'Race bias' could free alleged drug dealer

[Boris Godunov]

That's a good point, but I think you'd have a hard time getting lawmakers to advocate that kind of position...

[MichaeltheGreat]

The Globe doesn't archive their online articles, AFAIK. I keep track of what's going on in Beantown so it's one of the regular sites I read. I've seen 3 articles now (including today's) on Lora and the coke bust issue. I figured today's would at least corroborate the gist of Cali's article.

Old coot. Hmmmph. Impudent, lazy young'uns these days.

[chequita guevara]

I'd rather go after the prosecutors who encourage and condone that kind of behavior by police. If they wouldn't use illegal evidence, the cops wouldn't bother.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Lincoln


I never could understand the idea of punishing the cop by letting the criminal go free. The Rodney King case is a good example. I think if the cops break the law then they should be prosecuted like any other criminal.

The idea isn't so much to punish the cop, because most cases are marginal. How much force is excessive? How reasonable is a supposed "good faith" belief that there was probable cause?

Even with criminal punishment of flagrant violations, police can get away with marginal ones all the time, so the idea (going back to Mapp v. Ohio) of the exclusionary rule is simply to make a general policy of ignoring the Constitution not pay off for police agencies. If it doesn't do you any good to break the rules as a matter of policy, then in theory, you won't. If it does work, you may say "screw the rules, we can get away with it."

[Lincoln]

This reminds me of an incident where a friend and me were passing out pamphlets on a public sidewalk. the cops ordered us "off the ******* sidewalk." After they threatened to arrest us I said; on what charges? They answered: "Get your ass off the sidewalk. We will fabricate charges!" My buddy said that he didn't have a donkey so they all tackled him and took him to jail. Sure enough though, they were honest cops -- they really did fabricate charges...

[chequita guevara]

Arr!

[CygnusZ]

Originally posted by Lincoln


I never could understand the idea of punishing the cop by letting the criminal go free. The Rodney King case is a good example. I think if the cops break the law then they should be prosecuted like any other criminal.

The idea isn't to punish cops, it's just to uphold the law of the land. There is a question of judicial balancing between the violation of the constitution and the pragmatic necessity for a conviction. If this was a murder, they'd probably let it slide.

And, about your cop troubles, just pay attention to them. It's fine to talk about the hypothetical situations but if push comes to shove in reality you're better off just making a stupid concession than fighting with someone who can take you to a holding cell.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Lincoln
This reminds me . . .

Speaking of old coots.

Dude, your freind was lucky. At least he didn't get beaten. An old radical buddy of mine did something similar. The cops ordered him off the street (during a demonstration) and he said, "What're you gonna do? Arrest me?"

They said, "No." and took him into custody, drove him a few blocks away into an alley, and proceeded to beat the crap out of him.

Granted, this was in the 1960s but it taught me a very important lessons. Never smart off to the Chicago Police.

[Lincoln]

I wish we had a video camera...

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


Speaking of old coots.

Dude, your freind was lucky. At least he didn't get beaten. An old radical buddy of mine did something similar. The cops ordered him off the street (during a demonstration) and he said, "What're you gonna do? Arrest me?"

They said, "No." and took him into custody, drove him a few blocks away into an alley, and proceeded to beat the crap out of him.

Granted, this was in the 1960s but it taught me a very important lessons. Never smart off to the Chicago Police.

He was lucky- in Brazil, they'd have shot him.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Lincoln
I wish we had a video camera...

Then they either would not have done it or the tape would "mysteriously" have become lost/demagnetized/yanked out.

[Caligastia]

Re: Re: Re: Re: 'Race bias' could free alleged drug dealer

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
I doubt they gave him back the coke. Do you know how much that ******* lost on two ****ing pounds? Let alone if it's not his money and he's working for someone else?

The problem is, if the cops are rewarded when sucessful, and immune when not, there's nothing to deter police forces from carrying out illegal searches at will. Letting the scumbag go isn't a good solution, but it's the only one that takes the reward out of the cop's misbehavior. You don't need a warrant for a motor vehicle search, but you do at least need probable cause, and that's not a very tough standard to meet.

But in this particular case, the reason he was searched was because the cop saw a bag of coke sitting on the floor. And it's not like the cop didn't have a good reason to pull him over with his bad driving and all.

[Caligastia]

Hm...posted that before reading the rest of the thread...