Good Training

In Prohibition Regimes I took a general look at how Prohibition regimes are associated with a breakdown of the rule of law. I want to be a little more explicit here.

What does prohibition teach? Break the law if you can get away with it.

And how do you get away with it? Too many people are doing it at once for the police to keep up.

What is amazing to me in all this is that no one else can see the pattern. Is it a cause of the riots in England? Doubtful. But it is certainly a contributor.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

A Narcotics Officer Speaks Out

If you want to leave a comment on the video at YouTube you can use this link.

Links to the organizations mentioned at the beginning of the talk.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Drug Policy Forum Of Texas

And another organization not mentioned headed by retired Detective Howard Wooldridge:

Citizens Opposing Prohibition

Some thoughts on the video:

The video provides statistics that will knock your socks off. Among them:

Before the start of the War On Drugs (WOD) in 1970 1.3% of the population had an addiction problem. After 40 years of effort what is the number? 1.3%.

OK what was the number before the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914? About 1.3%.

He argues that the WOD is actually the vector that has spread drug use. He provides facts and figures to back up that assertion.

He talks about addicts being able to go to a clinic with a prescription to get their drugs. I don't think that will work because it assumes the addict doesn't value his time. Think about having to go to a clinic 4 or 6 times a day for his fix. Possible if there is a clinic is on every corner. What are the odds?

How do you hold down a job if you have to go to that clinic 4 or 6 times a day?

You don't. So what will happen in such a regime? The dealers will be back to sell a day or a weeks supply.

We don't make pain patients visit a clinic every few hours for their pain meds. Why should drug addicts be any different?

Russ Jones (the speaker in the video) has a blog. Let me quote you from a letter Russ received.

Dad,

Steve and I have had this conversation many times. This is a tough issue but here are the facts. I’ve been a recreational drug user. Not now, but in my earlier college years, the years I was on the dean’s list and getting selected to be the commencement speaker at my graduation. Steve has been a recreational drug user for a while, the whole time maintaining an impeccable record in school and work.

Even Jimmy Allison was a recreational drug user while finishing medical school and excelling in his career (he hasn’t used for many years though). The point is, the concepts that people have of drug users is that of the homeless junkie or the woman with seven kids on welfare. All these are racially charged notions, particularly of the black and Latino populations. The reality is that the vast majority of people who use recreational drugs are professionals, educators, and students on their way to becoming leaders (take Clinton and Bush, for example).

I believe that if drugs were legalized, then they could be regulated. Once regulated, the government would nullify the illegal trade of narcotics and turn billions of dollars for stopping the drug trade into billions of dollars earned. They would also be able to officially recognize the problem and start addicts on programs that could help them kick the habit.

Drugs don’t fry your brain. Trust me. I and most of my friends are living proof.

The author of the letter is still falling for the "drugs cause addiction" line. No they don't. If they did why isn't "Terry" still a user? Other than that he makes some very good points. As does Russ Jones.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Tea Party Patriots Support Killer Sheriff

The site Resist.net, billing itself as The Home of The Patriotic Resistance, is supporting Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

So let me tell you a few things about Sheriff Joe. How about we start with the wrongful death of Scott Norberg.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: The Norberg wrongful death lawsuit was settled out of court for $8.25 million. Sheriff Sheriff Joe Arpaio has repeatedly claimed that this cost the taxpayers nothing since it was paid by an insurance company.

Truth: At the time of the settlement the county had a $1 million "deductible" on its coverage. The taxpayers had to pay the first $1,000,000 on this case and now the deductible has been raised to $5 million.

Well I have a few more details on that case.

The investigation into the death of Scott Norberg is a perfect example. Norberg, who had struggled with drug addiction, was arrested after attempting to slug a cop. He was in Arpaio's jail just 15 hours before he was handcuffed by guards, kicked, stomped on, and then strapped into a restraint chair. There, guards held a towel over his head, literally suffocating him. Medical records later revealed that he had been shot with a stun gun at least 14 times and beaten so badly that his larynx cracked.

The county was forced to settle with Norberg's family for $8.25 million. Astonishingly, says Norberg's attorney, Mike Manning, Arpaio promoted the guards who did the beating.

Arpaio's critics say Norberg's death was far from an isolated incident. But there's one reason the case continues to be talked about when so many other inmate deaths have fallen into obscurity: Scott Norberg's family had enough money to hire a good attorney. Manning's investigation showed that important records had been destroyed — including the X-ray of the cracked larynx. He also obtained the videotape that showed Norberg pleading for his life.

Even then, Arpaio managed to thwart a criminal investigation.

The sheriff's internal affairs investigators, Manning says, failed to give deputies the proper warnings before interviewing them. That invalidated the evidence they had obtained. Even worse, internal affairs and criminal investigators sat in on the same interviews, which Manning says is strictly forbidden by most police agency policies.

"There is no doubt, no other explanation, than that they intentionally botched the investigation," Manning says. "This kind of stuff was too stupid — too stupid even for them."

Or how about the death of Charles Angster III?

Mentally retarded Charles Agster III, 33, was arrested for trespassing on August 6, 2001. Detention officers pulled a hood over his head and slammed him into a restraint chair. Agster was asphyxiated to the point that he became brain dead. He was pronounced legally dead three days later. In 2006, a federal court awarded $9 million to his family.

Or how about this case?

Deborah Braillard, 46, was documented as a diabetic in the jail's health records. Her cellmates say a nurse did not give Braillard insulin, and then detention officers ignored her when she went into diabetic shock. Braillard died on January 23, 2005, ultimately from lack of insulin.

Ah. What a well run jail. A fine example for law enforcement everywhere.

Legally blind and serving a short sentence in Tent City for shoplifting, Brian Crenshaw, 40, was transferred to solitary confinement after a tussle with Arpaio's detention officers. Six days later, he was found comatose in his solitary cell with a broken neck, ruptured intestines, broken toes, and severe internal injuries. Arpaio maintains Crenshaw sustained the injuries when he fell off his four-foot bed. Crenshaw died on March 14, 2005.

Yeah. He fell. It could happen to anyone.

And Sheriff Joe's deputies are a kind and caring lot.

On March 26, 1996, Jose Rodriquez, 39, died in a pool of his own vomit on a jail floor. His cries for help went ignored by Arpaio's jail employees. Rodriquez's dehydration, fever and twitching ultimately led to his death, even while inmates shouted for help.

Well those inmates were just troublemakers. Not doubt Sheriff Joe's boys meted out to them the punishment they deserved.

From what I can tell Sheriff Joe has cost the taxpayers in his area over $40 million for the mismanagement of the jail. I was under the impression the Tea Parties stood for fiscal restraint. So even on that count the Sheriff is not a good exemplar of the movement.

My advice? Until Resist.net cleans up its act don't give them a dime or any other kind of support. If they were trying to discredit the Tea Parties they couldn't be doing a better job.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

An Awful New Game

It seems like the kids at a high school in Maryland have invented an awful new game called Speed Camera Pimping.

As a prank, students from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county's Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people who they believe have wronged them in the past, including other students and even teachers.

Students from Richard Montgomery High School dubbed the prank the Speed Camera "Pimping" game, according to a parent of a student enrolled at one of the high schools.

Originating from Wootton High School, the parent said, students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that "mimic" those on Maryland license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said. The victim then receives a citation in the mail days later.

Students are even obtaining vehicles from their friends that are similar or identical to the make and model of the car owned by the targeted victim, according to the parent.

"This game is very disturbing," the parent said. "Especially since unsuspecting parents will also be victimized through receipt of unwarranted photo speed tickets.

The parent said that "our civil rights are exploited," and the entire premise behind the Speed Camera Program is called into question as a result of the growing this fad among students.

Calling such robo cops into question would be terrible. Think of all the misery it would cause. A municipality would be paying for one of these devices and then their ability to generate revenue would be in doubt. The consequences could be serious. For the city budget.

Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews said that the issue is troubling in several respects. "I am concerned that someone could get hurt, first of all, because they are speeding in areas where they know speeding is a problem," he said.

Andrews also said that this could hurt the integrity of the Speed Camera Program. "It will cause potential problems for the Speed Camera Program in terms of the confidence in it," he said.

Robo cop integrity? Called into question? I hope so.

H/T National Review

Cross Posted at Classical Values

The Biggest Cover Up of All

Lots of folks are covering the media cover up of Eason Jordan and his remarks made at Davos about American troops supposedly targeting journalists in Iraq.

Here ** Here ** Here ** Here ** Here ** Here ** Here

However that is not the biggest coverup going on in the media.

The biggest cover up is the nature of the drug war in America.

Take this story. A sick man grows medical pot in compliance with California law. In response to that the Federal Government is taking his house and land. Any outrage in the major media? Left/right/bloggers? Silence.

Well all is not completely quiet on the American front. Here is a report on a National Review article published in July of 2004:

It's National Review, the small but revered and still influential conservative journal of political ideas that made the Reagan Revolution possible.

Don't worry, Grandpap. National Review — founded 49 years ago by William F. Buckley Jr. to do intellectual battle with New Deal liberals and soft-on-communism types — has not had its offices taken over by a bunch of pot-headed hippies.

But its cover story, written by drug policy reformer Ethan Nadelmann, makes a strong case to National Review's faithful that our $15-billion-a-year federal war against marijuana is "costly, foolish and destructive" to society.

Calling for the decriminalization of loco weed will shock and annoy many conservatives and Republicans, especially among the anti-drug-crazed warriors in the Bush White House. But it is nothing new.

The article is very important says Rich Lowry despite its author being funded by the current bete noir of the right George Soros:

To prove how important Lowry thinks it was to publish "An End to Marijuana Prohibition," he was not afraid to use Nadelmann, whose Drug Policy Alliance is heavily funded by George Soros, the conservative-bashing billionaire.

You can read the article here.

The difficulty with a piece like this is that it never rises to the level of a concerted effort. Eason Jordan slanders the troops? An outrage. The government is stealing a sick mans house. Business as usual. No big deal. Happens all the time.

Well that is just it, isn't it. It happens all the time. It may be cruel. It is not unusual. So many people have wondered how the Germans could not know of the death camps and the mass murder being done by the German Government. All you have to do is look at what our pot police are doing to America right out in the open.

At its heart is a culture war. Say was't the German destruction of the Eurpean Jews a culture war? I have a bit to say about that here.But don't take my word for it. Let us see what Washington State Lt Governor Brad Owen said to the Washington State Narcotics Investigators Association in their magazine The Educator. He is discussing Dennis Peron who helped pass the California Proposition 215 making medical marijuana legal in California:

If you think Dennis Peron has smoked too much medical marijuana and will never make sense again; hold on. He went on to say, “This is not about marijuana as medicine. This is a cultural war.”

Oddly enough, I couldn’t agree with him more.

So there it is in black and white. It is not about violence, theft, or fraud. It is not about punishing harm to orthers. It is about punishing a culture.

Every one by now knows this. It is well understood. Why the silence? For the same reason there was silence about the Jews. It is not my culture. And if I speak out I could get branded. Oh the brave do speak out. Once or twice a year. But is there a concerted effort? Why no. That might attract unwanted attentiion. Besides who wants people with the power to take your property on suspicion looking in to your affairs. Once or twice a year. The moral duty is done. We spoke out. Our concience is clear. We are good Germans.

You don't believe they can take your property on suspicion? It is done all the time. In fact some police from Tennessee have turned it into a racket:

Officers worked out a deal for Witt to contribute $9,649.25 to the sheriff's office drug fund in exchange for keeping his vehicle and the remaining $10,000. The Department of Safety has no record of the Witt seizure, spokeswoman Beth Denton said.

"That's nothing out of the ordinary," Jones said. "It's done every day." Ordinary or not, the practice doesn't conform to state law, a Tennessee Department of Safety lawyer said.

See this is no big deal. It is done every day. Every day. Every day. It may be cruel but it is not unusual. Not unusual at all.

And no record? Of what the police are up to? Paperwork is just such a bother. Plus it can cause problems down the road. Eliminate the paper work, eliminate the problems. I guess this is all part of some paper work reduction act to make government more efficient. The Germans were very efficient. To prove it they kept records. In America we have a better idea. Evidently it is working except in a few isolated cases. Which will be cleared up shortly.

Wel why stop at robbery on the highway? Why indeed. You think torture in Iraq is a big deal? Well it is no big deal in America. It is standard operating procedure in drug cases.

As long as it is done to the torturable class. Who is in the torturable class? It never changes. Here is what Graham Greene has to say about it in his novel of the cold war "Our Man In Havana":

"The poor in my own country, in any Latin American country. The poor of Central Europe and the Orient. Of course in your welfare states you have no poor, so you are untorturable. In Cuba the police can deal as harshly as they like with emigres from Latin America and the Baltic States, but not with visitors from your country or Scandinavia. It is an instinctive matter on both sides. Catholics are more torturable than Protestants, just as they are more criminal.

Well that is not quite true in America. You see Mr. Greene had not yet heard of the drug war when he wrote the novel. Let us look at a poor man tortured by the police in the state of Tennessee:

In those documents, Atchley details a plot by the former lawmen to force Siler to put his signature on a form they could use in court as proof the convicted drug dealer agreed to let them search his home in the White Oak community in search of drugs and money.

You see he was guilty. All they needed was a confession. Signed and sealed. Saves so much trouble and eliminates the cost of a trial in most cases making justice more efficient. How German.

Atchley lists in the documents disturbing examples of the lengths he alleges these former lawmen were willing to go: threats to electrocute Siler, drown him and break his fingers, beatings and gunplay.

But as shocking as those allegations are, they pale in comparison to the bone-chilling account of Siler's ordeal captured on a secret recording and laid out in a 59-page FBI transcript.

On these pages, it is the ex-officers' own words that tell the tale of a drug war where the rules of engagement are written in Siler's blood.

"We're going to take every dime you have today and if we don't walk out of here with every piece of dope you got and every dime you got, you're (expletive) ass is not going to make it to the jail," Webber warned in the transcript.

Such nice police we have. Protecting America. From the evils of drugs.

"Eugene, let me tell you how this is gonna work, OK?" Webber said in the transcript. "We got here and guess what you did? You ran out the back door. We chased you, OK? You fought with us, OK? We end up fighting with you. You 'bout whupped all our asses, so we had to fight back, OK?"

But neither Siler nor these deputies knew that Siler's wife had a secret weapon that would produce evidence against the five lawmen so strong that McClellan would fire them, a state grand jury would indict four of them and the FBI would come after all of them.

Beaten while resisting arrest. How cliched. How ordinary. It may be cruel but it is not unusual. Every day. In America. While we Americans like good Germans sleep. Not our kind after all. Now you might wonder why Siler's wife was prepared with a tape recorder? Is it possible it had happened this way before. Of course not. It can't happen here.

The lawmen demand information from Siler, why he hasn't been in touch with them, who supplies him drugs and where he has stashed his cash. Webber reminds Siler that he is alone and outnumbered.

"There's nobody knows we're ( expletive ) here," Webber says. "We're doing this on our own."

The transcript indicates that Webber produces a form that, once signed, will state that Siler gave his consent for the officers to search his home. Siler apparently refuses to sign it. The beating resumes.

Moaning, Siler apparently tries to say something to the lawmen, but Webber is not in the mood for conversation.

"You're not ( expletive ) listening," Webber says. "You hear what I told you? I told you not to be talking. ? This ( expletive ) right here, he loves seeing blood. He loves it. He loves seeing blood. You're talking too much. ? He loves ( expletive ) seeing blood. He'll beat your ass and lick it off of you."

Franklin orders another officer to remove Siler's handcuffs so he can sign. Siler, who cannot read or write, asks one of them to read it to him.

Monday refuses.

"Just sign it," Monday orders Siler.

Siler refuses.

"Git ( sic ) up," Monday responds. "Git ( sic ) up. I said get the ( expletive ) up."

Beating sounds follow.

Who writes these scripts? This is straight out of a B grade movie. This isn't Germany it is America. It can't happen here. It can't happen here.

Slaps and blows are again documented on the transcript, with Monday continuing to order Siler to sign.

By now, Siler is crying.

Threats come next. The lawmen tell Siler they will jail his wife and have his children taken away from him. The transcript details more beating sounds, more moaning from Siler, who repeatedly asks to talk to Webber.

"You ain't talking to nobody," Green responds. "You're gonna sign this ( expletive ) paper."

Siler screams. More blows are heard. The lawmen continue to order Siler to sign. He responds with moans and more screams. But there would be no reprieve.

Well it may be cruel. It is not unusual. Anything to get those damn druggies. Anything. Hadn't you heard? There is a war on.

Well why stop at torture? Why indeed. How 'bout a little murder to enliven the mix. Nothing like a murder to improve a story:

In October, a federal jury awarded $2.85 million to the family of Robinson, a 41-year-old gravedigger and caretaker at Baron Hirsch Cemetery.

Testimony convinced jurors that three officers -- Lucas, Bonner and Simcox -- wrongly killed Robinson and tried to cover it up. Jurors found that Berryhill wasn't at fault.

Meanwhile, City Atty. Sara Hall said the city has tentatively reached a $1.1 million settlement with Robinson's son, Jarvis Robinson, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit.

In the 21/2 years since the shooting, the officers were never disciplined and remained on the force even after the jury found the three officers personally liable.

You see it is just like O.J. liability is no proof of a crime. But you know how it is. Some one famous gets away with murder it is the crime of the century. The police get away with one and it may be cruel but it is not unusual. Why? Well drugs were involved don't you know.

Two-and-a-half years after a botched drug raid that led to a deadly shooting, eight Memphis police officers have been suspended.

Narcotics officers Mark Lucas, Albert Bonner, Jeffrey Simcox, Felipe Boyce, Veronica Crutchfield, Juan Gonzalez, Dariet Wallace and Lt. Anthony Berryhill were put on paid leave Friday, police said.

Paid leave? Why that is an even better deal than O.J. got. Why? Well drugs were involved don't you know. These botched drug raids may be cruel. They are hardly unususal. Let us look at the typical tactics of the drug gestapo in America. Gestapo too harsh? Well you read it and decide. Remember this is happening in America. Not Nazi Germany.

"It sounded like a bomb," said Jennifer Dunphy, who lives down the block. "We heard them say, 'If you don't let us in, we will use force,' but we didn't hear any gunshots."

Dunphy said that police officers went door to door about 9 a.m. to tell residents what had happened, Dunphy said.

Dunphy, who has lived on Del Haven Road for the past year, said she was surprised by the raid, as was her mother, Deborah Lupton, a Baltimore resident who hurried over to her daughter's home after hearing about the shooting on the news.

"This stuff doesn't happen here," Lupton said.

The bomb was a flash bang grenade used to stun the people inside a room to make entry easier for police. They typically arrive at 5 am when every one is sleeping. It reduces resistance. Then they smash the doors down throw in the grenade and rush in with guns drawn. Rush indeed. In this case the woman killed pulled a gun from her bedside because she thought her home was under attack. It happens all the time in America in the neighborhoods of those "other people". It doesn't happen here. Why no. And is this kind of raid illegal in America? This is not Nazi Germany after all. Why yes. The Supreme Court says your home is your castle. Except if the police are looking for drugs. And aren't they always looking for drugs to make us safe? It is all for our own good after all.

Here is what a citizen of Baltimore had to say about the raid in a letter published in the Baltimore Sun:

This weekend's police killing of Cheryl Lynn Noel is yet another tragic death attributable to the police decision to clamp down on the drug trade ("Baltimore Co. officer fatally shoots woman during narcotics raid," Jan. 22).

While I am neither a gun owner nor an advocate for the gun lobby, I certainly understand Ms. Noel's decision to own a handgun for personal protection.

Who can blame her for grabbing her handgun when undercover police bombed her home and broke down her bedroom door at 5 a.m.? How many of us would have responded otherwise?

Ms. Noel was a loving wife and mother and a hard-working member of the community, not a drug dealer.

Where is the national outrage? No need to wonder why the good Germans didn't know. In America the news is in the paper every day. We don't want to know.

"Find out just what the people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." Frederick Douglas (1857)

Any one with me on a campaign to end this crap? Any one at all?


Update: 01 June '06 1032z

You can listen to the Siler tape here(mp3) or you can read the transcript here(pdf).

Hat tip: Hammer of Truth.

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Drug War, Lester Siler, Torture, Police, Law Enforcement, Marijuana, California, Policing, Persecuting the Sick, Frederick Douglas, Narcotics Raid, Narcotics Officers, Good Germans, Tennessee