Tag Archives: cocaine

Civil Liberties, Featured, Police Accountability, Police State, US

Supreme Court rules an officer’s misunderstanding of a law is protected

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A Supreme Court ruling on Monday found police officers who pull over a car for a traffic stop can search and seize the vehicle, even if the officer does not have a full understanding of the law used to pull the vehicle over.

The ruling comes after Nicholas Heien, a North Carolina resident, was pulled over in 2009 on the premise of a single broken taillight.  After being pulled over, the officer searched the vehicle and found a baggie of cocaine, and the officer then arrested Heien.

However, North Carolina law only requires one working taillight, so when the officer pulled over Heien, it would appear he had no legal right to do so.

The case was brought up to a North Carolina appeals court who, according to VOX, agreed the stop was unlawful.  The case was then heard by the state’s highest court and the Supreme Court, who both ruled in favor of the officer, saying even if the officer does not know the technical aspects of a law, a search and seizure is still constitutional.

“This Court held  that reasonable mistakes of law, like those of fact, could justify a certificate of probable cause,” reads the Court’s ruling.  The vehicle search, therefore, does not violate the Fourth Amendment, as was argued by Heien, which protects citizens from unlawful searches and seizures without probable cause.  The Court said, “a search or seizure may be permissible even though the justification for the action includes a reasonable factual mistake.”

Ultimately, the Court found the Fourth Amendment requires officers to act reasonably, but not perfectly, since officers are human and make mistakes as well.  Chief Justice John Roberts said, according to the AP, an officer’s mistake of fact can rightly justify a traffic stop and therefore that misunderstanding can also satisfy the Constitution.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the only member of the Court to disagree with the decision, saying an officer’s mistake or misunderstanding of a law, “no matter how reasonable, cannot support the individualized suspicion necessary to justify a seizure under the Fourth Amendment.”

Politics, US

Vice President’s Son Discharged from Navy for Cocaine Use, Keeps License to Practice Law

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On Thursday, it was revealed that Vice President Joe Biden’s youngest son, 44-year-old Hunter Biden, was released from the Navy in February, after he tested positive for cocaine use.

In a statement from Hunter Biden’s lawyer, he said:

“It was the honor of my life to serve in the U.S. Navy and I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge. I respect the navy’s decision. With the love and support of my family I’m moving forward.”

Hunter Biden graduated from Yale with a law degree, and he currently works in Washington as the private equity executive and board director of an international energy firm, in addition to practicing law in Connecticut.

Yahoo News reported that Biden, “faces no automatic review of his law license in Connecticut following his discharge from the U.S. Navy Reserve after testing positive for cocaine use.”

According to Connecticut’s Statewide Bar Counselor, Michael P. Bowler, lawyers in Connecticut face automatic review of their bar admission only when they have been convicted of a crime.

“At this point, I’m not aware that Mr. Biden has been arrested for anything, and certainly not convicted,” Bowler said.

According to Business Insider, Biden was “commissioned as a Navy ensign May 7, 2013 and assigned as a public affairs officer at a reserve unit” in Norfolk, Virginia. However, one month after he checked into his new unit, he failed a regular drug test, and was discharged in February.

USA Today reported that, according to the commander of the Navy Public Affairs Support Element based in Norfolk, Capt. Jack Hanzlik, “There should have been no question in Hunter Biden’s mind about the possibility of a random drug test.”

“All sailors would be advised of the zero-tolerance policies when reporting aboard,” said Hanzlik. “And they would be advised of the testing practices of the organization, as well.”

Regarding the fact that Biden tested positive for cocaine in June 2013, but was not discharged until February 2014, Hanzlik said, “Until an issue like that is adjudicated, the member continues to serve.”

Drug tests are given to both active and reserve members, at least once a year, scanning for everything from marijuana to heroin to cocaine.

Although Hanzlik said it was a random process, he explained that for members of the military, “The expectation, always, is that you need to be ready. Because you could have to give a sample today, you might have to give a sample again tomorrow. And two weeks from now, you might have to give a sample.”

“We have this kind of conversation with our sailors all the time — about expectations for performance,” said Hanzlik. “Expectations for standards. Reliability on one another.“

Politics, US

Suburban Cops In Florida Get Rich Selling Drugs

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Police in Sunrise, Florida have made millions by luring drug buyers from across the country to their small town. Once the buyers show up and attempt to buy cocaine in restaurants like TGI Fridays or Panera Bread, cops arrest them then confiscate their cash and belongings.

Undercover detectives in Sunrise seized millions of dollars from the stings, collectively earning over $1.2 million in overtime. One officer earned $240,000 in overtime in just three-and-a-half years.

The officers also gave cash to informants who help make the arrests. One informant  alone received over $800,000 in just five years.

The stings were exposed by the Sun Sentinel in a six month investigation. The Sentinel’s comprehensive report has caused the Sunrise police department to cease the work, even though the officers had support from Mayor Michael Ryan.

The Sun Sentinel reported, “Undercover officers tempt these distant buyers with special discounts, even offering cocaine on consignment and the keys to cars with hidden compartments for easy transport. In some deals, they’ve provided rides and directions to these strangers to Sunrise. This being western Broward County, not South Beach, the drama doesn’t unfold against a backdrop of fast boats, thumping nightclubs or Art Deco hotels. It’s absurdly suburban.”

Capt. Robert Voss, who oversees the Sunrise Intelligence & Narcotics Division, defended the cocaine stings. He said, “Our job is to put bad guys in jail, and we do a good job of it.”

Defense attorney Martin Roth from Fort Lauderdale pointed out that the work done in Sunrise an be “a good or bad thing depending on your point of view.”

He said, “Sunrise is extraordinary in the amount of cases they produce… In my view, it’s all about the money.”

The money taken from the stings usually goes towards buying new equipment for Sunrise officers like guns, computers, and training gear.

However, Sun Sentinel reporter Megan O’Matz pointed out that more than cash is often seized from the drug buyers. She said, “[Officers] can take their cars, jewelry. One fella told us a cop said, ‘Hey, I like the sunglasses you’re wearing,’ and snatched them.”

Still, what Sunrise cops were doing was not unlawful.

Joel DeFabio, an attorney from Miami, said, “Is it illegal? No.Is it improper? Not under our current law.”

About 200 people have been arrested in Sunrise as a result of the cocaine stings since 2009. Of those 200, only seven were Sunrise residents.

Do you support these means by cops to catch drug buyers? Tell us why (or why not) in the comments section below.