Police breaking the 4th amendment - underage drinking event

[Russell Kanning]

Did I forget to mention?  ..... there will be Free Staters in attendance.
Members in good standing of the Free State Project along with other liberty lovers from the area will be standing up to the Keene police and their backpack searches.

[Kat Kanning]

Underage freestaters even.

[FrankChodorov]

My favorite quotes from the article:

"According to Cirish, the officers followed him on foot, asking the contents of their backpacks. After the officers received permission to search Cirish's bag, the three were arrested for unlawful possession of alcohol. According to Cirish, he was handcuffed without being read his rights."

AND

"He told me that if I did not open my backpack, he would take me down to the station and get a warrant to open my bag, so I obliged and was arrested on the spot."

Rule Number 1 for surviving overbearing cops is: NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER CONSENT TO ANYTHING (including a search and including stopping to engage in "mere conversation"* with a police officer).

Rule Number 2 for surviving overbearing cops is: COPS ARE PEOPLE, TOO, which means that they have the same general percentage of lazy employees as any other job or profession (except maybe lawyers), and are highly unlikely to go to the trouble of taking you to a police station, filling out an affidavit for a search warrant, and waking up a judge in the middle of the night, if you refuse to consent to a search.

Another note -- most people bitch about the police not reading them their rights after being arrested, as if it is some sort of requirement.  It is not.  The police only need to read you your so-called Miranda rights if they intend to question you post-arrest and wish for any information learned from such post-arrest questioning to be admissible in court.  Usually, people say enough pre-arrest to hang themselves (especially in minor cases like shoplifting, minor-in-possession, etc.).

* NOTE: "Mere conversation" is a BS legal notion that you, walking down the street at night, encountering a police officer (in uniform with a gun, a tazer, handcuffs, and a police radio) who asks you a question will feel the same level of freedom to not answer the question / stop for the officer as if a homeless person had staggered up to you and asked you the same question.  Such questions may include: Hey, what's your name and date of birth?  Do you mind if I touch you and rifle through your belongings?

great post...

I would also say that people who choose to participate in the above CD as described by Kat should not do anything that would give the police probable cause and there should be a few witnesses too...maybe even a camera or two 

I would also suspect that a sole police officer will not approach a group over 2-3 people...

[Spencer]

As for the cameras, just make sure that they don't have audio (or everyone should be wearing a patch or pin announcing that all those who approach are subject to audio and video recording, lest we have anymore sheGANNONins).

[Russell Kanning]

How about instead of telling us how to do our civil disobedience, you do your own? Or if you want to join us, you can wear a pin announcing that you are recording the police.

[Russell Kanning]

Frank .... you should really join us. We are going to have so much fun. I think I heard one of the Keenestone cops say he wanted to know more about land rights.

[Spencer]

I have my own brand of civil disobedience, although it likely wouldn't meet with your approval (but, hey, we're all individuals, right?): I'm a public defender who takes almost every single case to trial (which results in a higher percentage of dismissals than many of my colleagues get and causes the unlucky DDA assigned to my trial load for the week to groan and bitch about me wasting his / her time).

My clients, who are regularly overcharged by ambitious young DDAs, usually thank me at the end of their cases (regardless of verdict / outcome), telling me that they've never had a lawyer willing to talk about going to trial, let alone actually doing it.

If every criminal defense attorney took 90% of his / her cases to trial (rather than the average, which is approximately 90% plea bargains), then the system would collapse unless the system was willing to give up on certain types of charges and cases (thereby indirectly reducing the number of stupid, freedom-destroying laws via what amounts to prosecutorial nullification).

I know that I am "participating" in "the system," but it is what I do (best).

[Russell Kanning]

I used to participate in the system. It is not the right thing for me to do.
When I use the term CD, I am thinking of actions outside the mafia system. Wouldn't you call yours something else?
Our CD is never perfect. I don't think we have the time to look at all the ways it can go wrong. You have to just start walking in the right direction even if you cannot see the whole path.

[Spencer]

Fair enough, Russell.  I classify what I do as "monkeywrenching" the system, while protecting the rights of those who are accused by an overbearing and powerful government.

The unfortunate thing about your recent adventures with the IRS is that the gov't apparently "only" charged you with "petty" offenses (generally, those with potential incarceration of six months or less), which the U.S. Supreme Court (oh, those guardians of liberty) has held does not implicate the Sixth Amendment (which states: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury . . .") right to a trial by jury.  It deprived you of your opportunity to sit silently while a jury was selected, and see their reactions to hearing what the charges and evidence were (and the possibility that they would nullify -- although the judge would never have informed them of this right).

[KBCraig]

How about instead of telling us how to do our civil disobedience, you do your own?

I assume this was directed to Spencer.

Based on Spencer's posts here, I really don't think he's some long distance wanker or "forum warrior". His suggestion about muting audio or wearing notices, was a pretty good suggestion to pick your fights, and focus on one at a time. Don't inadvertently stumble into a fight that has nothing to do with your goal. Such as, being hit with a felony wiretapping charge for having a camcorder pick up conversations without the permission of everyone involved, when your only intent was to videotape the events.

Now if I, speaking as one who will not be there, can offer up something: load the backpacks of those underage particpants with O'Doul's or other non-alcoholic beers. Use rootbeer. Empty vodka bottles and fill them with water. Use mouthwash to fill schnapps bottles. Anything to screw with them!

Kevin

[felix.benner]

  And don't forget sugar in plastic bags or tea leaves with your tobacco. But maybe that's a different 'battle' as well.

[Russell Kanning]

There will be a crazy variety of things in our backpacks.

[Kat Kanning]

BTW, not bailing out if you get arrested will cause them a problem.  They only have a couple of cells in the Taj Mahal and the Cheshire County Jail is supposedly overcrowded.  Then you'd have to stay until Monday when they get you to a judge. You spend more time in jail that way, but then, you don't give them any money. 

It's good to decide how much you want to cooperate beforehand - from no cooperation:  you don't walk for them, you don't even talk to them - to pretty much doing what they ask.

[Kat Kanning]

Delay this one week so we can get it in the KFP?

[Russell Kanning]

Nah. We could do this every week until we have backpack freedom.