Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Examiner: Checkpoint History
Some of you may recall that I mentioned in the comments that I had Mary Cheh for Crim Pro a couple of years ago and she had given a us a practice exam question based on an anti-crime checkpoint on Montello that resulted in some search and seizures. It turns out that the scenario was based on a real checkpoint. The Examiner reports on the past checkpoint. I haven't yet read the case, but at least one conviction was reversed when the court found that the man's civil rights had been violated.
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20 comments:
told y'all so.
it's crap, no matter how you try to spin it...
We the residents and citizens are the courts and directly elect the judges. We can be the ones to make sure these convictions are not overturned. We The People, remember, we really do have the power. We could let murderers go free if we want, and we do sometimes, OJ. Lets stand up and protect the police so they can protect us.
uh huh. and your point is?.....
people usually become police officers because they want to make up for the deficiencies of their own experience.
like always (yeah, watch doctor phil), they end up perpetuating them.
cops are generally stupid, but sometimes trained in the minutae of the "law" they practice.
kind of like civil servant monkeys.
"respect them" and you just give them more authority to be arseholes.
btw, there was a cop today at around 4:00 p.m. buying booze from the liquor store at third and H.
i walked home from union station and saw him leave with a bag from the crappy joint.
nice.
dc cops are likely all abused children... with a vendetta.
basically worthless, unless you call them for some incident that might get them promoted.
they can read basic english, that's why they aren't security guards at the smithsonian....
We the residents and citizens are the courts and directly elect the judges.
Many (most?) judges, including all on the DC Court of Appeals from the article, are appointed, not elected.
I have an idea. Everytime one of these degenerate, drug taking, drug selling, low life, scum bag, street thugs who blames society is caught with a gun in DC we make himself shot his own foot. This way he knows that guns are destructive and hurt people.
To address DC police, last night two black men kicked in my back door and attempted to break in. I was startled out of bed and came into my kitchen and got a decent look at them. Lucky for me I have iron gates and they were unable to pick it. I called the cops and they responded immediately with 7-9 officers and shortly there after a K-9.
I thank them for their service.
Just because you see one bad cop doing something stupid you assume they are all like that. I don't think they chose to be cops to be arsholes. They get paid squat, work way more hours than I ever would and get shot at and threatened more than I do and I am a US Soldier just back from Iraq. I give them kudos for doing what they do. I run into many police and overall I think they are all out to do good, their are exceptions in every career field however.
anon 9:22:00 PM
It is evident you are not a lawyer. Read yuor comment then consult a new search. You have zero idea what you are talking about
What a horrible article
"1989 arrest of Russell Galberth, who was convicted of gun possession"
WHHAAAAAAAHHAAAA, I am a black man carring a gun (when I shouldnt) and was caught! TYPICAL defense?
You voilated my civil rights even though I was breaking the law. Give me a fing BREAK
I think back in 8th grade I remember something about all judges being elected except the highest and lowest courts in the land, I think they were the Supreme Court and maybe Town Courts, other than that I think all were elected. Might be wrong, was a long time ago. Either way my point is that we the citizens can take back our city from the ACLU card waving felons and put them away. We are all just to disorganized to come together on anything.
Staying on Topic:
Wasn't Point Break a most excellent movie?
Keanu always emotes such a wide range of emotions
No judge in DC is elected. We do not even elect our District Attorney General.
I have a friend who is a judge in DC....he wasn't elected. I don't ever remember voting for a judge in DC. I know in some other areas of the country judges are voted in, but not here.
To Anon 9:51:
Those guys must have some small feet of they must have perfect aim to kick in your doors being that you have security gates as well. Anyways glad that they were not able to get in. Do you have lights in your back yard? I must ask are you located in the area where this blog caters too?
Trinidad Home Owner
DC judges are absolutely, positively NOT elected.
The checkpoints may not hold up to a challenge in the courts. But there is no denying their immediate effect on the opportunity to commit crime in the immediate vicinity.
I don't think DCPD is doing this with an eye towards convictions; this is a deterrence measure aimed towards more immediate results.
I woudn't be too concerned about the "constitutional" debate occurring in the media. It will likely be months/years before a controlling decision is passed down from the courts. But in the meantime, they're doing something (which, granted -- it's a small sample size -- seems to be working).
It boils down to an old debate: are you willing to sacrifice some civil rights to increase order, safety, etc.? I don't think there is a right answer, and judging by the response to the checkpoints, I don't think it is anywhere near unanimous.
To "i know lots of dc cops": < sigh > I feel badly for you that all of your interactions with MPD have been negative. You are right that there are some assholes out there. And the negative experiences will *ALWAYS* stick in your mind longer than anything positive....
But I encourage you to keep a slightly open mind.
I'm married to an MPD officer. I wish I could explain in a comment just how long and how hard they work for this city. So here is just one scenario:
...think about spending 8am-4:30pm in court for a trial, then going to work until your shift is over at 10:30pm...but oops! You caught a robbery call at 10:10. You catch the two suspects AND the get the gun that they used--then you're filling out paperwork and processing the arrest until 2:30 a.m. THEN you're back at court the next morning at 8a.m. to "paper"... and because they're juveniles, you're going to be there ALL day.
Seriously. That's happened more than once.
No, not all cops are good cops. I'll give you that for sure.
But next time you have an interaction with them, give them a chance to act like an asshole before you start treating him/her like one. :-)
You may be surprised and find out there's a decent human being behind that badge!
I read the case and I am embarassed that the Attorney General read the same case and thought it was not dispositive re: the constitutionality of the present roadblock.
Maybe he skipped choice paragraphs like this:
The purported deterrence rationale for the Galberth roadblock, by contrast, was addressed to problems of general law enforcement , namely deterring drug traffic and violence and preventing "violence, drugs and guns" not to problems predictably associated with persons who are stopped an the roadblock. Such a justification is antithetical to the Fourth Amendment. See Delaware v. Prouse, supra, 440 U.S. an 659 n.18 ("the general interest in crime control" is insufficient to justify suspicionless stops).
or:
"Moreover, there is no empirical evidence than the roadblock technique itself effectively promoted the government's interest in deterring drug crimes. Indeed, common sense (see Sitz, supra, 110 S. Ct an 2487), as well as the police use of "saturation" patrols, suggests that any disruption resulted from the highly visible police presence during the roadblock, and that any law enforcement technique involving a substantial police presence would have had a similar effect."
___
Where did the AG go to law school?
You mean an of-age DC police officer was seen buying alcohol?!?!?
FOR SHAME! Somebody call Internal Affairs!
A surprisingly small amount of people commit the majority of crimes in any geographic area.
One time a policeman told me about 20 individuals were responsible for 90% of the crime on capitol hill.
But, judges (whom live in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Mclean) who don't have anything at stake in the neighborhood, let these guys go all the time.
I say, cut off their hands--that way they can only steal twice.
If you are a DC jusdge, you have to live in the District.
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