Why police & judges are the enemy...

[dimethylsea]

and should NOT be cooperated with..

"The Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Joint" - Anthony Papa

In 1992 Anthony Williams, now known as Amir Varick Amma, was sentenced to 25 years to life for a non violent drug offense under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Amir was convicted of two felonies, the worst of which was the sale of 2 ounces of cocaine in Albany County. Amir was badly assaulted by the police when he refused to give up his accomplices. His refusal to cooperate guided Judge Keegan to sentence him to 12 and a half years to life on each charge, meaning he had to serve 25 years. Most judges would have incorporated the two charges together, resulting in a 12 and a half year sentence. But Keegan was a "hang em high" judge, part of a tightly knit crew of upstate judges that dished out extraordinary sentences for drug offenders.

Amir challenged his conviction, but lost every legal challenge he pursued. On the outside, Amir's greatest supporter was his mother Queen Nazimova Varick. Over the years she fought tooth and nail to get her son out of prison. She joined the Mothers of the NY Disappeared, a leading activist group that fought the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws for many years. She was suffering from several ailments, including cancer, but she never gave up hope that her son would return home to her, although his continued incarceration made her healing process all the more difficult.

In 2004, the legislature passed some incremental Rockefeller reforms that would help individuals like Amir who were sentenced to extraordinary amounts of time. Amir filed an application only to be denied. The judge could not even address his motion because he had been busted for smoking marijuana in prison. For this they gave Amir 60 days in solitary confinement and took away his merit time, rendering him ineligible for judicial relief under the new reforms of 2004.

Activists quickly rallied together to seek justice for Amir, but to no avail. Amir then filed for executive clemency, but his application was denied by Gov. Paterson. Amir did not give up hope. In 2009, under the new Rockefeller reforms that were championed by Gov. Paterson, Amir was finally granted his freedom.

On March 23, 2010, after 19 years in prison, Amir was released. He came by my office and I hugged him. I shared a laugh with him when he showed me a check he had received, issued by the prison from their parole release funds in the amount of 83 cents. What the hell was he suppose to do with that check, I asked. When I telephoned Albany County District attorney David Soares and asked him his opinion of Amir's case, he described it as a travesty of justice.

In this time of economic crisis in New York State, when politicians are looking for solutions to reduce the budget deficit, they need look no further than the state's correctional system. That single joint Amir smoked cost him an additional 5 years in prison, and taxpayers roughly $250,000. Was it worth keeping him in prison and punishing him for an additional 5 years after serving 14 years for a first time non-violent crime? How many other Amirs are wasting away in our gulags?

To reduce the budget deficit, law makers need to take a good look at our criminal justice system and how punitive methods of incarceration waste not only billions of dollars, but also human lives.

Anthony Papa is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance

[Drake]

Easy fix: DON'T BREAK THE LAW

Judges and cops are my friends. I speak to them respectfully and politely explain my situation. You can get out of virtually any ticket simply by being polite. Not only that, but traffic tickets can be objected, and if you are willing to invest an afternoon or two, you can get out of things you were legitimately guilty of. I'd say speeding tickets are the easiest.

But if you want to support the drug trade, which, btw, is part of the problem they are experiencing on the border, then be my guest. All I know is that Nogales is off limits for Soldiers due to how dangerous it has become. And I promise you it isn't from the tortilla smugglers. The drug runners have even become more dangerous than the Coyotes. Legalization will not turn them into lovely citizens from murderous *******s.

But, if you insist on breaking the law, disrespecting the judicial system, and not being cooperative, it can be a painful experience. Have fun fighting the power. As John Mellencamp says... "I fight authority, authority always wins..."

[Lucas]

To reduce the budget deficit, law makers need to take a good look at our criminal justice system and how punitive methods of incarceration waste not only billions of dollars, but also human lives.



word

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[dimethylsea]

Easy fix: DON'T BREAK THE LAW



But, if you insist on breaking the law, disrespecting the judicial system, and not being cooperative, it can be a painful experience. Have fun fighting the power. As John Mellencamp says... "I fight authority, authority always wins..."

I don't fight the power. I just STFU, avoid them, and have them talk to my lawyer.

You keep claiming that "don't break the law" is a sure fix and people should trust the cops/judges/system. If you can avoid breaking the law.. by all means do so. But for those who don't feel like bending their neck to the jackboots.. they should STFU, avoid the pigs, and never talk to them.
How many people get robbed by cops of their legitimate income and property by forfeiture proceedings? Even if you are law-abiding.. you should NEVER trust a pig.

One should always "KNOW THE ENEMY".

No aid and comfort to the enemy. Treat them as they treat you.. with hidden suspicion, with deceit, and with absolutely no cooperation EXCEPT when it serves your own ends.

Playing "cooperative law-abiding citizen" is fine, as long as we remember it is merely a ruse in a war we didn't start and can't stop.

[uki]

Easy fix: DON'T BREAK THE LAW

Judges and cops are my friends. I speak to them respectfully and politely explain my situation. You can get out of virtually any ticket simply by being polite. Not only that, but traffic tickets can be objected, and if you are willing to invest an afternoon or two, you can get out of things you were legitimately guilty of. I'd say speeding tickets are the easiest.

But if you want to support the drug trade, which, btw, is part of the problem they are experiencing on the border, then be my guest. All I know is that Nogales is off limits for Soldiers due to how dangerous it has become. And I promise you it isn't from the tortilla smugglers. The drug runners have even become more dangerous than the Coyotes. Legalization will not turn them into lovely citizens from murderous *******s.

But, if you insist on breaking the law, disrespecting the judicial system, and not being cooperative, it can be a painful experience. Have fun fighting the power. As John Mellencamp says... "I fight authority, authority always wins..."you are a ****ing mindless zombie dude. :)

[Drake]

you are a ****ing mindless zombie dude. :)

Why? Because I'm cool with my law enforcement brothers? I'm a free thinker... I just strongly disagree with breaking the law. That's my choice.

[Lee Chiang Po]

Drug dealers are the scurge of America. We are a nation of laws. These laws are to protect us all, and to prevent us from taking advantage of others. Drug dealers murder our youth as well as a lot of our older citizens with their wares. It creates wasted humanity. This guy should have been executed rather than wasting all that money on him. If that couple of ounces was all he ever delt it might be different, but I would wager that he had dealt way more than that. And most likely there were children and adults alike that he had dealt a vicious blow to when selling them the stuff. He would likely rank as a sociopath, as with most all drug dealers. They have to know the damage they do, yet they continue to sell these drugs. I feel that way toward those that make and sell alcohol as well. It has probably killed and destroyed more people than all the other drugs combined. If I were in charge of this country, I would have anyone I suspected of drug sales executed by making them slide down a 100 foot razor blade.

[Drake]

Misplaced blame. The judges did not make or break the law.

[dimethylsea]

Drug dealers are the scurge of America. We are a nation of laws. These laws are to protect us all, and to prevent us from taking advantage of others. Drug dealers murder our youth as well as a lot of our older citizens with their wares. It creates wasted humanity. This guy should have been executed rather than wasting all that money on him. If that couple of ounces was all he ever delt it might be different, but I would wager that he had dealt way more than that. And most likely there were children and adults alike that he had dealt a vicious blow to when selling them the stuff. He would likely rank as a sociopath, as with most all drug dealers. They have to know the damage they do, yet they continue to sell these drugs. I feel that way toward those that make and sell alcohol as well. It has probably killed and destroyed more people than all the other drugs combined. If I were in charge of this country, I would have anyone I suspected of drug sales executed by making them slide down a 100 foot razor blade.

You sound like the epitome of a cop.

Thanks for proving my point.

[dimethylsea]

Misplaced blame. The judges did not make or break the law.

If a judge does not agree with a law he should resign rather than enforce it.

Same for a cop. Same for a DA. Those who still hold the position can be logically assumed to approve of the laws they enforce and the lives they ruin each day.

Cops, prosecutors and judges should be held accountable by the people for every action they do while in a position of authority.

If that means they are the target of shunning, public ridicule, hatred and antipathy (provided it's short of outright violence) then so be it.

If aid and comfort can be given to their victims, within or without the confines of the corrupt law, it should be done.

[Dragonzbane76]

If a judge does not agree with a law he should resign rather than enforce it.

Same for a cop. Same for a DA. Those who still hold the position can be logically assumed to approve of the laws they enforce and the lives they ruin each day.

Cops, prosecutors and judges should be held accountable by the people for every action they do while in a position of authority.

If that means they are the target of shunning, public ridicule, hatred and antipathy (provided it's short of outright violence) then so be it.

If aid and comfort can be given to their victims, within or without the confines of the corrupt law, it should be done.

Dude you have some serious issues. Your thoughts have no logic base and this is just a continuation of your ranting from a previous thread about your "hatred" for law enforcement. You sure your not part of that church that protests at dead soldiers funerals? wouldn't suprise me. Honestly you sound like you need some psychological help for past tramatic incidents with 'cops' or law enforement individuals.

[uki]

If a judge does not agree with a law he should resign rather than enforce it.

Same for a cop. Same for a DA. Those who still hold the position can be logically assumed to approve of the laws they enforce and the lives they ruin each day.

Cops, prosecutors and judges should be held accountable by the people for every action they do while in a position of authority.

If that means they are the target of shunning, public ridicule, hatred and antipathy (provided it's short of outright violence) then so be it.

If aid and comfort can be given to their victims, within or without the confines of the corrupt law, it should be done.well said. :)

[sanjuro_ronin]

I have far more issues with judges than with cops.
In the grand scheme of things, cops have very little influence on society and the law, all they do is arrest people temporarily.
Judges are truly all that is good AND bad in the legal system.
And lawyers of course.

[solo1]

Cops are not the problem judges and lawyers are.

[Drake]

Because each and every judge is a bad person? I find that very difficult to believe. Has it occurred to anyone that maybe criminals are bad people?

[David Jamieson]

I'd rather have rule of law and understand there will be corruptions within that for the sake of overall order.

Advocating anarchy in a society of profoundly stupid individuals is in and of itself an extension of that profound stupidity.

You complain a lot but offer no viable solutions.

[KC Elbows]

1) 25 years for two ounces of pot is a harsher sentence than most rapists get. Nothing just about that.

2) The judge assigned the harshest possible sentence, so they are responsible.

3) The laws were reformed, which suggests that they were looked at as unjust. To then say "you can't benefit from the reforms because of A, B, and C" is equivalent to saying "we're going to continue to carry out this unjust punishment."

[sanjuro_ronin]

Because each and every judge is a bad person? I find that very difficult to believe. Has it occurred to anyone that maybe criminals are bad people?

Seen too many judges let the bad people get away with too many crap.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I'd rather have rule of law and understand there will be corruptions within that for the sake of overall order.

Advocating anarchy in a society of profoundly stupid individuals is in and of itself an extension of that profound stupidity.

You complain a lot but offer no viable solutions.

Having been exposed to that very anarchy (Bosnia) and having friends that have fled from it ( S.Africa), I can say that people that advocate it have no ****ING idea what they are talking about.

[David Jamieson]

Having been exposed to that very anarchy (Bosnia) and having friends that have fled from it ( S.Africa), I can say that people that advocate it have no ****ING idea what they are talking about.

The ethical and moral demands on the individual within an anarchistic model are beyond what people in general are able to do themselves these days.

Very few people, VERY FEW, would be able to sustain and function within anarchy.

Certainly not enough to do away with rule of law to bring order or religion to instruct mores or philosophy to instruct ethics.

We simply are not capable, though it is Utopic in scope.

[KC Elbows]

This relates loosely to something I was talking about recently with a friend.

I have several friends who, because of their language capabilities, obtained jobs with an intelligence agency. The only one who didn't land the job, and the most qualified of them, didn't get the job because he, pretty much alone, answered honestly to whether he had ever smoked pot.

He was never a pothead, he just had smoked it a few times and wasn't going to lie about it.

[Dragonzbane76]

the polygraph questions have changed in the last 5 years. The "pot" issue is more reserved now and not as such a "strike" against said applicant. But in other terms they have added other area's to the questioning concerning things like adultery and such the questions very.

[KC Elbows]

the polygraph questions have changed in the last 5 years. The "pot" issue is more reserved now and not as such a "strike" against said applicant. But in other terms they have added other area's to the questioning concerning things like adultery and such the questions very.

This was last year, and again, he was the most qualified in both language ability and knowledge of the region. This was intelligence work, and the others who did make the cut were nowhere near his skill or dilligence. But he didn't get it because of the pot question. Less qualified appluicants willing to lie to the state get the job. That's a problem.

[David Jamieson]

This relates loosely to something I was talking about recently with a friend.

I have several friends who, because of their language capabilities, obtained jobs with an intelligence agency. The only one who didn't land the job, and the most qualified of them, didn't get the job because he, pretty much alone, answered honestly to whether he had ever smoked pot.

He was never a pothead, he just had smoked it a few times and wasn't going to lie about it.

This is a way in which an individuals prejudice and bias castrates an agency from actually getting and retaining the best people for the job.

everyone has peccadilloes, I don't think anything like that should be discussed or even asked.

[dimethylsea]

Dude you have some serious issues. Your thoughts have no logic base and this is just a continuation of your ranting from a previous thread about your "hatred" for law enforcement. You sure your not part of that church that protests at dead soldiers funerals? wouldn't suprise me. Honestly you sound like you need some psychological help for past tramatic incidents with 'cops' or law enforement individuals.


I've never been traumatized by law enforcement.. my policy of avoidance, silence, quiet resistance and "know the enemy" has kept me out of trouble for years. But others, friends and kin of mine, made the horrible mistake of thinking a pig was "being cool" or wasn't the enemy.

Result: they wound up fodder for the legal beast. Ruined lives.

Tell me this.. would you tell the father of a girl who got gang-raped that he needs to "chill" and get "maybe get some therapy" instead of spending a bit of time educating people on ways they can prevent the horror from happening to them?

[dimethylsea]

Because each and every judge is a bad person? I find that very difficult to believe. Has it occurred to anyone that maybe criminals are bad people?

Each and ever judge who enforces unjust laws is a bad person.. and is responsible for all that follows from their unjust acts.

If someone goes to prison for pot and is raped, killed or otherwise harmed while it.. then the judge, the cop, the DA.. are all not only kidnappers but accomplices and facilitators to rape and murder.

While vigilante justice to address their official acts is not the answer.. they should be spit on, reviled, cursed, shunned, expelled from social events and so forth till they get the message.

When you conflate those who commit crimes of violence (which in many cases includes the official legal representatives) with those whose "crimes" are only statutory you are making a mockery of real ethics and replacing it with blind adherence and group-think.

[David Jamieson]

I've never been traumatized by law enforcement.. my policy of avoidance, silence, quiet resistance and "know the enemy" has kept me out of trouble for years. But others, friends and kin of mine, made the horrible mistake of thinking a pig was "being cool" or wasn't the enemy.

Result: they wound up fodder for the legal beast. Ruined lives.

Tell me this.. would you tell the father of a girl who got gang-raped that he needs to "chill" and get "maybe get some therapy" instead of spending a bit of time educating people on ways they can prevent the horror from happening to them?

I have more than a few friends who are in various parts of the justice system.

Some are cops, some are lawyers etc etc. I can't understand why your friends would become "fodder for the legal beast" without breaking the law themselves. IE: you have to break the law before you get on the wrong side of it!

Whining about law enforcement and judgments is a fruitless exercise.

You have to work from within the system to change it. Otherwise you are more or less a village idiot pounding on a brick wall with no hope of getting any change at all.

[Dragonzbane76]

Tell me this.. would you tell the father of a girl who got gang-raped that he needs to "chill" and get "maybe get some therapy" instead of spending a bit of time educating people on ways they can prevent the horror from happening to them?

the system is what it is. If you do not like it move out of the country to say somewhere like saudi arabia. I'm not going to argue the symantics of situations. I worked in the corrections system for years and heard every heart breaking story there is. For every situation there is one the law was designed for and helped. YOU CANNOT SATISFY EVERYONE. THERE WILL BE MISTAKES ALWAYS, THERE IS NO PERFECT SYSTEM.

[SanHeChuan]

Don't shoot the messengers (Police, lawyers, judges) because you don't like the message (law).

Instead of quivering in fear over the Law's of the land, why not get active in trying to change them? Get involved with the Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm), write your representatives. Change won’t happen overnight, but it won’t happen at all if people don't work to make it happen. You're not going to change anything by fighting the power, you have to gain enough support to wield the power.

Your priorities are all wrong.

The best way to avoid the police is to not break the law. Are drugs really that important to you? And many drugs do kill and do have victims.

[ghostexorcist]

Easy fix: DON'T BREAK THE LAW

Judges and cops are my friends ...
I come from a cop family (be it civil or military). I don't have a problem at all with the ones that have their heads screwed on straight. Yes, there are many that get sucked in by the power, but those that abuse the law themselves are in a very small minority.

Wow, this horrible thread ranks up there with the one where the guy stated if you serve in the military you are wrong. When I run into these "everyone is out to get me types," I just meet them with a smile and hit the mute button on my ears.