18.5.11

News: 'No Knock Raids' Made Legal... WTF?


The LA Times reports:
The Supreme Court gave police more leeway to break into homes or apartments in search of illegal drugs when they suspect the evidence otherwise might be destroyed.
What happened to the Fourth Amendment?! This was shocking to me initially, but didn't really affect me that strongly until I read this commentary by Bay Area Hip Hop Journalist, Historian, DJ, Media & Community Activist, Davey D (yah, he's got a string of titles; this man is accomplished). This is an abhorrent violation of citizens' rights, and quite frankly an embarrassing method of social control by our government. By endangering countless of innocent individuals for the sake of policing drugs in this country is willfully remaining ignorant to safer, more affective, methods of drug enforcement. Take note from countries like Switzerland, The Netherlands, Portugal, and even Germany where drug-related crime is significantly lower that ares with strict enforcement policies. Some would assume the moral here would suggest simply, Don't Do Drugs — well, Kathryn Johnson wasn't do drugs, neither was Aiyanna Stanley Jones, nor Jose Guerena. Wake up US Government, restriction doesn't prevent anything — I'm agnostic, but to use the Bible, which seems so popular within politics: Adam & Eve were restricted from the Tree of Knowledge... and we all know how that ended.

[Photo via Irfan Khan/LA Times]

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