Drug Raid Raises Concerns (Abuse of Anti-Terror Law)

Detroit News ^ | August 1, 2002 | Karen Bouffard

[max61]

This is why there is only the Letter of the Law and not Spirit of the Law that Congressmen tend to voice to the Subjects.

Spirit don't mean a lick to a judge in a courtroom.

---max

[dirtboy]

ROTFLMAO That's a good one!

That's what I am gonna tell every last one of them. They said we needed this bill to fight terrorism. A lot of freepers said it would be used for other purposes, and were scoffed at. Looks like the skeptics were right (they usually are). Anyone who supports the provisions of the Patriot Bill for being used to fight terror should either loudly condemn these kind of actions or quit getting after their opponents.

[dead]

Their motives are wonderful…

F#*k you. Their motivation is the creation of a police state, where we all live or die at the discretion of “the law.”

[Wolfie]

My guess is they didn't have a warrant. Heck, why would they bother to get one? And if the State law requiring one after 56 days passes, they'll just use that almost 2 months worth of time to make one up.

[dead]

If that's the case, they better have had their 27-Zed-Stroke-6.

I'm sorry, but I'm a bit of a stickler for paper work.

[gdani]

To all freepers who supported the Patriot Bill - you now have a moral obligation to stand up NOW to this abuse of provisions of that bill towards law enforcement efforts that have nothing to do with terrorism.

Your point is well taken. However - for the sake of clarification - the law in question here is a state law, not the USA PATRIOT Act.

Which is probably splitting hairs since it appears that most post-9/11 state laws mirror the PATRIOT Act with the added twist that they seem to put a heavy emphasis on restricting the public's access to what were once public records.

[dirtboy]

However - for the sake of clarification - the law in question here is a state law, not the USA PATRIOT Act.

The state law is a direct offshoot of the Patriot Bill. From the article:

It's just the kind of abuse the ACLU has feared could occur as a result of the federal USA Patriot Act approved by Congress in October and Michigan adopted in April.

[Sabertooth]

They said we needed this bill to fight terrorism. A lot of freepers said it would be used for other purposes, and were scoffed at.

Sorry, basher... it appears you were a scoffee, and thus have no credibility.

Scoffing = evidence.

[gdani]

The state law is a direct offshoot of the Patriot Bill. From the article

Amazing how I can catch the fact that it's a state law but not the sentence you posted to me.

Oh well. As long as we're all clarified. Carry on.

[SUSSA]

Yep!!! Many here said the "un" Patriot Law was no threat at all even while we tried to warn them. This case is just the tip of the iceberg.

[dirtboy]

Which is probably splitting hairs since it appears that most post-9/11 state laws mirror the PATRIOT Act with the added twist that they seem to put a heavy emphasis on restricting the public's access to what were once public records.

Which means there is a lot of work to be done reversing some of these laws. This was a start:

Last week, a new law sponsored by state Sen. Bill Bullard, R-Highland, was signed into law, making such affidavits public after 56 days.

But it still leaves a lot of room for abuse. There should simply be a provision that affadavits will be released unless the police can convince a judge to hold them up for thirty days, upon presentation to the judge of compelling evidence that the case was directly involved in a terror investigation. Throw the burden of proof back onto the cops, so they cannot use the law to cover up their mistakes. The law, as originally written, basically makes a search warrant unneccessary...

[Area51]

To all freepers who supported the Patriot Bill - you now have a moral obligation to stand up NOW to this abuse of provisions of that bill towards law enforcement efforts that have nothing to do with terrorism.

6 posted on 8/1/02 12:07 PM Pacific by dirtboy

IMHO, anyone that supported that legislation is no more Conservative than Jorge Delano Bush is.

[dirtboy]

Amazing how I can catch the fact that it's a state law but not the sentence you posted to me.

I didn't catch it until my second reading of the article. They kinda buried that detail...

[RobRoy]

"Oh, you see? It hasn't got the proper stamp."

Seriously, this is eerily like the movie. I remember when I used to have TV and I would watch Cops. I watched for the car chases. But it became more of a domestic violence/drug raid show. That opened my eyes.

Most of the people whose houses they ransacked were not exactly the cream of society, but the way they were treated gave me the creeps. The police looked more and more like jack booted thugs than people out to stop crime.

That was when the cement started hardening on my belief that we should legalize drugs. Shoot, what would the cops have to do then? And what excuses would they need for these sort of raids?

[rond]

Interviewer: "Do you think that the government is winning the battle against terrorists?"

Helpmann: "Oh yes. Our morale is much higher than theirs, we're fielding all their strokes, running a lot of them out, and pretty consistently knocking them for six. I'd say they're nearly out of the game."

Interviewer: "But the bombing campaign is now in its thirteenth year ..."

Helpmann: "Beginner's luck!"

[dead]

That movie gets more and more brilliant and prescient everytime I watch it.

The funniest parts of Cops is the moment right after they've briefly forgotten about the camera for a second and started shoving the people around and barking at the crying kids to shut up:

"Oh! Ummm... And we think maybe you should get professional help, you know ummm... or something like that... for your kids... ummm... after we take you down to the station... we got counselors and all that junk down at the station..."

[Askel5]

Thanks for the flag, Dirtboy.

With the exception of entirely apt Brazil references, the silence is deafening.

I guess the Faithful are too busy stumping for socialized healthcare, demanding some respect for the "Law of the Land" that is legal abortion, dogging folks for their obsession on stem cells, excoriating the likes of Alan Keyes and getting weak in the knees at the prospect of rustic and relaxed Vacation poses upcoming on Tiger Beat pics of the Prez threads.

[headsonpikes]

Bumping your #2 again.

[Thisiswhoweare]

Thanks for the post...spooky stuff.

[gracie1]

I'd have half expected the WOD Warriors and the TIPS/Patriot Act warriors to have chimed in by now and proclaim it's better to have false security than have your freedoms intact, but the silence is deafening.