TheAgitator.com
Maryland State Police Raid Parents’ Home for Teen’s Misdemeanor Pot Charge
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009I received this email months ago, but for various reasons hadn’t had the time to follow up. Yesterday, I was finally able to confirm the details of at least the specific raid described below. I haven’t yet been able to find the other examples in Carrol County, Maryland mentioned in the email, but if anyone out there knows of other cases, please let me know. This is outrageous. It ought to put the fear of God into the parents of teenagers. It used to be that if your kid got picked up for possessing pot, they called you down to the police station, and you drug your kid home by the collar. Now, they send the SWAT team to tear down the door and terrorize the entire family at gunpoint.
For now, I’m omitting the family’s name and other identifying information. I haven’t been able to get back in touch with the woman who sent the email, but I was able to confirm the details of her case in a conversation with the family’s attorney.
I am a 45 year old mother of 3 boys ages 12, 18 and 22. I reside inn Carroll County, MD. I have been a federal employee for 17 years. My husband has been employed…with a local firm for over 27 years. Although my husband had some very minor law infractions back in the early 1980′s (traffic violations), since that time he has never been arrested for any criminal violation. I myself have never had any type of criminal violation and have had one traffic violation (driving 10 miles over) in over 20 years of driving.
On October 3, 2006 my oldest son was involved in a traffic stop and arrested on a misdemeanor marijuana charge. Just about a year later on September 30, 2007 my son was again stopped and arrested for a misdemeanor marijuana violation. I was present in court on January 4, 2008 when he plead guilty and paid a $350 fine. At about 3:30 a.m.on January 10, 2008 approximately 16 Swat Team Members of the Maryland State Police entered our home with force with M-16s at the ready. Please note that we are the only county in Maryland that does not have a county police department. While the M-16s were drawn they handcuffed four of us (my oldest son has been living with his girlfriend for sometime now) this includes my 12 year old son. After reviewing the search warrant I was horrified to realize these “hut-hut”men came in with M-16s in the middle of the night because my son had been arrested for a misdemeanor marijuana charge. The affidavit filed for the search warrant stated that” it had been the officer’s experience that persons who are arrested with illegal drugs continued to use, abuse and/or distribute illegal drugs”. This was the probable cause. The affidavit also indicated that other than my oldest son, no person living in our home had any prior criminal history.
I would like to provide you with more details but the bottom line is that they did find small amount of marijuana in our downstairs basement and confiscated a shotgun that my husband had since he was 18 years old. The gun has never even been fired. The two of us, my husband and myself, were taken to the local barracks and held for over 8 hours without being read our rights or being granted a phone call.
We have since learned that over 100 of these warrants have been issued by the judges here in Carroll County during the past year. Apparently if your son or daughter is arrested with even a trace of marijuana in Carroll County, they will follow up and issue a warrant based on one officer’s belief that the person will abuse the drug again. We have now heard horror stories of other families just like ours that have also been traumatized in much the same way….
The state’s attorney has contacted our attorney….and indicated they will be dropping all charges against me and they would be willing to drop all charges against my husband if he agreed to an out patient type drug program. Please understand that acting as a father first my husband told the cops that anything they found in our home was his regardless of where it was found. We have decided not to agree to this because we believe this is no longer about us. This is about the next family that is terrorized in this way. This is about an innocent person that could be killed the next time for a misdemeanor pot charge. We go over and over what could have happened. We feel blessed that it didn’t. But we feel a duty to make sure our feelings are known.
I hope you look into what is going on here in Carroll County. I’m beginning to believe that we live in a police state.
The attorney who represented the family told me yesterday that the husband eventually plead guilty to possession of marijuana, though the marijuana was a trace amount, and likely belonged to the son who had moved out. He was given what’s called a “probation before judgment,” which means the charge will be cleared from his record if he stays clean for three years. The state also dropped the ridiculous gun charge.
I cringe when I hear the phrase “police state,” because it’s so often overused. But to be honest, I’m not sure how I’d argue to this woman that she doesn’t live in one. Two misdemeanor pot charges against a kid who no longer lives at home, and they send the paramilitary squad barreling into his parents’ house in the middle of the night.
And thanks to assaults on the exclusionary rule, they could still use the pot as evidence even if the search was later deemed unconstitutional.
If you interpret the word “for” to mean “out to get”, I suppose you could describe this as “for the children”.
This is the United Police States of America. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking its anything less.
What kind of probable cause is that? Would it not give the police to go into the home of anyone who has ever been arrested on a drug charge, any time they want???
What the f&*@ is going on in Maryland???
This is terrifying.
I take it Carroll County is somewhat rural (judging by the lack of a police unit), so I would bet a good amount of these countryfolk have weapons in there homes. If this is normal procedure, how much longer will it be before Maryland has its own version of the Ryan Frederick tragedy?
Sigh…”give the police the right to go into the home…”
I’m truly surprised they haven’t moved to seize and liquidate the house.
This may be your scariest post yet and I have many questions.
How can a judge sign off on a raid for the flimsy reason given? If the kid served his sentence, how does having the conviction justify a raid?
Does any conviction grant the police license to raid the home of the convicted person indefinitely, based on the possibility of recidivism?
Is any “investigation” necessary anyone or are we just raiding on statistics at this point? If so, will they start raiding a certain percentage of homes at the rate of reported drug use?
If someone voluntarily checks into rehab for illegal drug abuse, is that sufficient cause for a raid?
Finally, why would they need 16 men to prevent a pot smoker from lighting up?
While it’s been a while since I took con law, it doesn’t take a law degree to see the logical flaw in this… If the arrest of a teenager for marijuana possession gives, de facto, sufficient probable cause for a warrant to raid the parents’ house, then you’re saying that possessing marijuana automatically waives the Fourth Amendment rights of one’s parents. I’m pretty sure constitutional rights aren’t supposed to be denied that easily.
Holy. Shit.
That is terrifying.
…wow.
If that’s probable cause, then the 4th Amendment no longer exists, since there’s really nothing that couldn’t be deemed probable cause.
The problem is the judge. When it becomes costly for him (take that as you will) the rest will stop.
Here’s another frightening statistic. Of current drug addicts, 100% were at one point non-drug users with no criminal record. Those non-drug users with no criminal record are the ones we should be watching out for.
Someone at the Maryland State Police needs to call a judge and get some warrants!
Faster! Faster! The center cannot hold!
They cried ‘give us liberty or give us death!’ Now you’ve got both, whaddya want next?
–New Model Army, Here Comes the War
I am exploring options for expatriation. Is there a place on earth where this S*** doesn’t happen?
Jesus.
Officer: “Well Judge, the murder rate is higher among African Americans than whites, and since this guy is an African American he’s more likely to have committed a murder, so we need to go check out his house.”
Judge: “That sounds like probable cause to me, here’s your warrant.”
This is not just a perversion of justice, but of Bayes as well.
i think the thugs down there at the MD State PD barracks in carroll country probably just got bored. being from MD, i know pretty much nothing goes on out there. and the boredom is probably the reason they sent 16 soldiers from the peoples republic of maryland’s army. they probably only started out with like 6 of them, but the others got jealous and wanted to tag along to terrorize this family as well. this shit makes me sick. where will it stop? if they can justify this kind of crap and get a judge to sign off on a warrant, then i am sure they can get a warrant for simply being associated with someone who has been charged with a drug crime. because it is the experience of officers that drug users associate with each other and even though they may not have been caught, they are likely to be abusing and distributing drugs as well.
radley, any idea on the judge who issued this warrant? i would like to place a call to his office and have a little chat with someone there.
The voice of reason in me says: This would seem like the type of situation where the federal government might actually serve some useful purpose in protecting the civil rights of these people. If someone were to represent the 100+ families in a civil rights case, I would gladly donate to that cause.
The angry side of me that has read too many of these stories says: If there is no legal recourse for these families, which can bring these lawless police to justice, then I would just as gladly donate to anyone who wants to start arming the families of pot smokers in Carroll County, so that when the inevitable happens and shots are fired, the victims have a better chance of taking out some of their attackers.
Enjoying the United Police States of America?
Wait into the $billions from the Obama Economic Stimulus bill gets many, many police departments extra play money.
Our tax money to buy tanks and other armored assault vehicles, machine guns, helicopters, night-vision goggles, and fund SWAT teams galore.
SWAT home invasions will become as common as traffic tickets.
At least 1) They didn’t have a dog and 2) the father didn’t try to defend against unkown invader susing the old shotgun.
What a horrible story.
This is terrible. Is there any way to contact those involved in this story and voice our displeasure? I am thinking the officers and the judge specifically, although the legislators in the area should hear about it too.
I can’t stop wondering what judge in the world would sign a raid warrant based on a previous conviction, and nothing else. That sets a precedent that basically destroys our constitution.
I think someone needs to ship by UPS/FeDex 30lbs of weed to the judges house, and make sure it gets intercepted. Then get a lawn chair, sit across from the judges house, make some popcorn, sit back, enjoy the show.
The Maryland State Police? Not surprising. I guess they just needed a break from spying on anti-war groups.
That was their “probable cause?” That’s outrageous!
Prosecution isn’t good enough for the ‘detective’ who thought this up, and the ‘Judge’ that signed off on it. Oh wait. You can’t prosecute these people.
This sort of makes me think of the quote from Han Solo in ‘Star Wars’: “Old shotguns and crappy pistols are no substitute for an Armalite AR-10 chambered in 338 Federal, kid.”
All kidding aside, is that really what this is going to take? People with no moral compass are hiding behind a wall of prosecutorial immunity while stomping all over the constitutional rights of those they are expected to protect.
This is getting really insane. Not many people have a lower opinion of police in general than I, but goddamn! How can even the most gung-ho of these guys look himself in the mirror and feel this is right. It really boggles the mind. I wish the husband had said F YOU, I WANT A JURY TRIAL. These jackboots KNOW this is not making the community safer. They’re doing it because “they can” and they fucking love it. Mass just decriminalized under an oz ($100 fine) and Maryland is doing this! This makes me so mad I can’t see straight.
I’m sure Maryland isn’t unique in its use of “Probation before judgement” but I’m glad the article mentioned it. Having recently escaped the People’s Soviet this is one element of Maryland law that boggles my mind. I hope someone here with a JD can shed some light on it.
A co-worker was picked up on a very flimsy DUI charge several years ago. Before it even went to court he was handed a PBJ (and not the creamy, tasty kind). The result was that he got socked for all kinds of sundry fees including anger management counseling, substance abuse counseling, alcohol dependency treatment, and weekly drug testing. This for a first-time offender who WAS NOT EVEN OPERATING A VEHICLE when he was arrested.
Fuck Maryland. Fuck it hard and dirty.
This blog is a long-running history of the police doing whatever they want, with consistently no or minimal consequences to themselves. Why are we so surprised?
We’ve seen the police exempt themselves from laws (such as traffic & parking), we’ve seen the police terrorize people unnecessarily, we’ve seen the police assault people with a flimsy excuse, we’ve seen the police assault peaceful people’s homes with a flimsy excuse, we’ve seen the police shoot pets with a flimsy excuse, we’ve seen police shoot people with a flimsy excuse.
The story of the day seems to be “look at this new really flimsy excuse!” and we’ve supposed to be shocked or surprised? Sorry, no. The problem isn’t flimsy excuses. They’re just a symptom, one that will continue to get worse and worse. The problem is absolute power, of which the police are the most visible example. The absolute power is what allows the police to get away with the the excuses becoming more and more transparent.
As a 21 year old pot smoker, this story puts the fear of God in me.
Radley, why do you not have your own opinion/news show. Some 24 hour news channel must need a new angry anchorman and the Libertarian voice is getting louder (thanks in some part to you).
I’d watch.
i would think this would be a good case for the ACLU or another good legal enterprise to attempt to get a Franks hearing, and see if the officer’s assertion qualifies as “reckless disregard for the truth”. If so, the warrant would be rejected and the evidence excluded as far as the father’s so called possession. Might require a explorations of the limits of Franks hearings or a their more precise definition.
Isn’t it too late if he’s already plead to the possession charge?
Scott mentioned it; “The result was that he got socked for all kinds of sundry fees including anger management counseling, substance abuse counseling, alcohol dependency treatment, and weekly drug testing.”
Such is the only way they have of continued funding for these programs.
I suggest purchase lots and lots of pre-formed lead.
Also set up a web site and run this so called judge into the river!
Makes me want to work on my “raid proof” home design. Lots of steel, concrete and surveillance.
i would think this would be a good case for the ACLU or another good legal enterprise to attempt to get a Franks hearing, and see if the officer’s assertion qualifies as “reckless disregard for the truth”.
Why would the ACLU care about an essentially-innocent person who is wrongfully prosecuted? If the guy was really a crook they might be interested, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
With this post and the previous one I’d say Radley sounds like he’s seeing the hope fade. America is getting worse, not better.
What is the name of the judge who signed this warrant? What is the name of the officer who swore it out? What are the names of the officers who participated in the home invasion?
This information should be published & spread far and wide every time one of these things happens. Only by making these people and their families social pariahs will this runaway train slow, much less stop.
Otherwise, it ultimately WILL come to a violent, unrelenting response from the people. It always has. It always will.
Carroll county huh. Parts are rural parts suburban. Its West of “Bawlmer” county North of Howard above 70. The Sykesville area is Suburban 25 mins to Bawlmer 45 to DC. Nice area always leading the “best places to live” type lists.
Golf, Civil War sightseeing, B&B’s and best of all STATIST THUGS!!!!!
Well, I have a JD, and I don’t see this as being probable cause. Let’s assume that the email author is fully recounting the affidavit’s content, i.e., that the following facts were known to the officer on or about January 10, 2008:
There are too many problems with this “probable cause” to know where to begin, but here’s a start:
There’s nowhere close to probable cause here. There’s a lot of impediments to a remedy in this case, though, including what the trooper would argue is a good-faith reliance on the magistrate’s determination of probable cause (a tough hurdle to overcome).
If there’s really that many of these, though, the odds are that one of these warrants has been judicially found to be deficient (arguably putting the State Police on notice of their poor practices and depriving individual Troopers of a good-faith reliance argument).
From a law enforcement perspective, it’s really indefensible to use search warrants– one of the most powerful tools available– to randomly turn over misdemeanor drug defendants’ homes. It’s begging for trouble on so many levels. But, then again, so is putting peaceful antiwar groups on terrorist watch lists.
@ #14 perlhaqr:
I picked the Yeats out of that lyric; “the center cannot hold.”
From “The Second Coming.” Other parts seem relevant, as well:
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”
Surely some revelation is it hand.
I used to smoke weed back when I was a homeless rodeo clown but not any more. Now I am a world class magician !
#8 et al
If it hasn’t occurred to you that in every jurisdiction there is at least one badge-licking judge that will sign anything a cop puts in front of him, then you haven’t been paying attention.
Frank,
One?
Come on, maybe in every jurisdiction there’s one who isn’t, MAYBE.
If there’s really that many of these, though, the odds are that one of these warrants has been judicially found to be deficient (arguably putting the State Police on notice of their poor practices and depriving individual Troopers of a good-faith reliance argument).
sounds like you got you JD before Callahan came down.
“This is your war. This is your War Against Drugs.
Any questions?
Too bad. Now shut up or we’ll shoot your dog!”
Christ. Really, Maryland has many citizens who aren’t complete whack jobs. Just remember not to make any sudden moves if you come visit.
Keep electing democrats and republicans and this is what happens. This is the road they will eventually ‘lead’ us.
This is why the exclusionary rule doesn’t work and sovereign immunity is a shield for crooked cops. The subtext of the probable cause affidavit was “What the hell, if the search gets tossed, no big deal.”
Dump the exclusionary rule for all but 14th Amendment violations and get rid of sovereign immunity. End of military raids based on BS probable cause.
Just playing the devil’s advocate, but has anyone actually confirmed the contents of the search warrant?
“I’m sure Maryland isn’t unique in its use of “Probation before judgement” but I’m glad the article mentioned it. Having recently escaped the People’s Soviet this is one element of Maryland law that boggles my mind. I hope someone here with a JD can shed some light on it.”
Sure. To get a PBJ (as we call it) you have to go before the judge. Whatever your co-worker got was not a PBJ if he didn’t see a judge. He may have been on “pre-trial supervision” prior to the case being tossed. Often pre-trial is used if the person can’t pay a bond, but they want to release the person anyway. The person has to report to pre-trial for drug tests and the like, as appropriate.
A PBJ is sort of a weird thing. First, you are found guilty. But then the judge will strike the guilty finding and place the person on probation. If the person completes the probation successfully, his conviction stays off his record. If he violates probation, then he gets the conviction and the judge can sentence him to the max.
PBJs exist in a sort of limbo. On the one hand you can honestly say that you were never convicted of a crime. On the other hand, you are on probation as if you were guilty. The State will count PBJs on sentencing guideline forms as if they were convictions. If you get in trouble with the law again the State will bring up to the judge the fact that you had a PBJ in the past, as if it were a prior conviction. It is used in bail reviews against you as well.
If you stay completely out of trouble, after 5 years you can move to get it expunged. However, even after this I believe the Federal government can still find out if you had a conviction or not.
PBJs are common for first time offenders, unless you are dealing with a very serious crime(I’ve seen PBJs given for armed robbery – mainly in Baltimore City). Sometimes a judge will give a PBJ right out of the box. Other times he will put the defendant on probation and make him come back to get a PBJ after he completes the probation. You don’t have to be a first time offender to get a PBJ, but it helps.
Any more questions?
The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?
You’re not free and they’re not brave.
“I cringe when I hear the phrase “police state,” because it’s so often overused.”
Agreed. We are not China. We are not Cuba. We are not Iran. We are not Syria. We are not Zimbabwe…
Good, we still have freedom of speech and many of the trappings of a free society. But we have gotten self-satisfied and complacent. Fat and lazy.
I noticed this when the Abu Gharaib scandal came out and people would get all defensive and say, “well, those terrorists are beheading people. At least we aren’t doing that.” Yeah, at least.
So we’re better than Al-Queda and Hamas and Mugabe and Castro and all the rest of the authoritarians. Is that good enough? Furthermore, what does this mean? How much better are we? Are we living up to our stated values, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and other documents?
When the people of the United States look at events such as the one in Carroll County, MD as just another day in the “Drug War,” then I can respond without equivocation: we ARE NOT living up to our stated values. The image we present to the world is becoming increasingly shallow.
Here’s an idea. If you are a casual drug user in Maryland (or anywhere), set up some video equipment in your home. Ya know, like those “Nanny Cams.” Let’s call them “Narc” cams. Oh, make sure they’re well hidden. Then if your home is invaded because you CHOOSE to imbibe, show the world what happened. We will only end this if we rub the government’s nose in this every single day, and band together. Maybe you don’t smoke pot, or use cocaine. Who cares. Due to the increasingly sloppy investigative techniques being used in drug enforcement, you could still be next. Anyone could drop a dime on you to save their own ass. We are all Ryan Frederick, Corey Maye, et. al..
Can we stop calling it the “war against drugs” yet? It’s obviously not a war against drugs, or they would be rounding up and executing those evil drugs. It’s a war against people, specifically people who use drugs (plus anybody else nearby). Hence, I propose we now call it the “war against people within 100 feet of drugs we don’t like”.
Stop it. The United States is a police state. The police have all the power. Do you think you have freedom of speech? Put a bumper sticker on your car that says “I HATE COPS” if you’re so sure.
And if China is a police state then the United States absolutely is. If you play by the rules in China, you’re damn near perfectly safe. You can’t say the same thing in the U.S.
Uh, I’m studying for the bar right now. I’m a billion percent sure this wouldn’t hold up constitutionally. Maybe this means I’m going to fail. Either no one’s bothered to challenge these seizures all the way up to SCOTUS, or there’s shenanigans afoot with this story.
Dump the exclusionary rule for all but 14th Amendment violations and get rid of sovereign immunity.
I wouldn’t dump the exclusionary rule, but I would add an essential wrinkle: while a defendant could have evidence excluded entirely if it could show that it was obtained illegally, jurors would also be instructed to make certain factual findings; if, for example, they found that a search was conducted in an unreasonable fashion, they would be instructed not to construe any evidence found thereby in any fashion adverse to the defendant. Although judges may issue guidelines as to what procedures are generally reasonable or generally unreasonable, jurors would be required to determine whether the reasonableness of a particular set of procedures in a particular case. Appeals court judges are not in a position to make such determinations fairly–they need to be made by the jury.
#52 billy-jay: “Do you think you have freedom of speech? Put a bumper sticker on your car that says “I HATE COPS” if you’re so sure.”
What would that prove, that I’m a douche bag? That sounds like a cheap publicity stunt.
Cops are people too, billy-jay. Should I try to provoke an agressive response, or should I talk to LEO’s I know and make a moral case for ending the drug war and other dangerous and ineffective policies? If I wore a t-shirt that said, “I HATE BILLY-JAY,” would you be more or less willing to interact with me and listen to my views?
#53 billy-jay: “And if China is a police state then the United States absolutely is.”
In China, you would not get away with launching these criticisms of the government in an internet forum. With the help of those who provide the search engines (usually American software companies), you would be located, apprehended and locked away. In China, The Agitator would not exist for very long.
Don’t over-state your case, billy-jay. You go ahead and argue the merits of a “stateless society” with those that already agree with you, and I’ll continue to make a pragmatic case for individual liberty that doesn’t sound like a grad student’s manifesto.
Checked out your “market anarchy” site, billy-jay. I guess I’d qualify as one of your “antagonists.” Oh well, to the back of the bus I go.
“A policeman’s job is only easy in a police state.”–from the movie Touch of Evil; script by Orson Welles
USA #1!!!
Wow, pretty much the same happened to my cousin. Swat came in to their house at 4 in the morning with guns pulled on everyone while sleeping in bed. I don’t know what county they are in, but I believe its Carrol county as well.
What the fuck do they expect people to do when they are suddenly awoken by a couple men pointing guns in their faces at 4 in the morn? What if one were to try to snatch the gun and was killed? You cant blame them for their fear. Fuck the police, expecially fuck Maryland police ( if Maryland police read this, fuck you ).
#60 Killswitch:
“if Maryland police read this, fuck you”
Well, if MSP felt the need to spy on anti-death penalty activists and peace activists (coverage in The Baltimore Sun and elsewhere), then they might very well be interested in a site like The Agitator.
I normally pride myself on measured, nuanced discussion of criminal justice topics, but here goes nothing:
Hey MSP, eat a dick!
Just a thought…….
http://www.olegvolk.net/gallery/technology/arms/whatif_L9L5798.jpg.html
Burrow Owl —
That poster was the exact opposite of pithy. Just constructively critiscizing.
I never cringe when I hear police state, because it is obvious to me that is what we have become. I spent many years listening to the stories of the police state my grandmother left in Eastern Europe in the early 1900′s. That’s why they came here, for freedom. So that no more of their family members would be renditioned out of their houses in the middle of the night. People in this country have no memory for what fascism looks like.
I found this story even more interesting based on something I saw on Monday night.
Monday Leno had Kevin Bacon on his show. Leno brings up the fact that Bacon was in the original Friday the 13th. He shows a film clip of one of the scenes (I still remember this scene from the trailer). Bacon is on a bed/cot and suddenly a hand comes from underneath and pins his head to the bed and a moment later an arrow pushes through the front of his neck, obviously driven through from underneath, killing him.
Bacon said he had to die in the movie because if you have sex or smoke pot in a horror movie, you have to get killed, and he did both in that movie. Leno then says that they’d asked to show the clip of Bacon smoking a joint, but the censor said “No.” However, it was fine to show the murder scene. And though he didn’t say so I’m sure Leno didn’t even ask to show the sex scene.
We live in a country where violence is considered less offensive than sex or drugs. Should we be surprised that a lot of “clean violence” is used to eradicate those “filthy drugs.”
A little perspective in this country would be nice.
I hate swat teams being used excessively…but they did actually find pot. It’s hard to feel sorry for the person who is in possession despite the wrongness of the situation. People always expect outrage. Guess they shouldn’t have broken/allowed the son to break the law in their house.
First of My hearts goes out to the family. Second of all our nation have not been a constitutional nation since 1868 after the murder of Lincoln. Lincoln want it to pay for the war by making our money constitutionally granted. He was murder because the bankers in England did not like for the people of the United States to be free. The United States of America became, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, see the difference. In itself the government became a foreign corporation temporarily manage by a President and own by the crown of England.
What perhaps you are wondering what the hell am I talking about, ok. In 1933 when the depression blew up The people of the United States cease to be Sovereign and became Corporate Human beings instead of Spiritual beings, ever wonder why you write your name not in Capitals since. The depression was engineered by THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK which is not federal and definitely not reserve. It is own by private foreign bankers that are not americans. This are the people that makes the rules. Have you ever heard He who has all the gold makes the rules there you go. Well since is inception in 1913 the Fed for short is the one responsible for the depression and all our economic woes that we are having. The best is that since the government owe us to ensure this calamity still alive, we are oppressed by these thugs that for a long time have not protected the people. That is why this terrorist (cops) are doing what they are doing.
Remember these thugs receive billions in grants from the government so that they can buy assault weapons, tanks, they are literally the military.
I am not here to make any one angry I am giving you information here is more to search on Google video.
Videos: Zeitgeist: Addendum, also The Occult world Of commerce, Loose change, From Freedom to Fascism, and The Money Masters. All of this videos will show you a grim reality not yet known by many. One thing, you will never see any of these videos on Block buster or pay per view because it does not help those that are in power, but one good thing about the vids is that they are free folks. It will not kill you to stop watching, basketball, baseball, the useless news, or Lost to spend just a few hours watching these vids on Google video for a few hours.
May this information give you a better perspective as to why this horror is taking place and better peace May God bless you all.
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John B: “I hate swat teams being used excessively…but they did actually find pot.”
Given what I’ve heard in this case, I wouldn’t put it past the police to have planted it.
I hate swat teams being used excessively…but they did actually find pot. It’s hard to feel sorry for the person who is in possession despite the wrongness of the situation. People always expect outrage. Guess they shouldn’t have broken/allowed the son to break the law in their house.
Ends justifies the means, John? Does the presence of a few grams of marijuana mean they would have been justified in killing the family as well?
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded-vigilante-network-targets-terrorizes-u-s-citizens
The drugs they found 10 to 1 were planted as well
Bill or anyone else: regarding your info about pbj and pre-trial diversion tactics. (basically a 1st time offender being offered fines, probation, community service outpatient treatment etc. but no jail time) and even for that matter going to trial and pleading guilty or no contest & getting no jail time but getting the probation, fines community service etc. similar to pre-trial diversionaries, AND THEN the judge indicating adjudication which at the end of you successfully complete all the requests, Your conviction will be erased, I have A question. Wouldn’t A person still have to indicate to an authority figure if you were ever “arrested” in the past for something even though your “arrest” conviction was expunged? Example, you are involved in a traffic stop and the officer asks if you have ever been “arrested” in the past or you are on jury duty and the prosecutor or defense attorney asks the panel if they have ever been arrested? Not sure I am getting across my point here but basically what I am saying is it seems to me that expunging a conviction for whatever reason really would have no effect in later situations dealing with law enforecement or authority other than maybe being arrested and/or convicted in a softer manner so to speak, whereas having an arrest whether it involves guilt/nolo adjudication or pbj or diversionary tactics and the judge then indicated after successful completion he would expunge not only the conviction, but the arrest record as well would be the much more beneficial outcome for the perp. I don’t know enough about this but it just seems to me expunging a conviction may only assist oneself when he gets in trouble again down the line, but still keeps on record the fact that he had been originally arrested for something but conviction was expunged and the law or authority can still see this info and most probably have a reaction based on this conviction expunged/arrest info still evident on the persons record. If anyone knows facts on these issues I’d be interested to hear their comments…..thanx for reading
To ‘Patriot, “USA#1″‘. What the hell have yu been smoking? #1 what–incarcerater? You bet. We have 5% of the worlds population in this country and 25% of the worlds prisoners. Why do you think that is so? You can tell every county’s commercial status by the numnber of prisoners it maintains. The US is the biggest debtor government on the planet and so it incarcerates more people because that is how they fund the debt by writing bonds on almost every act we do from applying for a birth certificate, drivers license, ss number, graduating from high school, college, applying for a marriage license and getting arrested, just to name a few. I believe the last time I heard it was a $300,000,000 bond, that is then sold on the world market, for being charged with just one single federal felony–not a conviction, mind you, but just being charged. The courts are a business and every one of them are listed on Dunn and Bradstreet.
As you may have noticed that I did not refer to the US as a country but a government. That’s because the US is not a country, but a corporation just like Sears and Roebuck. Many will find this beyond their comprehension. The US is a for-profit federal corporation as admitted at 28 USC 3002, said corporation being commissioned in London, England in 1871 by the International banksters who had the country by the throat.
Congress shut down in 1861 without setting a date to reconvene so we therefore had no dejure government to run the show. The banksters, to protect theit interests, set up the new government, a democracy (loosely defined as two wolves and a sheep voting to decide what the next meal is going to be?), and not a Republic as was originally founded.
We have what is referred to as a de-facto government, which means that it is the government in-fact but not in-law because the people have accepted it as their government. Why do you think there are so many places that are set up where a lot of people gather that attempt to get you to register to vote? That’s how the sham govt. maintains its position. If people elect to register to vote they must support the system.
What you are witnessing is the International banksters taking off the gloves and its going to get downright dirty from here on out. The US govt. is bankrupt, as are the States, as are the U.S. citizens and the Int. Banksters(IBs) are the ones holding all the paper. They are going to throw everyone off their property because its not the people’s property. It has all been pledged to the bankruptcy for the benfit of the IBs. What did you think you were doing when you went down to the courthouse and recorded your deed? You entered into an agreement to put your property up as collateral for the national debt. Who do you think owns your auto, even if its paid for? The State owns it for the benfit of the IBS. If you really had legal title to those things do you think they could lay a tax on their possession? I think not.
I have people say to me all the time, “this house is mine. The deed is in my name”. My response is “The house is not yours and it is not in your name”. It is in the name of a legal fiction spelled in all capital letters which under proper English grammer, is a designator of a corporation or other fictional entity. Your car title is the same as are your bank accounts, retirement accounts and everything else you think you own —even your utility bills and any communication from any govt. or corporate entity. Look at your credit cards, passport and drivers license–all caps, a fiction created by government, that lets you, a man or woman, interface with their fictional commercial world.
Since the govt. created the fiction that mirrors you that you are not even aware of, they own that fiction and everything the fiction has in its name. Can anyone spell communism? By the way, the 14th amendment is referred to as the RED AMENDMENT because it embraces every plank of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto.
All these problems with the authorities will only get worse as they turn up the heat. The idea is to get the people to revolt so they can use it as an excuse to bring in Blackwater, round up everyone they can, inter them at one of the hundreds of concentration camps already set up in this country and execute all that don’t show an absolute willingness to be docile, productive slaves.
Sorry but you’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy, you are now in the land of OZ, which is another way to say we have all been trapped in the world of legal fictions. I have studied this situation for 18 years now and I can tell you, in this system, you own nothing, NOTHING!!!!! A fictional corp. owns it all. A corp. with a name similar to your name (using upper and lower case letters with no initials) that was created by the govt. in order to control your every move. See Trading With the Enemies Act.
As a side note, the sheriff’s office of this county paid us a visit on the 10th of this month, knocked on the door and informed me that they wanted to enter my house because they smelled mj coming from my house. I had my wife call 911. The undercover hoodlum at the door than got a call from dispatch telling him he had the wrong address. However this did not disuade him. He still insisted on searching. After searching our home and finding nothing all of the sudden, the deputiy thugs then determined the smell was coming from the direction of the only other house within a mile of my place and it was 475 feet away. The occupants were’nt home at the time so they went to town and got their illegal search warrant, broke down the door and went in.
I can’t tell you how this will end but I will go to the sheriff this week to see if their are any intentions to follow due process. If not I will attempt to go to the grand jury and if that proves fruitless I will go to a federal grand jury. They told me they had recently made another bust by the same methods which obviosly triggers the RICO statutes. We shall see if there is any semblance of law left. Looking at all the criminality coming from Wall Street, the banks, and govt. itself, I strongly doubt it.
Ha! Cops are people too huh. That makes the likely response to an “I hate cops” bumper sticker okay.
If I saw somebody with an “I hate construction workers” or an “I hate programmers” or an “I hate retail clerks” bumper sticker or t-shirt, I would not fear for their safety.
If I saw somebody with an “I hate cops” bumper sticker, I would.
What does that tell you?
If you don’t believe the premises, it’s easy enough to perform an experiment. One week with each message.
I’m a resident of Carroll County, Maryland. It’s a quiet, rural county on the border of MD and PA that’s mostly farming and suburbs. Hunting and target shooting are both popular out here, so, yes, lots of homes will have guns. It’s true that we don’t have a county police department (though that’s probably going to change soon) but we do have a Sheriff’s Department that shares general policing duties with the MSP, as well as small city and town police agencies with their own local jurisdictions. In my limited personal experience the local LEOs are professional and even a bit laid-back.
The county has had a couple dangerous situations in the last few years, including a couple armed barricade situations with seriously dangerous people in residential neighborhoods. MSP SWAT teams were used there, justifiably, I think. But this police home invasion seems entirely unwarranted. I had no idea that it had happened once, much less that it’s a common thing among petty drug offenders. Frankly I have to wonder about that, but I do want to know more.
From this point on….ZappaCrappa will do a “happy dance” everytime a cop gets “Fredericked”….just because “I can.”
I know I’m a horrible person…but THEY made me this way.
I live in Carroll County also. The cops up here are real pricks and harassed us at every turn. It’s relatively rural and there was a fair amount of drug use going on. I was pulled over because ‘I looked suspicious”. They tore my car apart, kept me on the sidewalk without a jacket in the freezing cold, but never found my stash =). The cop was spitting on the ground in front of me and grabbed my junk while frisking me. I shit you not!
Fuck you, Sykesville cops. You are the biggest pieces of shit out there. You’re not protecting or serving anyone by pulling people over and searching them (the residents of your OWN FUCKING TOWN). You’re nothing more than Barney Fife fuck-holes.
After reading some of the rants on this blogsite I may have to reconsider my belief system. Perhaps there are a great many among us who need to live in a slave state where every act is watched and every move is controlled. I can asure you of one thing, all the uninformed who, instead of opening their eyes and ears and attempting to learn something about the system we have grown up under, insist on low brow name calling, will be some of the first that will be rounded up and sent off to the concentration camps.
There is a lot of information on the internet that is free (at least for the moment)to educate you about what is going on in the world. Why waste your energy yapping about the mistreatment given you by law enforcement when you got caught doing something very stupid. You could learn to be a positive force to bring about beneficial change in our society by gaining some comprehension. I hear people say over and over again “I know my rights” and they dont have a clue. Those that are unaware are unaware that they are unaware.
My advice—quit yapping and start learning!!!
>>“I know my rights” and they dont have a clue. Those that are unaware are unaware that they are unaware.
Yep, totally consistent w/, “one not knowing, what they do not know.”
This is bogus, and a waste of band-width; the US ‘War on Drugs’ is totally bogus, as illustrated by this. If there were an intelligent commitment, we could do so much, but, there are forces way beyond the comprehension of average people that control this jive BS.
“Think globally, act locally…”
If, and, or when you can ID the source of the quote, then we can speak intelligently to one another.
Maryland State Police, hunh? The same degens who were spying on all kinds of non-violent organizations. As a couple of people called it above- The United Police States of America. Go have another drink of your favorite drug, you flaming hypocrites
Just what a family with a kid who does some drugs needs. A SWAT Raid.
I don’t know what this kid’s deal was/is but what I have found in my line of work (at risk kids) is that the families who have a kid with a drug problem are usually families that are in a hell trying to get their kid straight. Because their kid has some pot in the house or if they have a kid with a bad drug problem—this does NOT MEAN that the parents condone what the kid is doing. What these families really need is some help, some outreach programs to guide them through this dark place they are in. What they DON’T need is a bunch of SWAT goons breaking down their door, holding them and their children at gunpoint and ransacking their home!
How bad can the crime rate in this country really be if this type of stuff is what the police focus on? It’s sounding like the police don’t have that much to do so they are making up things to do.
Why don’t they get back to fighting r e a l crime….you know, murder, robbery, rape, muggings etc?
Just an excuse. Nazi bastards!
There is only one way to get justice in a case like this: You have to have the money for attorneys to sue all of them in federal court for civil rights violations. Also, suits can be brought in state court for damages.
Probable cause is so specific and must have so much evidence involved, that this judge who signed this warrant is either brain dead or has zero respect for the law and constitution.
this would be thrown out in any court…all one has to do is plead NOT guilty, take NO deals, and force them to embarrass themselves trying to justify an obviously faulty warrant, or drop the charges. They will drop them, and if they do not, the next court up on appeal will.
Sometimes you have to go through several levels of corrupt and ignorant right wing morons before you finally find a court that does not want the shame of upholding such nonsense..and you will win.
But without deep pockets, justice is almost always denied in this nation. The scumbag cops who did this have no morals and should never be allowed police powers…it is a shame. Sickening, isn’t it? The person with a soul reels at the cowardly actions that the police take hese days…it is sick and I am sick of it.
Perhaps someday we will see actions taken to teach rouge cops a lesson they will never forget; but that takes people who are fed up with a broken system and have the resources to actually make a difference by direct action events targeting bad cops.
Maybe someday we will regret allowing the thug cops to abuse our neighbors while we do nothing..
Each of these police officers who participated, along with the DA & the judge that signed the warrant, need to be summarily executed. I’m not kidding…. They need to be lined up in front of a firing squad and shot to death until they are dead, dead dead. They are traitors of this country, and do not deserve continued existence.
[...] Nicht nur Hunde müssen sich fürchten, denn ab und an bekommen Familien, die nie irgendjemanden beheilligt haben, Besuch von einer paramilitärischen SWAT-Truppe. Grund: Der längst ausgezogene Sohn wurde zwei Mal wegen Hanfbesitz angezeigt. ~ The Agitator – Maryland State Police Raid Parents’ Home for Teen’s Misdemeanor Pot Charge [...]
“Please note that we are the only county in Maryland that does not have a county police department.”
The solution is for the decent people of Carroll County, Maryland to get together and elect a sheriff who then deputizes other locals. On petty charges like this, the decision to raid would come down to the local sheriff who is elected by local people. These people at some point chose to give up their local county sheriff in exchange for tyranny from some fascists in the state capitol. Decentralization is the key but this message if falling on deaf ears in the age of globalization.
Does anyone know the name of the judge who signed the warrant? Someone needs to post his name/email address.
[...] this, and I can’t find anything. I searched every possible keyword. I apologize if this has ABP. http://www.theagitator.com/2009/02/1…or-pot-charge/ [...]
It is frighting how the police abuse their power in Maryland. I have a neighbor called state police told them so many lies.Told the police I had the birds poop on their mail box,told the police I had the rabbits and deer make paths to their house.Told the police I gave them a flat on vacation(don’t even know where they went).To sum it up police came to my house in Somerset County with K-9 dogs,police car back up with hand on weapons(2 times).My wife is sick and old,walks with a cane,I have had open heart surgery/kidney cancer.I am a Disabled American Veteran,the police did all this on no evidence,I have never been in trouble,no record of any kind.Put my name on a police report for no reason or record. I had to get a lawyer for a $1000(they got to lie on me for free) to send a letter to the neighbor and their 40 year old son(Kevin),after he ran us off the road(attempted vehicle homicide),came to our home told my sick wife and me he was going to kill us. I CALLED THE STATE POLIOCE THEY WOULD NOT COME OUT AND TELL HIM TO GO HOME,TROOPER AT DESK SAID HE HAS TO KILL US FIRST BEFORE THE STATE POLICE WOULD COME OUT. I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WHY MY NAME WENT ON A POLICE REPORT.NO EVIDENCE,NO CHARGES. I WAS TOLD TO PUT A STEAK ON THE GRILL AND FORGET ABOUT IT. THEY CAME LATE AT NIGHT 2 TIMES UPSET MY WIFE SO BAD SHE HAD TO GO TO HOSPITAL. WHAT A COUNTRY TO HAVE FOUGHT FOR. I KNOW THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPENS IN MEXICO AND OTHER 3ed WORLD CONTRIES BUT IN AMERICA. I DID CALL THE STATE D A OFFICE. NO RESPONCE YET.
Okay, now that all the police haters have posted their rants and raves lets take a look at the other side of the argument.
First off let’s realize that their is no information/quotes/statements made by any member of the State Police, District Attorney’s Office, or Carroll County court system. Therefore, the only information we have in here is what is given to us by an obviously pissed off mother and wife. An application for a search warrant is usually a very lengthy document. The writer only submits one sentence of what is usually a 5-10 page application. That statement probably was included in the search warrant but that does not mean that the judge solely granted the application based on that one sentence as the writer suggests.
Now let’s look at the whole situation. By the ages and dates given it would appear that her son was an adult when he was twice arrested for possession of an illegal drug. Then a search warrant was issued for whatever reason on his house and amazingly once again marijuana is found. Either this kid has the worst luck of anyone on the planet or more likely, he routinely abuses illegal drugs, doesn’t care about the consequences to himself or his family and probably still routinely abuses illegal drugs. So the State Police effectively did their job by three times successfully finding a crime being committed, arresting the criminal, and did so with no harm to the safety of anyone involved.
I don’t use illegal drugs but I think it would be safe to say that a drug user values their drugs and wouldn’t randomly leave their drug behind just to forget about it. This says that either the user planned to come back and use the drugs or that the father was in fact the owner of the illegal drugs. The writer states that her husband took claim of the drugs “acting as a father”. Since when did it become considered being a good father to lie to the police, commit perjury in court, and not allow your children to feel the repercussions of their actions?
Finally, it was stated that the gun charge was dropped. This is a flat out lie by the author of this story. There is absolutely no charge for owning a shotgun; referred to as a “long gun” in the State of Maryland. The shotgun may have been confiscated but there would have been no charge associated with possessing it and therefore no charge to be “dropped”. More likely the gun was returned after verifying the owner and verifying that the owner’s criminal history did not disqualify him from owning a gun.
So before you are so quick to jump to judgement about the actions of the police department give a serious look to the circumstances involved and the obvious bias of the author. Very rarely does someone affected by a situation like this give all of the facts and usually omits many things that may not look favorable for them.
This is one of the many examples of how society takes pot so seriously. It’s only a little bit of pot! A home got RAIDED BY SWAT because of posession of a SMALL trace of pot?!?!?!?!!??!!? A small trace is probably 2 maybe 3 grams!!! THATS ONLY WORTH AROUND $30!!!!!!!! The raid probably cost over $1,000!!!!!! Honestly this country is wasting so much money on arresting, and imprisoning innocent pot smokers. Pot smokers are NOT criminals. Don’t even get me started on how the police handle these raids. Just bust someones door open, maybe when the family is have a nice dinner. “Oh how was your day?” “Oh mine was just grea-” “BANG” “POLICE FREEZE!” And especially how the had M16s pointed at a 12 yr. old!! And they cuff up the whole family and search the whole house which probably takes about 2 hours tops. And for what? 3 GRAMS OF POT?!?!?!?!?!? And then they are put in cells without there rights read to them and without a phone call for 8 hours! I really hope nothing like this happens to another family.
The Founding Fathers sought to create a “government of laws, not of men.” A key principle of this doctrine is that no person is above the law — that every government employee must obey the same laws that government imposes on private citizens. Unfortunately, when it comes to police brutality, politicians, judges, and police bureaucrats have often miserably failed to protect the American public.
While many police are bravely and steadfastly serving and protecting their fellow citizens, too many others are acting like public enemies. They carry guns, use military technology against civilians, are given special privileges, have extraordinary responsibility, and are entrusted with the protection of society as a whole – but do some Cops really break the Law? We know they do – and often. Some of the best criminals (best at being criminals) work in law enforcement, and your fate lies in their integrity. Police brutality law enforcement cop badge baton squad car patrol officer sheriff Police brutality is increasing at an alarming rate. Luckily, as Americans, we are guaranteed the freedom to engage in insurrection against those who would deny us our Rights. police brutality law enforcement! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS MARYLAND COPS ARE SO DIRTY! BUT KARMA WILL GET THEM.
This is insane. I mean first of all…ITS JUST FUCKING POT! I mean im personally all for legalization but as long as possessing or using marijuana is still considered a criminal offense, police teams need to respect the people, especially since there job is suppossed to be to protect us, not terrorize us, destroy our homes, or take our money in stupid fines. Between the swat team and the pd they must have had 20-30 ppl working how much did they get payed in overtime for all of that shit i mean come on just this ONE NIGHT OF TRYING TO BUST SOMEONE WITH A FEW GRAMS OR OUNCES OF POT PROBABLY COST AT LEAST 2 OR 3 THOUSAND DOLLARS THAT IS BULLSHIT!!!! THATS OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK? THATS LIKE WHAT MOST PPL EARN IN AN ENTIRE FUCKING MONTH!!!! AND THAT MONEY GOT SPENT ON THIS BULLSHIT?! AND THEN IN A FEW MONTHS THERE GONNA HAVE THE FUCKING NERVE TO SAY THEY NEED MORE FUNDING!!! THATS THE PART THAT REALLY PISSES ME OFF IS HOW THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO BE LOOKING FOR MORE FUNDING AND THEN WHEN YOU SEE HOW THEY ACTUALLY WASTE THROUGH MONEY LIKE IT JUST FELL FROM THE FUCKING SKY????!!!!!!! LIKE WTF??? IM GONNA GO NOW CUZ THIS JUST MAKES ME MAD AND I CANT STOP TYPING IN CAPS LOL
So is this why “neocon dorks” call Maryland a LIBERAL state?!
Growing one pot plant =’s felony arrest prison? Yet the bacteria masquerading as a bipeds who stabed /murdered a research scientist were allowed to walk on multiple prior violent robbery charges. I love my home, yet this place makes me sick!
Too bad “true accountability” will never be faced by these thugs who deface the sacred badges they wear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!As for the ‘judges’…. don’t we have a history of something called “being tarred and feathered?”
next time you see a fireman asking for donations at a stop light consider the blood drenched pissing away of scant financial resourses such as terrorizing innocent households. and for you parents of our troops who have to send them “care packages” because the money to adequately equip our troops is not there, due to this peversion of state authority, why do you continue to kiss the boots of your oppressors?
What about our POTUS? where is the executive orderr that could stop this tribute to Stalin and that “slimey filfth” from Austria?