Drug War Issues
Narcs get rowdy at a narc convention and a pair of cops who couldn't keep their paws off the pills. Let's get to it:
In Napoleonville, Louisiana, a former Assumption Parish sheriff's deputy pleaded guilty May 24 to a whopping 438 malfeasance and drug charges for using seized drugs to feed his own habits. Louis Lambert, 48, had been the evidence room technician for seven years when deputies discovered missing drug case evidence in April 2010. Lambert was arrested in June 2010 and fired and indicted in October. He copped to 336 counts of malfeasance for evidence tampering, 35 counts of pot possession, 24 counts of cocaine possession, 11 counts of prescription drug possession, one count of Oxycodone possession, one count of steroid possession, once count of Alprazolam possession,10 counts of drug paraphernalia possession, 14 counts of possessing a firearm while in possession of illegal drugs, four counts of firearms theft and one count of theft under $300. Charges against about 20 drug suspects had to be dropped because of the missing evidence. He faces up to 1400 years in prison when sentenced July 6.
In Yorkville, Illinois, the Yorkville Police deputy chief was arrested last Friday on charges he stole pain relieving pills from the department's drug collection program. Deputy Chief Dave Delaney is charged with possession of hydrocodone and theft of government property. Yorkville Police had become suspicious that some of the drugs turned in were missing and contacted the Illinois State Police, who conducted a week-long investigation. They marked some of the hydrocodone pills, then confronted Delaney and found he had several on him. He faces up to three years in prison on each count.
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Nevada To Force DNA Extraction Without Charges / More States?
If you are arrested for a felony in Nevada, you still have the right to remain silent, but your DNA could be headed straight to a national DNA database.
If passed, Assembly Bill 552 will mandate DNA collection from anyone arrested for a felony, whether or not DNA is necessary to investigate the crime, and whether or not the individual is ever charged or convicted of the crime. This turns a concept that is fundamental to our criminal justice system, that a person is "innocent until proven guilty," on its head. Listen to Allen Lichtenstein, ACLU of Nevada General Counsel, discuss the bill on KNPR's State of Nevada.
We need your help to urge the Nevada Senate to oppose AB 552. Email addresses for the Senate and a sample email are provided below.
The automatic DNA collection proposed in AB 552 is not limited to serious, violent offenses. DNA would even be collected from victims of domestic violence who are arrested after defending themselves, people wrongfully arrested due to police misconduct, someone who has written a bad check, and people arrested during political demonstrations.
Once collected, these DNA profiles never go away. Profiles are not automatically removed from the state database if an individual is not convicted of a crime. Additionally, although the state promises that the records in its database could be removed, the state cannot force the federal government to remove the DNA profiles added to its database. Any records removed from the state database may still be included and searched in the national database for years to come.
We need your help to stop this bill! The Assembly has already passed AB 552, and the Senate will vote on it any day now. Please take a moment to email the Senate and ask them to oppose AB 552.
Send an Email to the Nevada Senate Urging them to
You can use this sample email or you can write your own message to your Senator.
Dear Senator,
I am writing to urge you to vote “NO” on AB552, which would mandate DNA collection from anyone arrested for a felony, whether or not they are ever charged or convicted. Instead of being limited to serious, violent offenses, AB552 would even apply to victims of domestic violence who are arrested after defending themselves, people wrongfully arrested due to police misconduct, someone who has written a bad check, and people arrested during political demonstrations. The subject of this bill is currently being litigated in the 9th Circuit. The core issue in the case is whether or not the collection of DNA from a person who is merely arrested and not convicted of a crime violates constitutional guarantees of privacy and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.
Please also consider that:
- There is no automatic expungement for arrestees who are never convicted.
- The bill provides a false sense of security that DNA profiles are easily expunged when, in fact, the state cannot compel the federal government to expunge any records. DNA profiles may be included and searched in the nationwide database for years to come.
- This legislation, as written, may result in the stockpiling of all felon arrestees’ genetic characteristics in the state and federal DNA databases.
As your constituent, I urge a NO vote on AB552. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Address
Copy and paste these email addresses to send an email to the entire Senate:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
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