Reefer Madness

I just read a terribly depressing account of Steve Tucker and his 10 year stint in the clink for selling lightbulbs. Steve and his brother ran a hydroponics supply shop and were effectively jailed because they didn't rat out their customers for buying legal gardening equipment. To me this reeks of the government's abusive responses in the Joseph Nacchio insider trading case where he is conveniently indicted on insider trading charges after refusing to play along with the feds in their desires to wiretap all of QWEST's customers. For that matter, one could easily point to Martha Stewart and her conviction for non-cooperation despite her acquittal on all original charges. In all three cases, the true reason behind conviction was not commission of any actual crimes, but rather a refusal to submit to the whims of the enforcer.

These are just large cases that have a considerable amount of publicity. The abuse of power by those in authority is just as egregious on a smaller scale as well. Sadly, I look at every encounter with a uniformed policeman with distrust and a certain sense of fear. In most cases, this is admittedly unjustified. Things happen just frequently enough to keep me in fear, though. Even a law-abiding teatotaller out doing good works can be put in his place.

2 years ago I got a call that someone in church was moving into a new home and was asked if I could spare an hour or two to unload a truck. I went to the address and met several other gentlemen from church. The truck hadn't arrived yet, so the 5 of us waited on the sidewalk and talked. A short time later the police arrived upon a neighbor's call that suspicious characters were loitering in the neighborhood. The police arrived and asked our business. When told that we were waiting to help someone move in across the street, the cops insisted we call the family en route. At this point I had the audacity to ask what we were doing that was illegal and why we needed permission from someone else to stand on the sidewalk in the same city in which we paid taxes. After this, the policeman threatened me with "if you don't stop mouthing off to me, I'll start writing tickets for your friend's vehicle". As a courtesy to my friend, I stopped asking questions and we called the family and the cops left without even an apology for accosting us. The most galling part of the event to me was when I called the Milpitas Police Department later that night to complain and was told by the officer in charge that nothing was done wrong and that I was essentially unjustified in my objections. Protect and Serve obviously refers primarily to the good old boys and not to the public. On all levels, it is generally more of us vs. them than right vs. wrong.

In hindsight, I guess I got off lucky. If the cops knew there were lightbulbs in the moving van, I might still be in prison.