If you think this is bogus, google "Ethel Hylton" and follow the many links. Our local police goons have done similar seizures over the years. The New Times newspaper has done some exposés on this sort of abuse; I remember one where the sheriff's office furnished themselves with up-to-date computers by pulling such a stunt.
.
The truth is, most communities have statutes on the books that allow law officials to seize any and all property from drug dealers. The intent was to hurt the pushers financially (in addition to jail), but the upshot is, as you can see from Ethel Hylton's saga, police just take what they want. It's up to you to prove you didn't get the stuff they seize as a result of drug-dealing, and even if you do prove it, they usually keep it anyway.
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The second truth is - it is estimated that as much as 70% of our paper currency was used somewhere along the way in a drug-related scenario, often to snort cocaine. So a drug-sniffing dog has the potential to "out" just about anyone carrying cash.
.
As our local governments feel the financial crunch of the present recession (thanks, Dubnutz; you jerk), look for them to try to increase revenues by things like photo-radar, speed traps, etc. The police are going to feel the pinch too. So you can expect a lot more "search & seizures" in the near future. Get used to it.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Get used to it...
"Police stopped 49-year-old Ethel Hylton at Houston's Hobby Airport and told her she was under arrest because a drug dog had scratched her luggage. Agents searched her bags and strip-searched her, but they found no drugs. They did find $39,110 in cash, money she had received from an insurance settlement and her life savings; accumulated through over 20 years of work as a hotel housekeeper and hospital janitor. Ethel Hylton completely documented where she got the money and was never charged with a crime. But the police kept her money anyway." (from DailyKos, 11/16/08)
If you think this is bogus, google "Ethel Hylton" and follow the many links. Our local police goons have done similar seizures over the years. The New Times newspaper has done some exposés on this sort of abuse; I remember one where the sheriff's office furnished themselves with up-to-date computers by pulling such a stunt.
.
The truth is, most communities have statutes on the books that allow law officials to seize any and all property from drug dealers. The intent was to hurt the pushers financially (in addition to jail), but the upshot is, as you can see from Ethel Hylton's saga, police just take what they want. It's up to you to prove you didn't get the stuff they seize as a result of drug-dealing, and even if you do prove it, they usually keep it anyway.
.
The second truth is - it is estimated that as much as 70% of our paper currency was used somewhere along the way in a drug-related scenario, often to snort cocaine. So a drug-sniffing dog has the potential to "out" just about anyone carrying cash.
.
As our local governments feel the financial crunch of the present recession (thanks, Dubnutz; you jerk), look for them to try to increase revenues by things like photo-radar, speed traps, etc. The police are going to feel the pinch too. So you can expect a lot more "search & seizures" in the near future. Get used to it.
If you think this is bogus, google "Ethel Hylton" and follow the many links. Our local police goons have done similar seizures over the years. The New Times newspaper has done some exposés on this sort of abuse; I remember one where the sheriff's office furnished themselves with up-to-date computers by pulling such a stunt.
.
The truth is, most communities have statutes on the books that allow law officials to seize any and all property from drug dealers. The intent was to hurt the pushers financially (in addition to jail), but the upshot is, as you can see from Ethel Hylton's saga, police just take what they want. It's up to you to prove you didn't get the stuff they seize as a result of drug-dealing, and even if you do prove it, they usually keep it anyway.
.
The second truth is - it is estimated that as much as 70% of our paper currency was used somewhere along the way in a drug-related scenario, often to snort cocaine. So a drug-sniffing dog has the potential to "out" just about anyone carrying cash.
.
As our local governments feel the financial crunch of the present recession (thanks, Dubnutz; you jerk), look for them to try to increase revenues by things like photo-radar, speed traps, etc. The police are going to feel the pinch too. So you can expect a lot more "search & seizures" in the near future. Get used to it.
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5 comments:
I guess it's a good thing I don't carry cash around. I mean, I feel sorry for the lady, but at the same time, 39k in CASH in her stowed luggage?? What was she THINKING?
yeah i admit, that is a bit suspicious. OTOH, if she was carrying it as a bunch of 20's, that's a lot of background traces of coke for the dog to detect.
BTW, my home anti-virus program (Kaspersky) doesn't like the "Twilight" jpeg on your main blog. it claims there's a malware virus hidden in it. i'll see if my McAfee anti-virus program raises any alerts about it at work tomorrow.
Weird. I deleted the old graphic and put in a new one from a different place.
Also weird - my word verification is "monday".
Kaspersky likes it now. McAfee at work didn't see a problem.
i did notice that the "address" of your pics are different from mine and most oter people's. ours usually start off with "3.bp" or "2.bp" or something like that.
yours seem to link back directly to your source. ours link to a location somewhere within Blogger.
I don't upload most of mine. I upload from other webpages through that little upload button. It links back to wherever the source is. If you go any of the more personal posts, where I post stuff that I actually own rather than just stuff from other peoples' pages, it'll have a blogger address.
I also have figured out how to make the links in them point to places not where the source file is. I only do that on things like my reading challenge blogs, so I can point back to the host challenge blogs.
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