Police State

Disturbing Trend of Police Wanting Drones for Routine Infractions

"After lulling the public into believing that using drones in the U.S. would be confined to border patrol or for counter-terrorism in the event of an imminent threat, we are beginning to see police calling for far wider implementation of drone surveillance. I’d like to remind readers that up until 2010 it was a conspiracy theory to suggest that drones would be used in the U.S. at all. Until, of course, it came out that there had been a domestic drone program in the works for years. Subsequently, it became understood that the 'border' actually extends 100 miles inland through an area that the ACLU dubbed the 'Constitution-free Zone.'"

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Congress Needs to Put a Stop to Asset Forfeiture

"Revenues generated through forfeiture may be spent with virtually no oversight. Funds distributed to local or state agencies via the equitable sharing program are similarly beyond the reach of state or local lawmakers. Perhaps this lack of accountability explains how funds supposedly reserved for 'law enforcement purposes' wind up getting spent on margarita machines, training trips to Hawaii, and chrome accents for Harley Davidson motorcycles."

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In Duterte’s anti-drug pogrom, police and cameras tell different stories

"Chilling surveillance footage of a drug-war operation in Manila raises fresh doubts about police actions in President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal anti-narcotics campaign. Reuters obtained the footage, which shows the deadly operation from start to finish."

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Judge halts Indiana city’s code-enforcement property seizure racket

"The judge had particularly harsh words for Hall, who indicated in emails that it would be 'financially disastrous' for residents to try to improve their homes, because the homes would be demolished anyway. Such statements, coupled with the city’s policy of not levying fines against LLC-owned homes, undermine the goal of maintaining safety, Mount said."

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How police used a traffic stop to take $91,800 from an innocent man

"He only got a $25 ticket for improperly wearing his seat belt and a warning for 'lane use.' But Wyoming law enforcement officers found and eventually seized the $91,800 in cash, as it was hidden in a speaker cabinet — by getting Parhamovich, under what he claims was duress, to sign away his interest in the money through a waiver. He has since tried to get his money back. But state law enforcement officials have rejected his pleas. Responding to a request for records related to Parhamovich’s case, state officials said they consider the cash 'abandoned.' The state has even moved to forfeiture the money without notifying Parhamovich of the relevant court hearing until after it happened."

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With Gun and Medical Marijuana Registries, Hawaii Starts Disarming Patients

"Hawaii is one of 29 states that allow medical use of marijuana, but it is the only state that requires registration of all firearms. If you are familiar with the criteria that bar people from owning guns under federal law, you can probably surmise what the conjunction of these two facts means for patients who use cannabis as a medicine, which Hawaii allows them to do only if they register with the state. Some of them recently received a letter from Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard, instructing them to turn in their guns."

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NSA Secretly Helped Convict Defendants in U.S. Courts

"The undisclosed use of warrantless surveillance to win prosecutions is also troubling from a constitutional standpoint, foreclosing a rare opportunity to discover Section 702 abuses and challenge the law, which civil liberties advocates have argued is unconstitutional."

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Pennsylvania Cops Raid Elderly Couple for Marijuana Plants That Weren’t

"Edward Cramer returned home in the midst of the raid, only to be met by leveled police guns, removed from his car, arrested, and placed in the police car with his wife for the next two hours. According to the lawsuit, Cramer repeatedly asked to show police that the plants were hibiscus, with the flowers clearly in bloom, to no avail."

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Georgia high schoolers win $3M settlement over fruitless drug sweep

"Each Worth County High School student will receive between $1,000 and $6,000, but students who attorneys say suffered more invasive violations will receive higher amounts. Hobby's attorney, Raleigh Rollins, said the settlement will be paid through the county's insurance policy rather than directly from public funds."

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