly not returning a rented copy of the 1996 movie, Sleepers. She had rented it from an Epsom, New Hampshire video store.
Cohen was charged with misdemeanor unauthorized use of rental property, was handcuffed, had her 1987 Cadillac impounded, and was taken to jail and fingerprinted. She faces a fine of up to $1,200.
Cohen said she had no memory of renting the video, and said she had never received any notice from the store that the video was overdue. The arrest, she said, "seems like a lot of trouble over a tape that probably cost $10."
Actually, the arrest is a microcosm of what's wrong with the American criminal justice system, said Getz.
"This is a classic example of How Good Laws Go Bad," he said. "The law against unauthorized use of rental property was written to protect car rental companies from people who rent a car, but never return it. That's a legitimate law designed to protect companies against costly rental fraud or theft.
"But now, the law has been dumbed down so much that if you forget to return American Pie 2 on time, you need to start plotting your Escape from Alcatraz."
Unfortunately, this isn't the only law that has expanded far beyond its original intent, said Getz.
"Take asset forfeiture laws: Originally designed to target the illegal profits of drug kingpins, they have been expanded to allow the government to seize property in cases of suspected prostitution, illegal gambling, or failure to pay sales taxes. Federal agents can now seize property under 200 different statutes.
"And RICO laws, originally designed to target Mafia crime bosses, are now used against stores that sell allegedly obscene videos, against the tobacco companies, and against investment companies for skirting tax laws."
In each case, said Getz, "Laws are subject to mission creep -- and their enforcement gets creepier and creepier, until you find yourself starring in the World's Most Dangerous Police Videos for forgetting to return a video."
What's the solution? More common sense and fewer laws, said Getz.
"Politicians need to curb the urge to treat every minor problem as an opportunity to write a new law," he said. "Police need to direct their resources against real criminals. And New Hampshire needs to take the 'Bust her!' out of Blockbuster."
Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
It depends on whether the video store made any attempt to get the tape back (other than giving her a police record). By failing to return the video, she effectively stole it.
However, if the video store didn't do anything to contact her, then the law is just plain stupid.
Fact: In Texas, there are people with arrest warrants for overdue library books.
I had a friend who rented a video and returned it. The store called and threatened arrest. My friend told them the video had been returned. She was arrested in the middle of the night and spent the rest of the night in jail. When it finally got to court my friend proved that she had returned the video and SURPRISE, the store found it on their shelf.
It was good for 5k to my friend.
She had it coming to her.
The next logical position is "video rental companies make billions, what's one stolen video, they are making obscene profits anyways".
As much as the article would like to make you believe the video was 2 days late, we are talking about 5 years here.
And we all know that the video store sent her notices, invalidated her card, and made numerous attempts to collect their rental fee.
After getting no satisfaction, they probably took her to small claims court (much like you would to collect bad checks) which she probably blew off, resulting in a bench warrant.
When she was pulled over, the officer cross-checked her, came up with the bench warrant record, and hauled her in.
It is extremely unlikely the officer has any idea what the root cause of the warrant was.
We all know that's what happened, it even states in the article she was pulled in because of the warrant, not the video. That doesn't make New Hampshire a police state, it just makes this lady an idiot for not paying her overdue rental fee.
Cohen said she had no memory of renting the video, and said she had never received any notice from the store that the video was overdue.
I'm certain.
The national LP fritters away their relevance by issuing such vapid press releases.
Please be so kind as to point out where I said that. Thanks so much in advance.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.