A suit by the estate of the late DJ AM says a 2008 plane crash that he survived helped cause his 2009 drug overdose death [ET Online, TortsProf]
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Posts tagged as:
illegal drugs
Counting the weight of water in reaching for maximum penalties: “The Minnesota Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, has now ruled that Bong Water (water which had been used in a water pipe) was a ‘mixture’ of ‘25 grams or more’ supporting a criminal conviction for Controlled Substance crime in the first degree.” [Minneapolis Criminal Lawyer via Greenfield] More: Sullum.
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Sally Harpold was cuffed and arrested for buying two packages of cold medicine within a week in violation of Indiana law, though no one contends she or anyone she knew intended to cook them down into methamphetamine [Terre Haute Tribune-Star] Harpold’s story has been racing around blogs well known to our readers: Radley Balko/Reason “Hit and Run”, Ken at Popehat, Amy Alkon (with bonus kind words for @walterolson), Legal Blog Watch, BoingBoing. The Vermillion County, Indiana prosecutor is offering no apologies.
P.S. A Popehat commenter finds new reason to doubt those reassurances on CPSIA enforcement along the lines of “don’t be silly, they’d never go after grandmothers over rummage sales or homemade crafts“.
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It’s taking a toll on liberty, per a Janice Rogers Brown dissent [Volokh; Novelty, Inc., v. DEA (PDF)]
“Joints and baggies sold at California’s medical marijuana dispensaries will soon carry a new warning label” now that a state panel has added reefers to the long list of officially recognized carcinogens that must be warned about under Prop 65. [San Jose Mercury News via CalBizLit]
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59-year-old Melinda Herrick, an art teacher who had been a Teacher of the Year honoree in the Houston schools, was charged with violating the “drug-free zone” law after cops found two Xanax pills in her car; the drug is often prescribed for panic disorder. Herrick protested that the car had been in the shop for repairs for more than a month before the incident; her daughter also drove the car. Students rallied on her behalf and the charges were finally dropped after she underwent a drug test which indicated that she did not use drugs. [Houston Chronicle via Obscure Store]
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The Philadelphia officers’ excuse for their raid on Jose Duran’s bodega was the same as their excuse for other bodega raids: he was selling grocery zip-lock bags, and Pennsylvania law makes it unlawful to sell containers that a seller reasonably knew or should have known will be used to store drugs. The cops methodically snipped the wires to seven or eight security cameras around the store, and Duran said nearly $10,000 in cash, cigarettes, batteries and other goods then mysteriously vanished from the store. [Philadelphia Daily News and more via Metafilter; earlier] More: Radley Balko.
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Last month we noted the controversy about a video purportedly showing police misconduct caught on hidden tape, namely the raiding of a fake “drug house” in Odessa, Texas without probable cause. Orin Kerr @ Volokh writes that it’s looking increasingly likely that there’s less (or more) to the story than meets the eye, and that many bloggers’ initial assumption of police misconduct was too hasty.
Con artists, lawyers, and people who deserve a punch in the face:
- The best stings, cons, and capers of 2008, as chosen by Wired. Particularly clever: the FBI’s reverse con of dozens of identity thieves. And who knew that phone phreaks still exist in the age of the internet?
- Rod Blagojevich’s attorney seeks to compel testimony from high officials in the incoming administration to resist impeachment, while Patrick Fitzgerald asks Illinois lawmakers to hold back to avoid jeopardizing his criminal case. Question: assuming Blagojevich is guilty, which is more important, that his impeachment proceed promptly, or that his criminal case proceed without political interference? Alternative question: Which is more important, good (or at least less corrupt) government in Illinois, or another notch on Fitzgerald’s belt? Final alternative question: if the Obama team was more involved than its own report suggests, why not let things drag out and get the whole story?
- A blog devoted to people who deserve a punch in the face (potentially offensive images, not-work-safe language). Special favorites: “B**** who talks on cellphone at Holocaust Museum” (yes, I have seen this), and “Passive aggressive emoticon user”;
- The heroism and defiance of the crew of the USS Pueblo, released from North Korean captivity a little over forty years ago today. If you click on a link anywhere in this post, make it this one (edit: bad link fixed);
- Contrary to suggestions from Esquire, Barack Obama is unlikely to end the war on some drugs;
- Is OSHA unconstitutional? Is seizing privately owned steel mills unconstitutional? Legal Theory calls this paper “very highly recommended” and I agree;
Should Jewish (and for that matter Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist) military chaplains be required to wear a cross? The Navy says yes. I say that if we’re going to bail out Chrysler we can afford a few pins which depict commandment tablets or crescentsSee below for a more interesting discussion from Ron Coleman and others, on something I completely misread;- The right to have children is fundamental, but we remove dogs from conditions that aren’t as overcrowded as those of the Duggar family of Arkansas;
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds: It’s not just the best book on economic bubbles and downturns ever written. It could be the title of this article on how a leading author on scientific skepticism was fleeced by Bernard Madoff. (Via Crime and Federalism);
- Speaking of delusions, more details on the methods through which attorney Marc Dreier allegedly stole millions emerge in this Bloomberg story.
Walter Olson will be back soon enough, but I’ll note that I have come to appreciate just how good a blogger he is, and how hard Walter works in keeping this site going over the past few days. Perhaps you might show him your appreciation? Vote early, and vote often.
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Found here and there on the web, some matters on topic, some not:
- Will non-violent drug offenders be unlikely beneficiaries of the economic downturn?
- Speaking of offenders, have a look at Scott Greenfield’s thoughts on forty years of Miranda v. Arizona. (The “right to remain silent…” warning achieves neither what its authors hoped nor what its opponents feared);
- Every question some very strange people ever wanted to ask Slate’s Explainer, but were still unable to get a satisfactory answer on. (Via dispatches from TJICistan);
- Oregon district attorney who charged two 7th graders with assault for slapping girls on the rear, now facing assault charges herself, for slapping her husband in the face. (Via Radley Balko);
- The astounding “police blotter” of Flathead County, Montana (just keep reading, it will be Christmas before you know it);
- Blawg Review #191, on the miracle on Chanukah and the law, is up at Likelihood of Confusion. Well worth your time;
- Speaking of Blawg Reviews, last week’s at The Legal Satyricon covered the Bill of Rights in surprising detail. Who knew that the bar on quartering of troops has relevance to national security law?
This will have to be a short microblog, due to impending depositions, but it’s better than no microblog at all.
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Police wouldn’t manufacture fictitious probable cause to obtain warrants for a drug raid, would they? Don’t be so sure:
KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana [grow lights are themselves lawful -- ed.]. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.
The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.
(WindyPundit, Dec. 6; Balko, “Hit and Run”, Dec. 6; J.D. Tuccille, Dec. 7). A cautionary view: Greenfield. And Orin Kerr @ Volokh has likewise warns that we don’t know yet all of the circumstances about the engineering of the sting, raid and video; read the comments as well.
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Controversy continues in Britain on a story we’ve covered before: “Three drug addicted prisoners have won more than £11,000 in compensation after a court ruled that forcing them to go cold turkey was a breach of their human rights.” (Murray Wardrop, Daily Telegraph, Dec. 3). Earlier here and here.
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The spirit of liberty seems to have been numbed in Scotland: “Pub-goers in Aberdeen are facing a drugs test before entering bars as part of a crackdown by Grampian Police. … The test is voluntary, but customers will be refused entry if they do not take part.” The tests will be conducted using a new technology that takes swabs of hands and analyzes them instantly for drug residues, which will be grounds for search or arrest. (BBC, Oct. 31, via Massie (”ghastly”)).
More: Per commenter Mike Blackburn, “As I understand it, the campaign was run by clubowners who wanted to find a way of keeping drugs out of their clubs. The police were only really involved as administrators.”
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The cold and allergy remedy may be sold over the counter, but that doesn’t mean buyers like Gary Schinagel, a 47-year-old Iowa investment executive who has suffered from nasal congestion since childhood, can stay out of serious legal trouble should they purchase it in other than the government-approved manner. (John Skipper, “Man says stuffy nose did him in”, Mason City (Ia.) Globe Gazette, Sept. 22; Jacob Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”, Oct. 3; Colleen O’Shaughnessy, “Mason City Man Tries To Clear His Name”, KIMT, undated).
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Ways (successful ways!) of wheedling oneself out of a contempt of court rap (Feral Child, Sept. 25; Tim Blair, Daily Telegraph (Australia), Sept. 25; Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Hall, Australia, 2008).
As a condition of granting pain-management services, Family Care Health Center in Putnam County, West Virginia required patient Ronald Sprouse to sign an agreement stipulating that he would cooperate with unannounced urine and bodily fluid testing and that the presence of “unauthorized substances (legal or illegal) will result in discharge from the practice.” Kicked out of the program after testing positive for cannabinoids, Sprouse admits using them but is suing the health center and doctor anyway: “When he does not smoke marijuana, Sprouse claims he becomes violent toward his family and does not leave his house in fear of how he will react toward others in society.” He is representing himself. It’s too bad for his case that he doesn’t live in California, where lawmakers seem to be headed toward making medical marijuana smokers a legally protected class. (Kelly Holleran, “Pot smoker sues for getting dismissed from pain management center”, W.V. Record, Sept. 8)(& KevinMD, ER blog Crass-Pollination).
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