Twilight of the Courts: The Elusive Search for Justice in the American Police State

Guest Post by John W. Whitehead

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

We have entered a new regime and it’s called the American police state.

As the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in County of Los Angeles vs. Mendez makes clear, Americans can no longer rely on the courts to mete out justice.

Continuing its disturbing trend of siding with police in cases of excessive use of force, a unanimous Court declared that police should not be held liable for recklessly firing 15 times into a shack where a homeless couple—Angel and Jennifer Mendez—was sleeping.

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Understandably, the Mendezes were startled by the intruders, so much so that Angel was holding his BB gun, which he used to shoot rats, in defense. Despite the fact that police barged into the Mendez’s backyard shack without a search warrant and without announcing their presence and fired 15 shots at the couple, who suffered significant injuries (Angel Mendez suffered numerous gunshot wounds, one of which required the amputation of his right leg below the knee, and his wife Jennifer was shot in the back), the Court once again gave the police a “get out of jail free” card.

Unfortunately, we’ve been traveling this dangerous road for a long time now.

In the police state being erected around us, the police and other government agents can probe, poke, pinch, taser, search, seize, strip and generally manhandle anyone they see fit in almost any circumstance, all with the general blessing of the courts.

Whether it’s police officers breaking through people’s front doors and shooting them dead in their homes or strip searching motorists on the side of the road, these instances of abuse are continually validated by a judicial system that kowtows to virtually every police demand, no matter how unjust, no matter how in opposition to the Constitution.

These are the hallmarks of the emerging American police state: where police officers, no longer mere servants of the people entrusted with keeping the peace, are part of an elite ruling class dependent on keeping the masses corralled, under control, and treated like suspects and enemies rather than citizens.

While the First Amendment—which gives us a voice—is being muzzled, the Fourth Amendment—which protects us from being bullied, badgered, beaten, broken and spied on by government agents—is being disemboweled.

A review of critical court rulings over the past decade or so, including some ominous ones by the U.S. Supreme Court, reveals a startling and steady trend towards pro-police state rulings by an institution concerned more with establishing order and protecting the ruling class and government agents than with upholding the rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Police can stop, arrest and search citizens without reasonable suspicion or probable cause.

Police officers can stop cars based on “anonymous” tips or for “suspicious” behavior such as having a reclined car seat or driving too carefully.

Police officers can use lethal force in car chases without fear of lawsuits.

Police can “steal” from Americans who are innocent of any wrongdoing. Asset forfeiture laws, which have come under intense scrutiny and criticism in recent years, allow the police to seize property “suspected” of being connected to criminal activity without having to prove the owner of the property is guilty of a criminal offense.

Americans have no protection against mandatory breathalyzer tests at a police checkpoint.

Police can forcibly take your DNA, whether or not you’ve been convicted of a crime. A divided U.S. Supreme Court determined that a person arrested for a crime who is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty must submit to forcible extraction of their DNA. In doing so, the Court opened the door for a nationwide dragnet of suspects targeted via DNA sampling.

Police can use the “fear for my life” rationale as an excuse for shooting unarmed individuals. Incredibly, a report by the Justice Department found that half of the unarmed people shot by one police department over a seven-year span were “shot because the officer saw something (like a cellphone) or some action (like a person pulling at the waist of their pants) and misidentified it as a threat.”

Police have free reign to use drug-sniffing dogs as “search warrants on leashes.”

Not only are police largely protected by qualified immunity, but police dogs are also off the hook for wrongdoing. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals actually ruled in favor of a police officer who allowed a police dog to maul a homeless man innocent of any wrongdoing.

Police can subject Americans to strip searches, no matter the “offense.” This “license to probe” is now being extended to roadside stops, as police officers throughout the country have begun performing roadside strip searches—some involving anal and vaginal probes—without any evidence of wrongdoing and without a warrant.

Police can break into homes without a warrant, even if it’s the wrong home.

Police can use knock-and-talk tactics as a means of sidestepping the Fourth Amendment. Aggressive “knock and talk” practices have become thinly veiled, warrantless exercises by which citizens are coerced and intimidated into “talking” with heavily armed police who “knock” on their doors in the middle of the night.

Police can interrogate minors without parents present.

It’s a crime to not identify yourself when a policeman asks your name. A majority of the high court agreed that refusing to answer when a policeman asks “What’s your name?” can rightfully be considered a crime under Nevada’s “stop and identify” statute.

Police can carry out no-knock raids if they believe announcing themselves would be dangerous. Legal ownership of a firearm is also enough to justify a no-knock raid by police.

The military can arrest and detain American citizens.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we are dealing with a nationwide epidemic of court-sanctioned police violence carried out against individuals posing little or no real threat, who are nevertheless subjected to such excessive police force as to end up maimed or killed.

When all is said and done, what these assorted court rulings add up to is a disconcerting government mindset that interprets the Constitution one way for the elite—government entities, the police, corporations and the wealthy—and uses a second measure altogether for the underclasses—that is, you and me.

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Jack Lovett

And the latest, in Grand Rapids,Mi. The court has “passed a law” that makes it illegal to inform a juror of their rights of nullification.

Rojam
Rojam

Yes, that story didn’t get hardly any press here in the Metro Detroit area. Certainly no surprise there! Just because a court passes a law, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a just law. This is why there is jury nullification. Whenever someone tells me they have jury duty I tell them about jury nullification and how important it is to know about it.

Quick story: a couple of years ago the young guy who works next to me told me about having jury duty. I proceeded to tell him about jury nullification and directed him to some internet sites that talked extensively about it. Sure enough, when he was picked for the jury, the judge told them that their only function, as jurors, was to determine guilt or innocence. When my young co-worker reminded the judge that as jury members they were also to determine the validity of the law that was broken and declare the defendant not guilty if the law is unjust, the judge had a fit. He talked over the guy and tried to shut the guy up, but the defense lawyer interrupted and said; “he’s talking about jury nullification.” The co-worker said the judge was very very upset and surprised someone so young actually knew their rights as a juror.

The fact that people are arrested for informing potential jurors of their rights and even jailed, in some cases, is a crime in and of itself and tyrannical, but not surprising in the least. In fact, jury nullification should be looked at as a possibility if serving on a jury for that very crime!! Jury nullification is a powerful tool and the courts don’t want you to know anything about it!
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TampaRed
TampaRed

In some places it is against the law to use juror nullification,use your own reasoning.
You’re only allowed to make your decision based upon the facts given to you at trial.

Rojam
Rojam

Not true. On both counts.

doug
doug

The Just us system is alive and well.

MMinLamesa
MMinLamesa

There was a time when I would take to the road and sell my leaded glass. Of course I’d offer a deal if I could get cash. There were a few times I had over $20-30,000 on me. My worries then were criminals. Now? No fucking way I would ever take to the road with anywhere near that kind of cash. Sad. AAMOF I recently had a client ask me if they paid cash, would I take care of the sales tax? I said sorry, but no way I’m driving halfway across Texas with a pile of cash.

Michael Keane
Michael Keane

US Law Enforcement was sold into abject slavery to Swiss and English Bankers by the Obama DOJ under Eric Holder.

James Comey, the recently fired FBI Director, fashioned Treason for the International, Criminal, English-based, Central Banking Cartel in 2005, as an Assistant AG, under George Bush.

James Comey obfuscated and concealed KPMG as a laundry for terror and drug cartels that had clients that used counterfeit US Currency to murder American and British Soldiers.

In September 2012, former English Finance Minister, George Osborne, resurrected James Comey’s Treason to obfuscate and conceal Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC Bank) is a laundry for terror and drug cartels that use counterfeit US Currency to murder American and British Soldiers.

The Deal was struck in December 2012 under Loretta Lynch while she was a Prosecutor in Brooklyn. George Osborne signed-off on it, Eric Holder signed-off on it and Lanny Breuer signed-off on it.

3 months after they all signed-off on the murder of American and British Soldiers, James Comey was placed as an executive with the bank laundering the money for the murderers- HSBC, in March 2013.

A video, that explains, in detail, the uselessness of American Law Enforcement and the fact they are all sold to Swiss and English Bankers, is here: https://riggedgame.blog/2017/04/30/all-the-plenarys-men/

~ Michael Keane 6/6/17

Ed
Ed

“US Law Enforcement was sold into abject slavery to Swiss and English Bankers by the Obama DOJ under Eric Holder.”

Um, no…sorry. He didn’t have it to sell because that sale was made generations ago. As bad as Obama and Holder are, they didn’t destroy a pristine and functional system. They had a ball fucking around within a system that was already corrupt and broken when they got into office.

Anonymous
Anonymous

how do you know if a cop is lying?
it’s mouth is moving.

how do you know what your rights are when speaking to the police?
you don’t have any rights, and anything you say be used against you, in a court of law

how do you keep from getting caught for doing x,y,z?
you need to be smarter than the ones who are trying to catch you.

what can I do to protect my privacy?
stay off the internet, wear funny glasses in public, and don’t talk to strangers.

what is the long term effect of policing in the USA?
more customers/criminals to keep the gravy train going.

how can we change the system?
evolve to not require a system.

where can I go to learn more?
church.

MarshRabbit
MarshRabbit

Never talk to the police! The law professor in the link gives a fun & informative explanation. https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE

CCRider
CCRider

I’ve seen this before and sent it to my 3 kids. Much more valuable than the shit they learned in college.

MarshRabbit
MarshRabbit

And while in jail, don’t talk to anyone about your case except your lawyer!

The US Supeme Court Held:
“An undercover law enforcement officer posing as a fellow inmate need not give Miranda warnings to an incarcerated suspect before asking questions that may elicit an incriminating response.”
Illinois v. Perkins, 496 U.S. 292 (1990)

Mike Murray
Mike Murray

“Twilight of the Courts”?
Hardly, I’d say it’s the ascendancy of the courts.

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