[GladesGuru]

Respectfully, I must disagree. The parents did try to retain control of the situation. Your post seems to be based on a lack of familiarity with ‘mens rea’. Given the parental efort, they demonstrated an intent to comply with the law.

That some kids managed to smuggle in drugs and booze is meaningless, given the well known fact that even prisons have a problem with contraband.

Have you considered that perhaps government should not be given such broad powers that parents trying to exercise control can be billed $100,000 in legal fees because they were no more successful in spotting contraband than prison officials?

Could you perhaps be an attorney? Otherwise I must ask why you so readliy accept the $100,000 ‘fee’ as being acceptable?

Just wondering.

[Ramius]

That some kids managed to smuggle in drugs and booze is meaningless...

Silly me. I thought it was illegal. So the cops are supposed to just ignore some things? I thought we wanted cops to follow the law.

[Sopater]

Could you perhaps be an attorney? Otherwise I must ask why you so readliy accept the $100,000 ‘fee’ as being acceptable?

I was talking about the search and the cops, not the punishment handed down by the court. Unless the cops are the ones who set the fees at $100,000, that is outside of the scope of what I was talking about.

Should cops wait to ask for consent to search until they've carefully considered what the consequences might ultimately cost the person? That consideration is the responsibility of the person addressing the police, and should be carefully weighed befor giving consent. I still contend that the cops were right on this issue.

There are a few problems with that article that tell me that this story was presneted with the intent to illicit just such a resonse as you and skyman have shown.

1. Saw on T.V.
2. The parents were very careful
3. police barged right past them (after giving consent to search)
4. over $100,000 in legal fees so far.

"Legal fees" doesn't mean fines or court costs, it typically means that some lawyer has charged them that much so far to defend them. I don't offer any apologies or support for the high cost of the legal system.