Independent News and Politics

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld strip searches – for literally any arrest.  Forgot to pay a parking fine?  Caught jay-walking?  Maybe the officer just says you were hostile and resisting a lawful order!

It doesn’t matter how trivial the offense is, and it doesn’t matter if the police have no reason to actually suspect that you’re hiding contraband.

The worst part of this ruling isn’t just the mockery the court makes of American civil rights, but rather how the ruling directly undermines the authority of the courts:

In addressing this type of  constitutional claim courts must defer to the judgment of correctional officials unless the record contains substantial evidence showing their policies are an unnecessary or unjustified response to problems of jail security.

Essentially, the Supreme Court of Justice in the United States finds itself powerless to second-guess the actions of correctional officers unless the abused prisoners can deliver evidence that they will surely be prevented from collecting in the first place.

So who can regulate the actions of correctional officers in this land of law and justice?

Apparently, no one.

A few months ago, a resident near Kansas City complained that a SWAT team had taken a bunch of cash and property that wasn’t in any way related to the investigation. Of course, the SWAT team seems to have pocketed the cash because they denied ever having seen it. Then again, maybe the resident was just looking for a quick buck…

Either way, it was enough for internal affairs to call up the FBI to set up an investigation – and nail the KC SWAT team in a staged sting.

From the reports coming out, this is a pretty well documented case of police abusing their authority – something that happens way too often without any kind of proof or consequences for the officers involved. Hopefully, this time, some actual criminal charges will remind these folks that the law applies equally to everyone in this country.

While no protests were “legally” allowed, and despite police activity designed to intimidate potential demonstrations, some discontents found their way to protest the G20 meeting hosted in downtown Pittsburgh.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/09/24/tsr.todd.g20.tear.gas.cnn

CNN got some good video of the police using chemical weapons on anyone who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Too bad – because they’ve denied all the protest permit applications and they’ve been running around town pre-emptively harassing everyone who might potentially pose a theoretical threat.

More information on the Pittsburgh counter-revolution can be found here, but the lesson here is clear:  the less coverage dissent gets, the better it is.  Why crush protestors with brute force if you can make them quietly back down beforehand?

If someone wants to buy me a ticket to Pennsylvania, I’ll go chant and carry a sign or something.  I could use a vacation!