http://www.nj.com/…

The New Jersey Supreme Court heard arguments today over whether to change the circumstances under which police may search cars on Garden State roadways.

State prosecutors argue the current method needs a tune-up because it creates real-world problems for police trying to make decisions in the field. Under current rules, if police want to search a car without first getting a judge’s approval, they must determine that there is probable cause, whether the evidence might disappear and if the safety of the officer or public is at risk.

Instead, the state want to see the state’s high court adopt the method used by the federal courts, which lets police search a car on the belief there is contraband inside.

“It’s a rule that makes sense and is by no means a radical departure of the last 30 or 40 years,” said assistant Attorney General Ronald Susswein.

But criminal defense lawyers say the current system helps preserve important constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

“There is not a crisis with regard to automobile searches. The sky is not falling,” said assistant deputy state public defender, Stephen Kirsch.

And former Attorney General John Farmer Jr., who represents the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers — New Jersey , argued the advances in technology have so changed the landscape that there are fewer instances in which a warrantless search is necessary.

During arguments in Trenton, the justices peppered lawyers with questions about the law, such as what circumstances dictate when a vehicle might be impounded in connection with a stop and how the courts have defined the situations in which a warrantless search was okay.

“We’re defining it differently in difference circumstances,” said Justice Barry Albin.

If they really want to search your vehicle they will find a way to justify it. Rarely are you going to get the search found illegitimate by the courts. As with all other situations with police and the threat of a search: Just say no. Then say nothing. Anything, and I mean anything, can and will be used against you. If you are stopped by cops refuse to search you query whether you are being detained, if not ask to leave. Continue with the same questions until allowed to leave.

http://www.armytimes.com/…

The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.

Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.

It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.

Ah yes. After Hurricane Katrina. When they went around unconstitutionally taking people’s firearms and checking old women into walls.

As far as I understand using the military for policing was not legal. It had been made legal between 2006 and 2008 but due to the controversy it was repealed. Perhaps the Bush administration missed that.

Can you smell that? Is that the smell of constitutionally limited government?

Nope… it’s corporatism/fascism^1,2,3,4,5 and the rising police state^1,2,3.

Ah well. Even if the current state of affairs are less than desirable and the US Constitution not a perfect document… it’s sure a lot better than what we’ve got now.

Daily Paul posted this:

If you remember back to last year, Constitution day was the start of the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign’s “Fill the Quill” initiative. Does anyone else remember that? They were looking to garner a total of 1787 donations - they weren’t even counting how much they raised (!!) only how many dontations they received. AND they were recording the number of donors in real time. This was a precursor to the money bombs, and it was this real-time reporting technology that made it possible! Looking back, it seems like a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it? Share any of your memories below.

Well, there is plenty to look forward to on this Constitution day. Let’s give Ron Paul some company in Congress!

1. BJ Lawson, running for Congress in NC 4, is having a money bomb.
2. John Cunningham, running for Congress in MA 7, is having a money bomb.
3. Today is the Liberty Straw Poll! Buy your ticket ($10), listen in to the debates between the candidates and vote! The winners get the money for their campaigns! The debate will be hosted by Kurt Wallace, with round table discussion provided by Tom Woods and Jack Hunter (the Southern Avenger).
4. Check out MA Questions 1 and 2, to eliminate our state income tax and decriminalize marijuana. If you don’t live here in Taxachussets, you might think this doesn’t apply to you. But if you can help us pass these two citizens initiatives, it will make it that much easier for you to pass the same ones in your state next year! So lend us your support!

Thank you, and happy Constitution Day!

Good luck Massachusetts residents.

http://www.reason.com/…

According to FBI figures released today, about 873,000 people were arrested on marijuana charges in the United States last year, 5 percent more than in 2006 and a new record. This is the fifth year in a row that marijuana arrests, which are up 167 percent since 1990, have increased. In 2007 marijuana arrests accounted for nearly half of the 1.8 million drug arrests; as usual, the vast majority of the pot busts, about 775,000, were for simple possession.

I analyzed the upward trend in marijuana arrests in the January issue of reason. In May I noted that New York City’s crackdown on pot smokers has exceeded the national trend.

In addition to chart above, NORML has a handy table.

The war casualties continues to rise and the PIC (prison industrial complex) continues to grow.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/…

Posted by Kathryn Muratore at September 14, 2008 01:23 PM

Since the big story broke last spring about prescription medicine showing up in municipal water, more and more tests have been run in different areas of the country, and all show the same general trend. Previously, I implicated the Drug War in being one of the culprits in this problem.

But I underestimated the depth of the guilt of the DEA. It turns out that the Drug War regulations make it prohibitively expensive to dispose of unused controlled substances in any other way, so medical facilities are dumping them down the drain.

From the AP article:

In a frustrating quirk in government policy, the most tightly controlled drugs — like painkilling narcotics prone to abuse — are the ones that most often elude environmental regulation when they become waste.

Federal narcotics regulators impose strict rules meant to keep controlled pharmaceuticals out of the wrong hands. Yet those rules also make these drugs nearly impossible to handle safely as waste, say hospital environmental administrators.

Though a leader in incinerating drug waste, this hospital still puts four gallons of controlled substances down the drain each year, says hazardous waste manager Steven Waderich.

It would be very expensive to do otherwise. “Managing controlled substances, the cost goes up just through the roof,” he says.

In nearby Robbinsdale, North Memorial Medical Center pours 50 gallons of controlled substances into its drains annually rather than pay $25,000 to handle and haul it away for safer disposal, says regulated waste coordinator Jerry Fink.

Part of the cost is due to federal rules that state anyone who handles controlled substances, other than a user, must be certified as a police officer or registered with the DEA. That goes for pharmacists, distributors, even waste handlers.

State waste regulators take their cue from federal law and regulations.

Thus, typical assisted-living centers, which are not registered with the DEA, cannot collect unused controlled drugs of residents for offsite disposal.

Even the destruction of controlled drugs must be meticulously documented, so they aren’t diverted to addicts. Medical facilities typically send a second staffer to bear witness when controlled substances are poured into sinks or toilets.

The result of ingesting these minute amounts of drug coctails is unknown and maybe harmless. However, this shouldn’t be a scare in the first place. The regulation of drugs, both of those legal and not, harm far more people than they ever help. From unintended conciquences such as this to increased crime and the rise in the police state to the creation of drugs like crack cocaine which may never had occured if not for the high costs of other drugs due to prohibition.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

The Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office has concluded in an internal review that its deputies were justified when they shot and killed two dogs belonging to the mayor of Berwyn Heights during a July drug raid, Sheriff Michael Jackson said yesterday.

The sheriff said that one dog was engaging an officer and that the other was running toward a second officer at the time the black Labs were shot, but the ruling did not satisfy the mayor, who said the inquiry was incomplete and misleading.

The sheriff said that one dog was engaging an officer and that the other was running toward a second officer at the time the black Labs were shot, but the ruling did not satisfy the mayor, who said the inquiry was incomplete and misleading.

This is no surprise. Looking out for their own.