Via Glenn Greenwald…
Now, however, at the age of 20, the twins have radically transformed themselves from hate-spouting extremists to peace-loving hippies.
And the reason for their change? Marijuana.
Who knows — this may be yet another reason why some people oppose marijuana — they’re afraid that it’ll wipe out the bigotry and hatred they love so much.
Via Radley Balko…
NHP Troopers Sue Department Over K-9 Program
LAS VEGAS — A group of Nevada Highway Patrol troopers and a retired police sergeant have filed a racketeering complaint against the NHP and Las Vegas Metro Police in U.S. District Court. [...]
The complaint alleges that the drug-sniffing dogs used by troopers in the program were intentionally being trained to operate as so-called trick ponies, or dogs that provide officers false alerts for the presence of drugs.
The dogs were being trained to alert their handlers by cues, instead of by picking up a drug’s scent by sniffing, the complaint said. When a dog gives a false alert, this resulted in illegal searches and seizures, including money and property, the complaint said.
The 103-page complaint alleges that Perry, along with others, used the K-9s to undermine the program to systematically conduct illegal searches and seizures for financial benefit.
The complaint also alleges the defendants, which also includes the state’s Public Safety Department and individuals in NHP and Metro, were involved in a Federal RICO conspiracy, also known as the Federal Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Of course, we’re very much aware that drug-sniffing dogs often falsely alert to please their handler, which is one of the problems of using the dog sniff as the basis for a search anyway. But to have this level of conspiracy and to actually have state troopers file a racketeering complaint against their own agencies… that’s unheard of!
Kudos to those troopers. We need honest officers like them to step forward, or it’s almost impossible to stop the corrupt ones from destroying the rule of law.