Posted on 01/04/2007 4:58:32 AM PST by grjr21
We know that now. But we have the benefit of hindsight. At the time, it sure did appear that she was attempting to "smuggle" three condoms filled with a white powder through an airport screener -- powder that tested positive for cocaine.
"The real story, as you agree, is that the Philadelphia police cannot tell cocaine from flour, and cannot staff their department with personnel able to tell the difference without the use of technology."
True. But if they didn't use technology and mistakenly arrested you for trafficking in cocaine, I'm sure you would quickly and forcefully insist that they do.
"At $180,000, the city got off lightly."
At $180,000, the city got screwed. In my opinion.
(With special thanks to W.C. Fields for that.)
Geez: Thats awful. Looks like a Dyke fest.
I agree with you. The whole thing was a set-up.
If it appeared she was attempting to smuggle cocaine in that way, to an experienced narcotics officer, it must have also seemed that she was the most incredibly inept smuggler in human history, yes? And to an experienced narcotics officer, don't you think that ineptitude and sheer naivete might have prompted a red flag or two?
Now I know you're always going to come down on the side of the state, but it seems to me that someone with a few months of experience under his or her belt can tell the difference between coke and flour by using one of the five senses alone, without the aid of sophisticated electronic equipment, and the difference between a cocaine smuggler and a ditzy comp lit major from Brynn Mawr.
True. But if they didn't use technology and mistakenly arrested you for trafficking in cocaine, I'm sure you would quickly and forcefully insist that they do.
That goes without saying, yes? If I wasn't trafficking cocaine, I'd look to everything and anything that proves I wasn't.
At $180,000, the city got screwed. In my opinion.
So if the cops put you in the slammer for no reason at all, your time and your freedom isn't worth $60K a week? What is it worth, then?
...Lee has heard criticism that carrying white substances onto an airplane was a foolhardy act...
I graduated from Bryn Mawr several years ago. Something like 30% of the students were lesbians. About 99.9% were liberals. I was neither!
You must have been lonesome and the smartest girl on campus.
They had a valid reason to do what they did. I just hope I'd be smarter not to do something so stupid.
I have lots of friends but I don't tell them all dirty jokes. ;)
$180,000?
Why didn't I think of that.
Har!
I think it's fairly safe to assume that you wouldn't be hauling around skindros filled with flour in your luggage, rp!
Yes. Or more accuarately, their own ignorance and stupidity and incompetence.
She bears no responsibility for what happened?
None. Zero. Nada. Unless carrying flour in rubbers is a crime now.
Oh. And how do we know this wasn't a dry run for smuggling real drugs?
Who cares if it was or wasn't. This isn't Oceania in 1984. We don't have thought crimes in this country, at least I hope not. But there's no surprise you are once again defending the drug warriors, even at their greatest height of incompetence.
What's real sad is that coke is about as easy as it gets to test for. You don't even really need a testing kit, you just put some on your gums and see if it numbs. Plus, coke doesn't even have the same consistancy that flour does. Coke looks/feels more like baking soda. Obviously these idiot cops have never done any baking in their lives. I can certainly tell the difference between baking soda and flour when I drop the soda onto the flour.
Oh, you're one of those -- "if it's not illegal I can do it and don't you dare criticize me" types.
Well, you're 100% correct. It's not illegal to put flour in condoms and try to sneak them by airport security. Neither is it illegal to carry a tinfoil cutout of a gun in your briefcase. Or a short piece of pipe with a battery and wires. You go right ahead and do that. Actually, I insist you do that. It's your right as an American citizen, dagnubbit!
You, sir, are the shining example of why we have so many laws in this country.
Are you suggesting that airport screeners do this? That they put unknown substances on their gums? I'm surprised you don't suggest they snort it or inject it to test for purity.
But let's play your silly game and say the airport screeners tested this way. You're going through security carrying your flour-filled condoms which you always do (hey, it's not a crime!). A screener tests it by rubbing some on his gums (the official Nate505 Airport Screener Drug Testing Procedure #B56a) and states that it was numbing and you're under arrest.
That's it? You're going to accept that?!
You're a funny guy.
There's a huge difference between 'criticize' and 'arrest'.
Well, you're 100% correct. It's not illegal to put flour in condoms and try to sneak them by airport security. Neither is it illegal to carry a tinfoil cutout of a gun in your briefcase. Or a short piece of pipe with a battery and wires. You go right ahead and do that. Actually, I insist you do that. It's your right as an American citizen, dagnubbit!
I remember when I was 11 I carried a Nintentdo gun controller, used to play a game called Dunk Hunt (and a couple other games), on my carry on bag. They saw it pretty immediately thru the xray. They took it out, saw it wasn't a real gun, and just told me to put it on my check on baggage. I certainly wasn't put in jail for 3 weeks for it. I'd hope I wouldn't be arrested for the til foil thing. But weapons are a different issue. There's a lot more fear that can be attained from pretending to have a weapon, as opposed to flour in a rubber.
You, sir, are the shining example of why we have so many laws in this country.
And you, sir, are the shining example of why people think we we have so many idiotic laws in this country.
No, I'm not suggesting airport screeners do that. I would suggest the cops do that. But if they don't want to for safety concerns, you can easily look at coke and flour and see the visible difference between the two. Coke has a much finer consistancy, like baking powder. I'd also insist they test it with their kit about three times. Apparently, the cops and their testing procedures failed big time in this case.
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