TheAgitator.com
Drug War Idiocy
Sunday, March 28th, 2004Sometimes you gotta’ wonder why we bother having a Fourth Amendment at all.
Police raided with drug-sniffing dogs a Carlsbad, California family’s home after obtaining a warrant from a local judge (more here).
Reason for the search? The five-member family had a $300 electric bill, which cops thought might indicate the presence of the high-intensity sun lamps some folks use to grow marijuana.
That, and the family had put its trash out that day, on trash day, which cops say drug growers sometimes do to get rid of evidence (well, no shit).
A high electric bill and putting trash out, on — of all days — trash day. Amidst drug war hysteria, that’s enough for cops to come in and nose around your stuff.
And is anyone else troubled by the fact that cops are permitted to comb utilities records for suspiciously high electric bills? What other records are they allowed access to? Can they look through your cable bill to see what pay-per-view movies you’re ordeing?
Nevermind the fact that a $300 utility bill for a big, populated house in southern California is not unrealistic.
I just called SDG&E, the electrical provider here in SD County about this and theys said that they don’t release a customer’s usage/bill without a subpoena or warrant. *cough*bull*cough*caca.
The amusing part to this is that the phone rep I talked to knew exactly why I was asking and said that they’d just received (from their legal department) something on this.
Having lived in San Diego for years, a $300 energy bill may be legal extortion, but certainly not unusual. I am so glad to be out of there.
And another thing.
Smoking is quickly being banned at all our So.Cal beaches, so I guess all the lifeguards get to play cop now.
They should be thankful they dont live in the 5th Circuit. According to a ruling handed down by the court of appeals there as covered in http://www.theneworleanschannel.com/news/2953483/detail.html
“Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business”
Being born and raised in Carlsbad, I can personally attest to the fact that Carlsbad PD has nothing better to do that sift through utilitiy bills. They always liked to play tough guy when they hassled the local kids. They act like they are policing the streets of some rough and tumble city. Carlsbad is paradise… too bad the cops there don’t realize it and relax.
For readers not familiar w/So Cal, Carlsbad isn’t what one might call a trailer-park town (from their Chamber of Commerce )
LOCAL STATS (As of Jan ‘02)
Pop 88,013; Size 42 sq miles
Housing Units 37,486
Median Household income $64,145
Median Home Value (92008 ZIP code) $365,000
Median Home Value (92009 ZIP code) $449,000
Gonna need a bigger island.
$300 Electric bill
Sounds like the utility company should be arrested for theft…
I seriously do wonder how that works. Anyone know? How do the cops get their hands on your electric bill? The utilities just had over all their records, or just electric bills over a certain amount, or what? Are they required to by law? Do they just do it of course as part of being a “good citizen” or something?
…we are from the gov’t, we are here to help, bwah hah hah hah hah…
http://independent.org/tii/news/040324Gregory.html
I could be off, but if my memory serves me correctly, the electric company hands over the info to the authorities. I believe they take the average electric use for a neighborhood and way it against the offending person’s bill. Supposedly judges ARE NOT to give warrants just on the electric bill alone. And in this case, I think the other evidence they cited was that the people put their trash out every trash morning, and this is suspect because pot growers don’t want their trash to be rummaged through by leaving it out all night….YAK YAK….This country’s war on marijuana has gone WAY over the legal lines. And personally, I believe it shows the desparation on the part of the gov’t view. Better not leave those lights on!!!!!!!!!
I wonder if this wouldn’t make an appropriate lawsuit against the utility company…
It’s obvious that the utilities gave out the information to the police, and since the police got their warrant from the utility information, then I would bet that they didn’t have a warrant before they got that info.
Personally, any company that gave my personal information over to the police without my express approval would immediately lose my business. Of course, SDG&E is a monopoly, so you have no choice in that area but to use them…
Lucky Family
These folks are lucky that they did not end up on this list (via Say Uncle). Wash too many clothes and expect a visit from the police. Radley asks:And is anyone else troubled by the fact that cops are permitted to comb utilities records for suspiciousl…
I guess I shouldn’t have had that Cheech and Chong movie marathon party the other night.
Hey, remember the “Library Provisions” under the Patriot Act…
If you’ve ever rented a Cheech and Chong movie at your local Blockbuster, then the cops now have probable cause…
God forbid you ever bought a copy of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” or “Heavy Metal”…
The Smoking Gun has posted the affidavit for a search warrant - http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0330044pot1.html. This is really scary stuff.
Question: What was the outcome of the search? Did they find marijuana growing? Not advocating, just wondering.