THE SAME TYRANTS THAT ENGINEERED THE COUP D'ETAT PRESIDENCY ARE NOW MAKING IT LEGAL TO ARREST AMERICAN CITIZENS FOR ANY REASON AT ALL! THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS GOING FULL STEAM AHEAD - THE MOST POWERFUL NATION IN THE WORLD IS NOW IMPLEMENTING GLOBAL FASCISM WITH THE APPROVAL OF DUMBYA THEIR PUPPET DICTATOR!!

Tuesday April 24 10:48 PM ET Top Court Allows Minor Traffic Offense Arrest

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruled on Tuesday that police may arrest individuals for minor traffic or other misdemeanor offenses punishable only by a fine, such as unbuckled seat belts or public littering.

The high court, by a 5-4 vote, declared the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which bans unreasonable arrests and searches, does not prevent the police from making such arrests without a warrant.

``The question is whether the Fourth Amendment forbids a warrantless arrest for a minor criminal offense, such as a misdemeanor seat-belt violation punishable only by a fine. We hold that it does not,'' Justice David Souter (news - web sites) said for the court majority.

The dissent warned the ruling ``has potentially serious consequences for the everyday lives of Americans. A broad range of conduct falls with the category of fine-only misdemeanors,'' extending from traffic offenses to littering, for example.

Souter, normally one of the court's most liberal members, was joined by four conservatives -- Chief Justice William Rehnquist (news - web sites) and Justices Antonin Scalia (news - web sites), Anthony Kennedy (news - web sites) and Clarence Thomas (news - web sites).

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites), a moderate conservative, said in dissent, ``The court neglects the Fourth Amendment's express command in the name of administrative ease'' and it ``cloaks the pointless indignity'' that the woman in the case suffered ``with the mantle of reasonableness.''

Seat-Belt Law Violated

The case involved Gail Atwater, who in March 1997 was driving her pickup truck in Lago Vista, Texas, with her 3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter in the front seat. None of them was wearing a seat belt.

Bart Turek, a Lago Vista police officer, observed the violations and pulled Atwater over. She told him she did not have her license and insurance information, as required by Texas law, because her purse had been stolen the day before.

Deciding to arrest Atwater, Turek handcuffed her and took her to the local jail, where she spent about one hour being processed and having bail set. She then was released on $310 bond.

She was charged with driving without her seat belt fastened, failing to secure her children in seat belts, driving without a license and failing to provide proof of insurance.

She pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor seat belt offenses and paid a $50 fine. The other charges were dropped.

Atwater and her husband then sued the city, Turek and the police chief, alleging they had violated her constitutional rights and seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

Rejects Historical Argument

Souter rejected Atwater's historical argument that the common law dating back to the founding of the country barred peace officers from making warrantless misdemeanor arrests, except in cases of ``breach of the peace'' involving violence.

Souter said the British Parliament, before the founding of the United States, allowed arrests for all sorts of minor offenses without violence, including night walking, game playing, cursing and negligent carriage-driving.

He said the laws in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia currently allow misdemeanor arrests by at least some peace officers without requiring any breach of the peace, as do a host of federal laws.

Souter refused to create a new rule of constitutional law forbidding a custodial arrest when conviction does not involve any jail time and the government cannot show any compelling need for immediate detention.

``Atwater's arrest satisfied constitutional requirements,'' he said, even though it may have been inconvenient and embarrassing.

O'Connor disagreed. ``There is no question that officer Turek's actions severely infringed Atwater's liberty and privacy.''

She warned that giving the police ``such unbounded discretion carries with it grave potential for abuse'' and said, ``After today, the arsenal available to any officer extends to a full arrest and the searches permissible'' under that arrest.

Timothy Lynch, director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the Cato Institute think-tank, said, ``The practical effect of the ruling is that police officers can exercise 'extremely poor judgement' and harass citizens for pointless reasons -- and those citizens are without legal redress.''

He added, ``The Framers of our Constitution would frankly be startled by the Supreme Court's cavalier treatment of the legal threshold by which citizens can be deprived of their liberty and thrown in jail.''

-- AIN'T GONNA (LET THIS HAPPEN @ TIME TO. TAKE THE POWER BACK!!!), April 25, 2001

Answers

THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF PEOPLE. NOTICE THAT THIS LADY WAS ARRESTED FOR NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT IN TEXAS, WHILE DUMBYA WAS GOVERNOR OF THAT STATE. IF HE WERE STILL THERE, SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED!

NOW THAT DUMBYA IS OUR PRESIDENT-REJECT HE WILL IMPLEMENT THESE KINDS OF STRONG-ARM TACTICS THROUGHOUT OUR NATION, THEN THE WORLD. LITTLE BY LITTLE OUR FREEDOMS WILL BE STOLEN FROM US.

NEXT, THEY WILL BEGIN ARRESTING PEOPLE FOR FARTING. AFTER THAT, WE WILL BE ARRESTED FOR TALKING. WHEN THE JAILS OVERFLOW, THESE OFFENSES WILL BE GROUNDS FOR EXECUTION.

THIS IS IT PEOPLE!!! WITH THEIR IDIOT PUPPET AT THE CONTROLS, THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS NOW BEING GIVEN FREE REIGN TO IMPLEMENT A GLOBAL POLICE STATE TO OPPRESS AND DOMINATE THE MASSES. THIS PLANET WILL SOON BE NOTHING BUT A GIANT SLAVE CAMP FOR GLOBAL CORPORATIONS.

-- GET YOUR GUNS LOADED (TIME FOR THE SHIT @ TO HIT. THE FAN), April 25, 2001.

Okay, take ten deep breaths and relax. The Florida Fiasco stirred up a lot of bitterness that will not easily dissipate. As Dumbya continues to screw the environment, women, minorities, civil rights, the Common Man, etc., in favor of Corporate America, the Religious Right, and the wealthiest 6% of our population, there's some crazy out there doing a slow burn that will eventually explode into some sort of violence. That's pretty much a "given". Dumbya may very well not make it through his whole four years.

The problem, however, is that Cheney is far more clever and competent to continue Dumbya's agenda but in a much more subtle and insidious way, thus being far, far more dangerous.

-- TheJigIsUp (KissYourAss@Goodbye.com), April 25, 2001.

You're right dude, Cheney is a "major-league" Dick, "big time", that's for sure.

All we need to do is infiltrate the White House cafeteria system, the Dickmeister undoubtedly spends a lot of time porking out there. In fact, we almost never see him on the news because he is busy doing three things... eating, sleeping, and calling the shots for Halliburton, all on the taxpayer dole.

Anyway, if we can get one of the kitchen boys to switch his "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" for the real thing, he'll be taking the "big time" vacation faster than you can say "acute myocardial infarction".

After that, we'll have to see who ascends to the throne, Asscroft or Powell, and devise another plan to deal with them accordingly.

(Psssst... if some guy named J comes around threatening to call the Nazi goon squad, we'll just have to kill him too. He's nothing but a spineless annoying crybaby who is completely submissive to totalitarians, so he won't be missed. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he kisses their asses, the fascists would have already wasted him.)

-- conservatives are worthless shits (moreinterpretation@ugly.com), April 25, 2001.

STOP IT!!!!!

STRAIT UP I HAVE TEARS STREAMING DOWN MY FACE FROM LAUGHING SO HARD AT WORK.

WHOMEVER YOU TWO ARE IN THIS THREAD, YOU BOTH SHOULD BE COMEDIANS.

THE CRACK ABOUT CHENEY IN THE CAFETERIA WITH THE BUTTER HAD ME ROFL.

HAWK? IS THAT YOU?

ps i figured since everyone else was screamin i'd scream too!!

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), April 25, 2001.

My bad....not everyone was screamin.

But on a lil more serious note, does ANYONE have a problem with this?

I do. But so it goes IRL, everybody pisses but nobody pulls up their pants.

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), April 25, 2001.

Yeah , sumer, I have a problem with it. Sent a little chill up my spine when I read it yesterday. I was stopped in Missouri not long ago for not having the little sticker on the plate yet. And while we're at it you weren't wearing your seatbelt were you? Nossir. Time is short.

-- Sam (wtrmkr52@aol.com), April 25, 2001.

Way too short. We dont have much liberty left as it is. True story, I was at my sis's house last nite, she lives in the suburbs, it was her Birthday. I left there bout 11;30ish, on way home, I saw 3 police cruises on same street w/3 different vehicle pulled over, and searching the vehicles.

My son tells me that in this particular burb, they ALWAYS search your vehicle when pullled over. That is imho Bullshit.

Okay, i'se a pullin up my pants now.:=)

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), April 25, 2001.

-------------------------------------------- "If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." -- George W. Bush, December 18, 2000

http://politics.slate.msn.com/Features/bushisms/bushisms.asp www.cheneyheartwatch.com www.gwbush.com www.countercoup.org Curious George http://home.nyc.rr.com/jadedem/gw1.html

www.counterpunch.org/tnfraud.html vote fraud in tennessee (not only florida) www.prorev.com/votecount.htm more on ballot rigging

"that [surveillance] capability at any time could be turned around on the American people and no American would have any privacy left, such [is] the capability to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter. There would be no place to hide. If this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back, because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the government to know. Such is the capability of this technology ... "I don't want to see this country ever go across the bridge. I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency [NSA] and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return." -- Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho), 1975 learn what your government is up to at http://cryptome.org

-- say no to surveillance (not-in-jail@notyet.com), April 25, 2001.

worthless shit,

I am going to send a letter to the closest Secret Service field office today. Now be a good little boy for a change, and keep your word. You trying to kill me would be more fun than I have had in a long time.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), April 25, 2001.

I am going to send a letter to the closest Secret Service field office today.

And they're going to laugh their asses off at you! Certainly you have better things to do than drop a dime on some internet poster that manages to easily yank your chain and drag your sorry ass all around this forum by the ring in your nose. sheesh! Can't you figure out when you're being baited?

-- Get (A-clue@DUH.com), April 25, 2001.

Hey J-gay boy, what's taking you so long? I thought you were gonna send out your goons a couple days ago! Me and my friends are still waiting to greet them, and blow their freaking heads off as soon as they set foot on my land.

Oh by the way, how come you are such a wimpy-ass crybaby tattletale? You remind me of the whiner kid on the block who goes crying to other kids Mommies if they say pooh-pooh an other naughty words.

ROTFLMAO!!!

-- conservatives are worthless shits (and J is @ wussy. submissive), April 25, 2001.

worthless shit,

As I thought, you are both stupid and a coward. What's the matter little boy, don't you remember saying, "Psssst... if some guy named J comes around threatening to call the Nazi goon squad, we'll just have to kill him too". I have threatened to "call the Nazi goon squad", so aren't you going to kill me, you little piss ant? LOL!

It is obvious to see that you are a pathological liar by your statement, "Me and my friends are still waiting to greet them, and blow their freaking heads off as soon as they set foot on my land".

First, you are too socially inept to have any friends, and second, you are far too stupid to keep employment which would allow you to buy land.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), April 25, 2001.

Gaaaaawd, you are DUMB!!!

Don't you remember, I told you about my friends...

"I even have some friends for them to meet... Mr. Smith, Mr. Wesson, Mr. Winchester, and Mr. Mossberg."

LOL, keep it comin wimpy-boy, this is a barrel of laughs!! I must say, the more you post, the more you prove that liberals are far more intelligent. Even after all the bashing you sickos gave Clinton the last 8 years, no one was stupid enough to try to contact the Secret Service!! LOL, don't forget to tell them you are unstable with an inferiority complex, so they can keep an eye on you! ROTFL!!!

-- conservatives are worthless shits (J is too dumb @ even. for gubmint work!), April 26, 2001.

worthless shit,

Now you are making progress. You have admitted that you have no human friends. That's a start.

I see that you didn't deny that you are too stupid to keep employment, and are therefore unable to buy land. That is also a good sign.

You still have to address the fact that you are a coward. After all, since I "threatened to call the Nazi goon squad", you said you would have to kill me, remember?

What's the matter, little boy, are you scared? Did your big mouth say more than your little manhood could deliver? Or have you just realized that it's easy to spout threats from Daddy's computer, but difficult to back them up when you can't even drive?

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), April 26, 2001.

LOL, you are more fun than a barrel of monkeys! I promise, as soon as the Nazis show up I'll kill them first, then I'll hunt you down and kill you too, okay?

But what if they don't believe you? What if they think you are a paranoid right-wing extremist wacko?? What if they decide to spy on you instead? Who are you gonna tell then, your Mommy??

ROTFLMAO!!!

-- conservatives are worthless shits (J: "mommy! mommy! @ boo-hoo-hoo, that man. scared me!!!" LOL!), April 26, 2001.

worthless shit,

You are a coward.

First you said that if I called in "the Nazi goon squad", then you would kill me. I have sent a letter to the Secret Service referencing the thread on which you threatened the life of the President. But now, instead of coming to kill me like you said that you would, you make a promise to do so later. You won't even try to stand by your word, because you are afraid. You are a coward.

"But what if, what if, what if"? I didn't threaten the life of the President, you did. You get to deal with a Secret Service investigation into your life, not me.

Oh, and by the way, "paranoid right-wing extremist wackos" ceased to exist in the eyes of the federal government when Bill Clinton and Janet Reno left D.C. They only live on in the delusional minds of liberal nut cases like yourself.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), April 26, 2001.

Ooooooo, I'm REALLY scared J!

How do you think the Secret Service will react to your letter when you tell them you thought they were a "Nazi goon squad"??

The hole just keeps getting deeper, and deeper, and deeper...

ROTFLMAO!!

-- J is a worthless shit crybaby (Bwaaahahaa@hahaha.hahaaaa!!!), April 26, 2001.

worthless shit,

As I said earlier, you are too stupid to understand just how much trouble that you are in, and therefore, you are too stupid to be scared.

"Nazi goon squad" is your term. I have only used it when quoting you.

Yes, the hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper. Didn't you also say that you were going to "blow their freaking heads off as soon as they set foot" on your land? And didn't you also say that if I "call the Nazi goon squad", that you were going to have to kill me, too?

It gets deeper and deeper indeed.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), April 26, 2001.

Um, hey worthless, you still here? Or did they cart your ass off yet?

ROFLMAO w/tears at this one. :-)

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), April 27, 2001.