Showing posts with label harassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label harassment. Show all posts

An Innocent Frequent Flyer Detained 23 Hours By TSA

by Ronnie Polaneczky.      Apparently, working as a supervisor for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Philadelphia International Airport comes with a perk:   You get to throw people in jail for no good reason and still keep your job. If that's not the case, why is Charles Kieser still employed by the TSA?  Vanderklok, 57, is a Philly architect   ... MORE

NYPD Punishes City by Citing, Arresting Fewer Citizens

by Scott Shackford.   That'll teach em! Right now in New York City, guys selling black market cigarettes are much, much less likely to be harassed and arrested (or worse) by the New York Police Department. Apparently, or at least in the eyes of the New York Post, we’re supposed to see this as a bad thing (people not getting arrested is    ... MORE

John W. Whitehead: The FBI - America's Secret Police

Secret police.   Secret courts.   Secret government agencies. Surveillance. Intimidation tactics. Harassment. Torture. Brutality. Widespread corruption. Entrapment schemes. These are the hallmarks of every authoritarian regime from the Roman Empire to modern-day America, yet it’s the secret police—tasked with silencing     ... MORE

Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts; No Crime Required

by Shaila Dewan. For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000.       ... MORE

Cop Pulls Car Over for Nonexistent Traffic Violation, Then Tows It To Search For Evidence Of Nonexistent Crime

by Jacob Sullum.   Drug war incentives strike Vermont. Last March, according to a lawsuit filed this month by the ACLU of Vermont, a state trooper pulled Gregory Zullo over for a nonexistent traffic infraction, then towed his car away so it could be searched for evidence of a nonexistent crime. Trooper Lewis Hatch stopped Zullo, a 21-year-old resident ... MORE

Gene Robinson: Is America A Police State? For Many, Yes

An everyday reality for millions.      I don't know what it's like to live in a police state. But some people who live in America do. This week, a video surfaced of an event that occurred in St. Paul, Minnesota, back in January—and it's as horrifying as anything I've seen and heard in a long time. I've watched it several times because (1) I can't believe   ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Your Tuition Pays For This

Campus nitwittery is no bargain.     According to College Board, average tuition and fees for the 2013-14 school year totaled $30,094 at private colleges, $8,893 for in-state residents at public colleges and $22,203 for out-of-state residents. Many schools, such as Columbia University and George Washington University, charge yearly    ... MORE

John Stossel: Patrolmen Without Borders

America is no longer a free country.        If I drive across a U.S. border, I expect to stop at a Border Patrol checkpoint. But imagine driving to the grocery store, or Mom's house, well inside America, and being stopped by the Border Patrol. Many Americans don't have to imagine it — it's how they live. Even as the federal government fails to control ... MORE

State Law Hides Investigations of Police Misconduct

The real numbers are staggering.     18,000 complaints in the bay area alone, in just the last 5 years. A California state law called the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights (POBOR) protects police from those who allege misconduct. POBOR allows police to keep secret the details of internal investigations or even official findings of misconduct.      ... MORE

He Cooperated With The Cops -- And Is Paying The Price

The ordeal of Mark Byrge.         When Mark Byrge had a minor traffic accident on a street in American Fork, Utah, he did the “responsible” thing by reporting the incident to the police. He has never stopped paying for that mistake. Within a few minutes of receiving Mark's call, a pair of American Fork cops arrived to document the damage   ... MORE

Cal Law Forces Chefs And Bartenders To Wear Gloves

Alexis Garcia on California's latest idoicy.      No plastic grocery bags, mandated plastic gloves. “This law, which seems to be really focused on the Subways and Chipotles of the market, now affects your most well-trained and experienced chefs who have mastered their craft and have never had any issue,” says Jordan Bernstein, a Los     ... MORE

Is Flashing Your Headlights Protected Free Expression?

by Robert Patrick.         But what if it inconveniences the state? The American Civil Liberties Union is hoping that a federal judge’s ruling Monday that temporarily barred Ellisville from punishing drivers for using their headlights to warn others of speed traps will itself serve as a warning to other cities who try to do the same. ACLU Legal Director      ... MORE

Drug War Update: Routine Traffic Stop Results In 14-Hour Anal Cavity Search Including 3 Enemas And A Colonscopy

Cops claim to have acted within the law.        A New Mexico man stopped for rolling through a stop sign earlier this year was subjected to a nightmarish 14-hour anal cavity search after police became suspicious that he was hiding drugs. David Eckert says he was subjected to three enemas, two rectal searches, two x-rays and even a colonoscopy - all in   ... MORE

Will Grigg: The Police As Privileged Peeping Toms

Cops force women naked to watch on surveillance.       The police department in Puyallup, Washington has a practice and custom of ordering female DUI suspects to undress completely in a room subject to video surveillance. This isn’t a security measure, since the women had already been patted down for weapons. And the procedure is    ... MORE

Why Did The Cop Dressed As A Chicken Cross The Road?

To separate taxpayers from their money, of course.     When California police dressed one of their officers in a chicken suit they thought the sight would be enough to make drivers stop at crossings - but they were wrong. As a campaign to make Lake Elsinore crosswalks safer got underway on Thursday, 31 drivers were ticketed after failing  ... MORE

Niels Gerson Lohman: Why I Will Never Return To The U.S.

America has become an ugly place to visit.      After a year of travelling, I had planned a last, short trip. I was going to take the train from Montreal to New Orleans. The travels I had been undertaking earlier this year had brought me to places that were meant to form the background of my second novel. This trip, however was for my  ... MORE

VIDEO: Professor Dave Fights For Free Speech On Campus

Harassment and liberty.        The Foundation for Individual Rights in Higher Education would like to introduce you to Dave. A “born philosopher” and “intellectual rebel,” Dave grew up to be a college professor, a position he thought would allow him to help young college students challenge conventional wisdom and explore new ideas.   ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Re-education At George Mason

All cultures are NOT equal.        This week begins my 34th year serving on George Mason University's distinguished economics faculty. You might imagine my surprise when I received a letter from its Office of Equity and Diversity Services notifying me that I was required to "complete the in-person Equal Opportunity and Prevention of   ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: When Policing Becomes Harrassment

Why NYPD's stop-and-frisk program is unconstitutional. The first time David Floyd was stopped and frisked, on a Friday afternoon in April 2007, he was walking down Beach Avenue a few doors from his house in the Bronx. Two police officers confronted him, demanding to know who he was, where he was going, what he was doing, and whether    ... MORE