New Things I've Learned

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:14 am

I have a part-time job in the evenings, doing janitorial work in a government building downtown

Which has taught a few things...

1) The building is mostly used to house the district office for the Army Corp of Engineers. As near as I can tell from glancing at boards and stuff on the way past (there's no way I'm going to be poking through files in free moments for many good and valid reasons, the least of which is this questionnaire which was quite serious about the whole 'Public Trust' thing. If I could put a long S in that, I would), this building also once ran the Panama fucking Canal and has branch offices in five states.

2) My coworkers are mostly black. Which I would not even consider being worth bringing up, except...They're cool people, really open, I've been there a month and they consider me to be part of the group and joke and ask what I've been doing...and, as far as I can tell, everybody has friends and relatives who have been in prison, for such minor things as drug and weapon crimes. Just...jesus, they live in some rough neighborhoods. Or grew up in them.

bourdain89 · Post by **bourdain89** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:47 am

are you saying it surprises you that your black co workers are really cool people?

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:59 am

No, it's a bit surprising/depressing that they've got so many friends/family members in prison or who have been in prison.

And I don't mean jail. I mean prison.

As in, "Hey, where's so-and-so- been?" "Oh, yeah, he's in prison. Got caught with drugs."

bourdain89 · Post by **bourdain89** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:03 am

ah ok i guess i just got a different message from your post, anyway today i learned that a person i once considered to be my best friend now hates me and wishes me ill despite having no real reason to feel this way.

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:23 am

bourdain89 wrote:ah ok i guess i just got a different message from your post, anyway today i learned that a person i once considered to be my best friend now hates me and wishes me ill despite having no real reason to feel this way.

I learned this yesterday.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 5:37 am

It's also often, 'was caught with so-and-so who was dealing/carrying/starting a fight/in a gang.' Rather than right straight caught red handed... Tho that's more than common, too.

-Crissa

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:11 am

Crissa wrote:It's also often, 'was caught with so-and-so who was dealing/carrying/starting a fight/in a gang.' Rather than right straight caught red handed... Tho that's more than common, too.

-Crissa

how often does being in the wrong company actually lead to jail time?

PoliteNewb · Post by **PoliteNewb** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:48 am

how often does being in the wrong company actually lead to jail time?

Uh, all the time? I think the fancy legal word for it is "accessory".

In NY state, if you're driving in a car with some friends and friends-of-friends and a cop pulls you over, and one of those guys is carrying some dope or a piece? That's YOUR gun, or your dope, or whatever. As far as the cops are concerned, everyone in the car is committing a crime.

I never said it was sensible.

Sir Neil · Post by **Sir Neil** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:14 am

Unless, of course, someone admits to ownership. They we usually just hook that one up.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:54 pm

glad my friends aren't that stupid then...

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:29 pm

In CA, if someone in your house has pot, it's your pot. Even if they cough up ownership. Same with guns. Cars. Etc.

They get more money out of selling your car, your house, your belongings, than prosecuting the one guy with the drugs, so they tend to go after owners and residents and drivers instead of the guy who had it in their pocket.

-Crissa

Akula · Post by **Akula** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:49 pm

I heard about one guy who got attempted murder for a friend pulling a gun while he was in the first guy's car.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:08 pm

My spouse got charged with attempted murder (and spent the weekend in jail) and had to pay for damages to her house after kicking out a drunk visitor who got violent and lied to the police.

-Crissa

Count Arioch the 28th · Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:55 pm

Sir_Neil wrote:Unless, of course, someone admits to ownership. They we usually just hook that one up.

I think you're lying to us. America's drug laws are 100% to allow cops to steal things. Nothing else. Don't try to act otherwise.

Sir Neil · Post by **Sir Neil** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:01 am

*sigh* And people call me paranoid. Surprising as it must be, my department is more concerned with determining the guilty party than with determining the richest mark.

If you're feeling uncharitable, call it laziness -- asset forfeiture would involve a lot of paperwork and court testimony, which is time they could spend sitting around eating lunch or reading the newspaper.

Only a small child would claim asset forfeiture couldn't be abused, I'll grant you that. I think it would be better if the crook's stuff was burned, instead of it being sold at auction.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:55 am

Well, once my spouse got a car back that had been stolen, lowered, and caught and auctioned before they realized it had been reported stolen.

She'd had it totaled before that, because she needed to get the car loan people off her back. So having it show up, even in undrivable condition, was inconvenient.

-Crissa

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:49 pm

Crissa wrote:In CA, if someone in your house has pot, it's your pot. Even if they cough up ownership. Same with guns. Cars. Etc.

In Russia, it's the opposite, and the law gets exploited to no end. Certain ethnic drug dealers make their wives take the blame. Women serve less time in jail if they ever do, because pregnancy almost always means probation.

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:56 pm

Count_Arioch_the_28th wrote:
Sir_Neil wrote:Unless, of course, someone admits to ownership. They we usually just hook that one up.
I think you're lying to us. America's drug laws are 100% to allow cops to steal things. Nothing else. Don't try to act otherwise.

Good thing I live in Canada.

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:57 am

Reminds me of Oshawa's cops. One of my former co-worker's friend's dealer was a cop. He'd seriously buy it off the guy at his cruiser.

Then there was the police around my school. And the time a portion of m bro's stash went missing pre-trial. Probably a good thing, but yeah.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:54 am

Meikle641 wrote:And the time a portion of m bro's stash went missing pre-trial. Probably a good thing, but yeah.

I can see a good cop doing that: "Man, fuck letting a kid go to jail over some weed. I think I might liberate this much, bumping it down to a misdemeanour rather than a felony."

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:18 am

He still went to jail, alright. Not too long, but yeah.

Caedrus · Post by **Caedrus** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:35 pm

Prak_Anima wrote: how often does being in the wrong company actually lead to jail time?

There's something of a bell curve here. Some bad company is likely to get you into jail, but really bad company is going to get the government to bail you out.

ckafrica · Post by **ckafrica** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:02 am

Crissa wrote:In CA, if someone in your house has pot, it's your pot. Even if they cough up ownership. Same with guns. Cars. Etc.

They get more money out of selling your car, your house, your belongings, than prosecuting the one guy with the drugs, so they tend to go after owners and residents and drivers instead of the guy who had it in their pocket.

-Crissa

I believe this is the RICO act, which I remember see a investigative report somewhere that indicated that police can confiscate proper on suspicion of criminal activities, without actual proof. It was then the defendants responsibility to prove it wasn't in court. This has led police to confiscate smaller assets that aren't worth paying the financial costs of the legal expenses of reclaiming them so that they could pad their budgets with the proceeds.

This is an old recollection so I could very well be wrong on this

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:24 am

ckafrica wrote:
I believe this is the RICO act

It's not.

Count Arioch the 28th · Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:16 am

I'm not sure what it's called, but if drugs are involved, the cops can in fact steal whatever they want, and you have to pay a non-refundable $5,000 fee to even go to trial to get it back. Even if there were no charges involved.

If I remember correctly, there was exactly one head of drug enforcement that actually made a positive change in the so-called "War on Drugs". The Republicans had Clinton boot his ass out for "being soft on drugs". It seems Republicans would rather have vengeance than results.