"Widespread marijuana use presents real risks to our society. But the dangers of turning a blind eye to official abuses of our fundamental freedoms in the name of a 'war on drugs' are far greater,"
While I do not agree with the first sentence of the above paragraph, the second is a gem. Those words were spoken by Stutsman County (ND) District County Judge, Jay Schmidt. In a case involving 476 pounds(!) of marijuana along with paraphernalia, Judge Schmidt found that the reasons given by a Stutsman County deputy in pulling over a vehicle on a North Dakota highway were "absurd" and "too inconsistent and contrived to be credible."
Ouch.
What actions did the driver of the vehicle engage in to find he and his passenger being pulled over on a stretch of I-94 near Jamestown? Let’s review:
- It had an out-of-state license plate. Apparently Minnesota license plates are rare in ND?
- The vehicle was traveling two miles per hour under the posted speed limit of 75 mph. Should we get ready to arrest the grandparents who also drive like that?
- The driver sat “rigidly” and his grip in the steering wheel was “suspiciously tight”. Wasn’t that what we were taught in driver’s ed?
- Most hilariously, the deputy found the driver’s not looking at him when he pulled up beside in the adjacent lane also suspicious. That’s right, the driver did not take his gaze off the road in front of him and look towards the deputy in the next lane. Okay then…
I could go on (there’s an interesting angle about the ethnicity of the car’s occupants) but the reporting in the Fargo Forum says it all.
The source article did not say if Stutsman county prosecutors will appeal the ruling. I would hope they don’t, lest they open themselves up to more embarrassment.
While this one ruling may have little, if any, effect in the national debate over marijuana legalisation, we can at least thank Judge Schmidt for trying to show that there are limits somewhere to what law enforcement can do in their War On Drugs.