Posted on 10/28/2009 4:10:31 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker
Intensified law enforcement at campgrounds around Aspen last month has triggered complaints of illegal search-and-seizures and youth profiling.
Kevin Walczak, 26, said he and his girlfriend were sitting around a campfire enjoying a few beers and a smoke when U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers rolled up and turned a peaceful time in the woods into an interrogation.
“We had a roll-your-own cigarette. That’s what we smoke. We were sharing it, passing it back and forth. All it was is tobacco. Suddenly two officers walk into our campsite, don’t introduce themselves, shine flashlights so we couldn’t see them, we were blinded by the light more or less,” he said. “They asked about our cigarette, wanting to know what it was and they asked to look into our tobacco pouch.”
The officers eventually found what appeared to be a marijuana pipe in the cup holder of one of Walczak’s camping chairs. They then went and searched both Walczak’s and his girlfriend’s vehicles and allegedly found another marijuana pipe.
“They invaded our camp,” said Walczak, adding that he didn’t think he or his girlfriend had ever given consent for the officers to search the campsite or their vehicles. They both ended up getting cited for possession of marijuana, a federal offense. He said neither of the alleged marijuana pipes contained anything in them other than white ash.
(Excerpt) Read more at aspendailynews.com ...
I’d say it is pretty dangerous to walk into someones camp unannounced. The first thing I’m thinking is that the one(s) entering the camp are up to no good. ANYTHING could happen at that point.
Free country?
Didn’t a judge, in a similar case awhile back, rule that even a “campsite” is considered your home (albeit a temporary one) and thus subject to the usual search-and-seizure requirements?
At the very least, not announcing themselves as cops oughta be grounds for dismissal, no?
The U.S. Forest Service law enforcement ought to be defending our borders and federal property from illegal growers instead of harrassing citizens. There are too many LEO’s with too little to do other than harrass people.
The “war on drugs” has produced much collateral damage, not the least of which is our freedom. I’m surprised they didn’t seize his house and car and then sell them at auction for the good of the state.
Aspen Jazz festival would be easy pickins for LEO.
Going after the users, however, is not going to solve anything.
Obama will soon overturn the marijuana laws so everyone can get high all the time.
High people vote Democrat when they remember to vote and can find the polling station.
In an effort to help tokers vote, ACORN subsidiary, ObamaWeeWeed, will pick up you high dudes in the LOVE Bus and drive you to the polls.
While there will be no smoking on board the LOVE Bus, brownies and cookies will be served *WINK* *WINK*.
My wife and I hike regularly in GSMNP, along with several state parks and wilderness areas here in TN, and also in NC and GA. We hike several dozen times a year and have for over 10 years. It is exceedingly rare to see a Ranger out on the trail, despite numerous cases over the past few years where hikers have been assaulted, robbed, raped, and in several incidences, murdered. It was happening so much that the State of Tennessee now allows CC in parks. However, if you happen to park in the wrong spot or momentarily have a pet off the leash in the parking lot of a trail head and a Ranger sees you, expect a ticket.
Agreed! My wife and I also hike the Smokies. We have covered about 300 miles of the 800 or 900 miles in the park. We have owned two different homes there, but live in Indiana. As you say I’ve never seen a ranger on the trail, but they will come into your campsite to check you out. We were checked out once having a picnic lunch by the road/creek. They guy was just being nosy.
It becomes more and more “us and them” with cops in this country every day ... between the war on drugs and the war on terror any gung-ho cop can ruin anyone’s day if they don’t have anything better to do.
“They both ended up getting cited for possession of marijuana, a federal offense. “
I’d like to see what ‘evidence’ the officers have to charge them with this. A pipe isn’t evidence. Even ash isn’t evidence.
By the way, does anyone else think it’s silly that federal officers are patrolling the wilderness to hunt for pot smokers? I mean that just seems a little absurd to me.
Or need a self esteem boost.
a federal offense ??
If they’re on federal land, it’s possible. And most of that part of the country is federal.
Too dangerous. /s
If the land is a Federal Reservation, where complete sovereignty was either never surrendered to the state, or has been given back, then the Federal Government has the same police power as a state would. I've seen a couple of guys with Federal DWIs, because they were arrested on the National Seashore on Padre Island, Texas.
It is not enough that the Federal Government own the land. Walking into a field office owned by the Department of Agriculture with a joint in your pocket is not a Federal crime.
Most of the land in that part of the Rockies is “national forest” and/or under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.
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