Policing For Profit in Atlanta Georgia

georgiaCPI recently received an email from Joe Williams regarding his ongoing legal battles over suspicionless roadblocks in Atlanta, Georgia. Joe sends word that he will be in court on Wednesday February 10, 2016 over bogus charges filed against him by Atlanta checkpoint cops who prefer policing for profit.over protecting and serving.

For past posts regarding Joe’s principled stands at suspicionless checkpoints, follow this link.

For current information regarding the state of policing for profit in Atlanta Georgia along with Joe’s status, read his recent update below and consider supporting him in court along with his efforts in general however you can:

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Atlanta Resident In Court This Friday Over Bogus Checkpoint Charges

Joe Williams, an Atlanta, Georgia resident I’ve written about before, will be in court this Friday the 13th regarding an illegal arrest and several bogus charges stemming from an encounter at a so-called dui checkpoint in Atlanta, Georgia on January 13th, 2014.

The videos appearing below contain part of the audio footage from the encounter where the cops try to justify the checkpoint on grounds that it deters crime in the area. This despite the fact that general crime control checkpoints have been ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Indianapolis V Edmond. Further, after the cops allow Joe to go on his way without charging him at the end of the checkpoint encounter, they track him down several hours later and arrest him on trumped up charges making it clear the unlawful arrest and harassment was premeditated:

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Atlanta Sobriety Checkpoint Claims Another Victim of Police Authoritarianism

duiLicenseSmall

14 Sep 2010 UPDATE: Here's an email update I recently received from Mr. Williams regarding his case:

In court yesterday the city of Atlanta dropped the “disorderly conduct” charge and bound the “driving without a license” charge over to state court. I will now be able to present my case before a jury. Time to work on the jury nullification thing

A few days ago, I received the email appearing below from Joe Williams in Atlanta, Georgia. Joe will be defending himself in court against malicious charges stemming from the exercise of his rights while being stopped, detained and questioned at a suspicionless sobriety checkpoint in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this year.

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9th Circuit To Hear Oral Argument in Roadblock Lawsuit

criminal_justice_jurisprudence_2For those of you who have been following my five year civil rights lawsuit regarding my encounter at an illegal joint task force roadblock on December 20, 2002, we’ve finally heard from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court has agreed to review the case and has scheduled fifteen minutes of oral argument in front of a three judge panel. The hearing will take place in San Francisco on November 20, 2008.

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Large Police Checkpoint in Los Angeles Last Night

dui_checkpt_1Earlier today, I came across the following blog entry from The Daily Paul forums describing a large suspicionless police action around L.A. last night:

Felt like “Martial Law” in Los Angeles!

From the (incomplete) description of the police action, it sounds like multiple checkpoints were setup along I-5, a major interstate highway in Southern Arizona, and various secondary routes around the target area where all vehicle traffic was being stopped and seized so police could conduct suspicionless checks of one form or another on the traveling public.

This of course is a growing trend across America where a once free people now suffer routine suspicionless interference in their lives by militarized police forces that seek to dominate and control local communities instead of serve and protect.

The text of the article appears below. The comments are also worth a read. If anyone has additional information regarding this police action directed against the people, please let me know:

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Tucson Police Checkpoint Scheduled For Tonight

policeStopThe Arizona Daily Star has reported that the Tucson Police Department will be conducting suspicionless checkpoints within the city limits later today (Friday – December 28, 2007).

The Tucson Police jumped on the checkpoint bandwagon in late October of this year after a 12 year hiatus. Similar to the Pima County Sheriff Dept., the TPD stopped conducting checkpoints well over a decade ago because they were far less effective at identifying and removing drunk drivers from the road than traditional patrolling.

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Ohio Sheriff Accepts Bribe to Conduct Illegal Checkpoints

GHSO_02Last night I came across an article by The Newspaper, highlighting a story out of Summit County, Ohio regarding sobriety checkpoints and a local county sheriff.

In a breath of fresh air, Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander admitted sobriety checkpoints are far less effective at removing drunk drivers from the road than traditional policing methods that rely upon reasonable suspicion to justify a stop. The Sheriff then went on to state he believes such suspicionless checkpoints are a violation of the spirit of the 4th Amendment.

Just when I was starting to think Alexander was a sheriff with integrity however, I discovered he wasn’t nearly so willing to put his convictions into practice when federal bribes amounting to $175,000 were on the line.

Instead, Alexander applied for and received a federal grant from the so-called National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through Ohio’s Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO). Although Alexander wrangled with the state regarding how many ineffective and unconstitutional checkpoints his department would have to conduct in order to receive the money, he eventually accepted the bribe on the condition he would operate no less than four such checkpoints over the course of the upcoming year.

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