Posted on 08/25/2002 8:57:24 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch
Del. Compiles Future Suspects List Delaware Police Compiles Database of List of Likely Law-Breakers; ACLU Opposes Practice
The Associated Press
WILMINGTON, Del. Aug. 25 Police in Delaware are trying to get a head-start on cracking crimes before they happen by setting up a database that contains a list of people who officers believe are likely to break the law.
Defense attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union oppose the database, which lists names, addresses and photographs of the potential suspects many of whom have clean slates.
The precise grounds for putting a person on the list aren't clear. But since the system was introduced in Wilmington in June, most of the 200 people included in the file have been minorities from poor, high-crime neighborhoods.
State and federal prosecutors say the tactic is legal, but defense lawyers object to the practice.
"We should enforce the existing laws, but not violate them, to catch the bad guys," said Theo Gregory, City Councilman and public defender. "We've become the bad guys, and that's not right."
Mayor James Baker called the criticism "asinine and intellectually bankrupt."
"I don't care what anyone but a court of law thinks," he said. "Until a court says otherwise, if I say it's constitutional, it's constitutional."
The pictures are being taken by two Wilmington police squads created in June to arrest drug dealers. The units are known in some neighborhoods as "jump-out squads" because they jump out of cars and make quick arrests.
Many of the people whose photos have been taken for the file were stopped briefly for loitering and let go.
Guess what, Jimmy. I've got a list of politicians likely to be looking for real jobs next election.
D.P.Roberts
This has been the attitude of law enforcement from the beginning of time. While police agencies in America are filling up jails for violations which are clearly unconstitutional, and violate civil rights with dangerous policies like this one, they just pass it on to the courts. Meanwhile, the citizen who has just been raped by the system must spend thousands of dollars to go against the strong arm of the law.
If we can accomplish anything here at the Free Republic, we must collectively do what ever it takes to see that law makers, judges, district attorneys and police officers held accountable if they violating the constitution. Just passing an unconstitutional policy onto the courts is no longer acceptable.
The day we see to it that these criminals are serving time behind their own bars and crying "I was only doing my job" is when we can call it a day.
It's times like this that I am grateful for the ACLU.
I thought you should have said twenty years too late, not too soon.
Then I read this...
AG Ashcroft is a 1964 Yale graduate - with Honors, no less.
...and realized you are correct. It started 20 years ago.
OH, ****.....can you believe this?????????? I'm gonna send the info to spook....
This is a natural result from rejecting our cultural roots in favor of moral relativism. The government gladly steps in to fill the void created by those who won't adhere to the precepts taught from concrete truths, such as "right and wrong."
Of course the ACLU opposes this. But they're hardly the good guys in this scenario. They are constantly suing to have any vestige of God removed from the public domain. They encourage Americans to reject the principles on which this country was founded. How ironic, since they are some of the very people who have been instrumental in causing the moral decline in America that has caused the FedGov to increase.
That may have a lot to do with it, but what's the solution? I'm not trying to be argumentative, but how can morals be forced upon a society? The law can be enforced at gunpoint, but no one can force an individual to believe in a moral code (as opposed to abiding by it for fear of punishment). In other words, how can moral decline be addressed?
And by the way, I agree with your assessment of the ACLU. They're wrong at least as often as they're right, and have a very skewed take on the Bill of Rights. Also, this program may not be unconstitutional in a strict sense, but it flies in the face of a free society's belief in the presumption of innocence, which is why I find it so offensive.
One can't force morals on society. At this point those of us who still hold to traditional values are in for the fight of our lives because it has become perfectly acceptable to ridicule and sneer at Christianity. The government, hollywood, pop culture, and moral liberals have been demonizing tradional values for over 30 years now, and it has had a huge effect on the way this country has devolved. In my opinion, we are imploding. The culture is collapsing. What can we do? We mount a counter-revolution. Here is a good article you might enjoy: How to win the Culture war>
Straight out of "Minority Report".
Alex Jones has been predicting this stuff for months, if not longer. More people need to wake up and listen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.