Sweet land of liberty

Not every day you see a claim for Third Amendment violations in a police misconduct suit. Well deserved in this case against the City of Henderson, Nevada's finest. You have to read it all to appreciate the full scope of this intentional breach of civil rights but here's some highlights:

The complaint continues: "Defendant Officer David Cawthorn outlined the defendants' plan in his official report: 'It was determined to move to 367 Evening Side and attempt to contact Mitchell. If Mitchell answered the door he would be asked to leave. If he refused to leave he would be arrested for Obstructing a Police Officer. If Mitchell refused to answer the door, force entry would be made and Mitchell would be arrested.'"

At a few minutes before noon, at least five defendant officers "arrayed themselves in front of plaintiff Anthony Mitchell's house and prepared to execute their plan," the complaint states. [...]

"Seconds later, officers, including Officer Rockwell, smashed open plaintiff Anthony Mitchell's front door with a metal ram as plaintiff stood in his living room.

As plaintiff Anthony Mitchell stood in shock, the officers aimed their weapons at Anthony Mitchell and shouted obscenities at him and ordered him to lie down on the floor.

This happened because the Mitchell refused their "request" to use his home a lookout point in response to a domestic violence report about his next door neighbor. These local cops then proceeded to subject Mitchell's elderly parents, who also live nearby to much the same abuse. They also shot his terrified dog, who was cowering in a corner, with pepperballs. Eventually the whole family was arrested on several trumped up charges. And the punch line:

None of the officers were ever subjected to official discipline or even inquiry, the complaint states.

Thanks to the militarization of local law enforcement, this sort of police misconduct is becoming all too common in our country. Good to see people daring to fight back. Wishing the Mitchells every success in their lawsuit. [photo via]

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Scalia's surprising dissent

This is bad news for civil rights advocates. In a dismal 5-4 decision Breyer jumped in with the cons and Scalia joined the liberals in opposing this breach against our bedrock right to be protected against unreasonable search and seizure.

Scalia said it "taxes the credulity of the credulous" to argue that DNA testing is simply a means of identification. It's a way to gather evidence — and thus Maryland's law doesn't pass constitutional muster, he wrote.

"The Fourth Amendment forbids searching a person for evidence of a crime when there is no basis for believing the person is guilty of the crime or is in possession of incriminating evidence," Scalia said. "That prohibition is categorical and without exception; it lies at the very heart of the Fourth Amendment."

This is a horrifying decision. It may look harmless to some because in this case it's confined to violent crime but you give the authoritarians an inch and they'll keep chipping away. Before you know it they could be taking random swabs at traffic stops.

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Oh baby, Ohio

[photo via Kent State 1970]

A lot of scary things happened at the 60s protests. People were killed more than once, in many places, but for some reason the deaths of the Kent State Four always felt the most tragic. Maybe it's because those kids were peaceful and innocent bystanders died at the hand of panicked law enforcement.

Will Bunch wrote the best Kent State retrospective today. Not sure I agree with him that it marked the spiritual end of the era. Think its demise was more gradual and ongoing. Like most movements, the hippie peace era was slowly strangled by grifters and opportunists who co-opted it for their own ends. For myself, it was the violent methodology eventually adopted by the SSD SDS and the Weathermen that killed what was then called flower power.

But Will is surely right about this:

The question of why the 1960s matter to me is one thing, but what's important is, should the events of 50 years ago matter to the rest of us? Is what happened on May 4, 1970 - and in the tumultuous years leading up to it -- still relevant on May 4, 2013? OK, I've clearly revealed my bias, but I think the answer is undeniably yes -- because there is a straight line between the skirmishes people fought then and the all-too-real war for the future of America that is taking place today.

Much of what's happening today feels like the 60s revisited to me. We're fighting the same battles all over again.

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