Exposing the police state one roadblock at a time
After more than 12 years without conducting a single suspicionless checkpoint in Tucson, Arizona, the Tucson Police Department finally caved-in to temptation and jumped on the suspicionless checkpoint gravy-train in late October.
Continue reading “Tucson Police Jump on Checkpoint Bandwagon”
The Newspaper recently published an interesting article indicating at least some communities in Saint Louis County, Missouri are getting fed up with suspicionless police checkpoints designed to raise revenue rather than protect the traveling public.
This is a recurring theme I continue to see while researching roadblocks across the country. Local and State enforcement agencies are using public safety as a pretext for stopping drivers absent reasonable suspicion to fish for revenue generating traffic violations.
If that’s not bad enough, many of these same agencies apply to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for checkpoint funding used to pay for roadblock ops, including overtime pay for participating cops.
After following a few links the other night, I came across this biker’s blog linking to a news article published by the North Country Gazette in East Fishkill, New York.
The article highlights a so-called motorcycle safety checkpoint that was conducted along Interstate I-84 on October 7, 2007 by the New York State Police, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, the Kent Police Dept., the East Fishkill Police Department and the Dept. of Motor Vehicles Field Investigations Unit.
While the stated purpose of the checkpoint was to increase motorcycle safety, it’s clear from reading the article, the operation was just another suspicionless dragnet fishing expedition designed to specifically target the biking public. It should also be noted the article referenced a seatbelt checkpoint being coordinated with the motorcycle checkpoint at the same time and in the same geographic area.
Continue reading “Motorcycle Safety Latest Excuse to Violate the 4th”
The controversy surrounding a proposed permanent Homeland Security checkpoint in Southern Arizona continues to grow as people begin to understand the true costs associated with such an installation. For background information, I first reported on this proposed checkpoint on July 6, 2007.
Continue reading “Pima County Supervisors Oppose Permanent Checkpoint”
On September 4, 2007, my Federal Appeal’s Court Opening Brief was hand delivered to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. This appeal, from final rulings made in District Court Case No. CV-04-264-JMR in the District of Arizona, marks the forty-fifth month of litigation regarding a civil rights lawsuit filed in December 2003 against four tribal police officers from the Tohono O’odham Nation.
Those unfamiliar with the incident and associated legal action leading up to this appeal should go to Checkpoint USA for a comprehensive overview.
Continue reading “Appeals Court Opening Brief Filed in ‘Right To Travel’ Lawsuit”
* Note – Originally posted on March 5, 2007. this blog entry has been significantly updated with additional information and analysis.
Late last year, four Tohono O’odham tribal police officers and one federal agent were deposed in my civil rights lawsuit stemming from an illegal joint task force roadblock over four years ago. I spent most of 2003 successfully defending myself against various trumped-up charges. After the charges were prejudicially dismissed by a judge in December 2003, I filed a lawsuit against the tribal officers which resulted in the deposition of ICE Agent William Dreeland late last year. For those unfamiliar with this fifty-five month legal saga, a comprehensive overview is available here.
In followup to my March 9th and 10th posts, Tucson-based assistant U.S. attorney Gerald Frank has responded to our opposition to the USA’s Motion for Summary Judgment. As has become the norm, Mr. Frank distorts the facts in his motion along with associated case law in order to justify summary judgment.
Read on for further discussion regarding Mr. Frank’s motion.
Continue reading “USA Stretches The Facts In Objection To Motion For Summary Judgment”
In my last post, I detailed the USA’s Motion for Summary Judgment in my ongoing civil rights lawsuit against the USA and several tribal police defendants. In this post, I highlight my legal team’s response to the USA’s motion.
Continue reading “Response to USA’s Motion for Summary Judgment”
In an attempt to have the malicious prosecution charge against the Bureau of Indian Affairs dismissed related to my ongoing civil rights lawsuit, Gerald Frank, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment with the federal district court in Tucson. This motion coincides with a similar motion filed by the attorney for the tribal police defendants.
Continue reading “USA Files Motion for Summary Judgment”
Since my article, reprinted below, first appeared on Freedom’s Phoenix last year, the Tucson sector Border Patrol has established six semi-permanent suspicionless checkpoints on Arizona highways many miles North of the international border. These checkpoints are located at:
Now, onto the article: