It is nationwide

Dcup posted something yesterday about a roadblock when she was driving with her kids. Well, it happened to me last night as GG and I were driving home from seeing the new Indiana Jones film for free (and that is about it is worth paying to see that pile of crap). We got to a point where they were directing all traffic into an abandoned parking lot. They then lined the cars up in three rows and just went along checking drivers licenses. The popo said they were checking license and proof of insurance, but they only looked at my license. GG and I guess it was cause I still have my NC license. So apparently these random stops are nationwide. And of course as we were pulling into the stop and then leaving again, GG and I wondered aloud whether this was a violation of our civil rights. GG even yelled out the window, "hey you violated my rights" as we were pulling away. I responded "quiet till I get the windows up" we were still in the parking lot and there were a a lot of coppers around. I didn't need to get shot that night. This same police force had shot a kid a few weeks earlier, they might be a bit trigger happy. So we just debated the merits of pulling everyone over for supposed license checks, seemed a bit unlikely to us in a heavily Latino area. Maybe looking to illegal aliens? I guess as Bush's term begins to end we may start to see more of this ramping up of police presence so that when McSame doesn't win, Bush Co. can keep their dictatorship alive.

Because poor people don't need civil rights

In Helena-West Helena, Arkansas a 24 hour curfew has been imposed. The police can now stop anyone who is out at anytime for any reason. Apparently this has been going on for the past week and was extended again last night by a 9-0 count. "As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital." I see some major issues with this line of thought as I am sure many of you do. First, there are other reasons that someone may be out at 3 AM like they are working the night shift. Second, this curfew is not just during the nighttime, unless I misunderstand a 24 hour curfew that means you can be stopped any time of the day from 3 PM to 3 AM. This curfew does not discriminate based upon time, but I would be willing to bet that an African-American is more likely to be stopped than a Caucasian person. If the issue is people committing crime or causing problems at night, than institute a curfew at night for a limited amount of time, but having a 24 hour curfew for over a week is blatantly a violation of these people civil rights. "Now if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I'm fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here," Mayor James Valley said. "The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution." So it is ok to infringe on civil rights when the government decides it is ok, huh. I am sick of politicians deciding that they can shit on the Constitution whenever they feel like it. Someone needs to sue this town, the ACLU has threaten too do just that now they need to follow through with this threat.