Starchild, If you get a channch view Ira Gllasser's ACLU video on youtube on why you would best say nothing at all to the cops except " am I free to go and I appreciate your efforts officer but I respectfully decline any search. and I respectfully decline to answer any questions. anyway Iras little film is fantastic and makes it clear that whenever anyone opens up thier mouth the cops win, innocent or not shtut must be dealt with the utmost care so that you have a prayer.up and get a lawyer. You are not in California. Redneck cops in bf Sd
<mls@...>; "Aura deSaussure" <wingeddancer@...>; "Laurent Colvin" <laurentdc@...>; "Erik Thogersen / Jessica Strick" <erikt@...>; "Maxine Doogan" <mistressmax@...>; "Carol Leigh" <carolleigh@...>; "Dr. Michael Edelstein" <DrEdelstein@...>; "Starchild" <sfdreamer@...>
Victims of the State of South Dakota
P.S. - I'm at the Holiday Inn in Sioux Falls. Calling out costs a
minimum of over $6 plus a per-minute charge, but there's no charge to
the room to receive calls, so if you want to try me here today/
tonight, I'm at (605) 339-2000, room 205.
Dear Starchild and All Others;
This is the NORML web site url for basic pot and paraphrenalia laws in South Dakota and the news isn't very pretty.
Starchild find a very good criminal defense attorney who specializes in drug laws as used in South Dakota.
The alternative would be seeking residence in a country outside the US which does not have an extradition treaty. That is not meant as a joke as South Dakota has minimum sentencing laws which the judge can not alter with lesser time served. You get convicted of the crime and you do the time.
http://norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4564
The only thing which may or may not be valid is why a speed stop evolved to a drug dog search and what was the probable cause for that to take place.
Ron Getty - SF Libertarian
Hostis Res Publica
Morte Ai Tiranni
Dum Spiro, Pugno
Ron,
Thanks for your message. I already checked out that same NORML page, and I agree the picture is not a pretty one. I don't take your other point as a joke at all, and that's all I'm going to say about that. I will have to see how the whole situation develops, and try to find out more about the options.
In the meantime, I think it is very important that libertarians start doing more to connect with and stand up for the incarcerated -- not just because I could potentially soon be among them, but because they are a group that is very oppressed by government and whose interests are represented by virtually no one in politics.
During my brief stay in jail, I met a guy named Tim who I think is an excellent prospective freedom activist. He had observed me arguing with the prison guards about having to give a DNA sample (more on that later), and later took the opportunity to say hello. He's a relatively young guy, wife, five kids, small business owner (flooring business, from what I gathered -- he mentioned having done the floors of the judge who sentenced him), was in for DUI.
Now some libertarians may feel DUI is an actual crime, and even I would agree that it is in *some* cases, although probably not most, given the low levels of blood alcohol content which can get you arrested without ever having caused or been at significant likelihood of causing harm or damage from being intoxicated behind the wheel. But I think any libertarian would agree this guy's third DUI which netted him something like 300 days in jail was an injustice. He told me that he had been having a couple beers while working on a buddy's car in his own driveway fairly late at night, and a neighbor called in a noise complaint. The cops showed up, and because he was drinking and the keys were in the ignition, they arrested him for DUI -- even though one of the wheels was off the car at the time! They also have something called the "24-7 Program" which requires people to come to the jail twice a day (morning and evening) and blow into a breathalyzer. He'd been doing this with a spotless record for weeks when one day he said he arrived three minutes late after driving from his home 30 miles away and speeding at 80 miles an hour to get there, and they immediately incarcerated him even though he was clean. The environmental and safety implications of such a program seem abundantly obvious.
Anyway, Tim was quite interested in all the websites and information I was giving him, and said he regrets not being more political in the past and voting against some of the many bad laws. He said that taxes and the cost of living are making it extremely difficult for him to get by, and he is thinking of moving out of South Dakota to somewhere less authoritarian (he didn't use that word, but he pretty clearly was upset at both civil and economic liberty violations. He expressed his sense of injustice at what happened to me and Scott, and said he's seen "so many good people" come through as prisoners since he's been there. I told him about the Free State Project and encouraged him to think about New Hampshire if he moves, as well as to call in to FreeTalkLive.com with his DUI story when he has the chance.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Starchild,
I pray that you get this undeserved government-imposed nightmare behind you as quickly as possible and that you, Scott and Tim are in good health. Also, I hope all the Republicans who think Amerika is "the world's beacon of freedom" and all the Democrats who think Obama is "restoring our democracy" wake up tomorrow and suffer the same rotten fate. For those of us who value freedom, I hope we wake up tomorrow with your nightmare and the national nightmare, The War on Drugs, behind us.
Sincerely,
Don
I hope things go OK, too. We live in a police state and things like this are the norm, not the exception. At least South Dakota is reputedly one of the most progressive states when it comes to law enforcement/prison reform (God help you if this had happened in Arizona, Nevada, or Texas for example). Still, be really sure to get good legal counsel and don't say anything more than you have to in case the pigs decide to plant evidence (which has been known to happen).
Don and Eric,
Thanks for your support, guys. I found cheap roundtrip airfare between Sioux Falls and Los Angeles (only $213 total) so I'm going to fly to L.A. on Wednesday and drive up to SF, then fly back here from L.A. on July 8. I have to first meet with my public defender here on Monday, then hopefully check out a couple private attorneys who were recommended to me. Cannabis and civil liberties activist Michelle Aldrich also sent my message to a local marijuana activist here in SD (thanks, Michelle!) and he left me a message inviting me to call him. When I get a change to return his call I'm going to try to see if he can store some of my stuff here until I can bring it all back to SF -- since we were traveling by car, I have way more with me than I can carry on the plane. Baggage is also getting expensive these days -- just taking one check-in bag is adding $30 to the cost of my flights!
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
The prison-industrial complex and price-gouging on the airlines--isn't corporatism wonderful? LOL
Starchild,
I am sorry to hear about this. I wish you the best of luck in court. Thanks
for fighting your case. You are doing a service for all of us. A $1000 bail
on a 10-year potential sentence looks like an invitation to "get out of town
and never come back." The gov't of SD might expect that. Thanks for
standing up to them.
The Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect us from unreasonable searches.
What a farce! Did that dog swear to tell the truth or what?
You might also contact the National Lawyers Guild
http://www.nlg.org/
They helped my nephew, Josh Wolf.
Harland Harrison
LPSM
Harland,
Thanks. Unfortunately, I fear that for a felony charge, they would not just be satisfied with ripping me off for $1000, but would pursue me as a fugitive across state borders. Do you know how much NLG assistance cost Josh, and what they were able to do for him?
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Starchild,
Good luck in court.
'Reason' magazine alerted me to Arizona vs Gant which you should know about..
In Arizona vs Gant the US Supreme Court ruled, in April 2009, that searching
a vehicle after the suspects were out of it was not constitutional, even
though they were already arrested for a felony:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-542.ZO.html
Harland