There was a news story years ago, that spoke about an elderly couple that refused to sell their land to the state, so instead of going through eminent domain, they just set up on the edge of his property and said they collected marijuana spores when the wind blew across his property, then they took it because they said that he was growing marijuana, even though they could not find any plants. All the government would have to do is sow some seed on the edge of your property and then raid you and confiscate your land, because you are a pot grower.
The Rutherford Institute Defends Virginia Man Subjected to Helicopter Surveillance, Unwarranted SWAT-Team Raid of His 39-Acre Property
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Rutherford Institute is defending a Virginia man charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession after a SWAT team, aided by military helicopter surveillance and acting without a search warrant, allegedly found two marijuana stalks growing among weeds on his 39-acre property. Philip Cobbs of Albemarle County is set to be tried in district court on October 18 for simple possession of marijuana, which carries maximum penalties of 30 days in jail and/or a $500 fine. Institute attorneys are challenging the legality of the search, given that at no time was Cobbs shown a search warrant by the police or read his Miranda rights.
"Thankfully for Philip Cobbs, no one was hurt during the warrantless SWAT team raid on his property. However, what law enforcement officials in this case fail to recognize is that the law requires them to first secure a search warrant before embarking on a raid of this kind," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "It's our hope that the court will recognize that this case is about more than whether Philip Cobbs had two marijuana plants growing wild on his property. Ultimately, this case is about whether the Fourth Amendment still means anything in Albemarle County or anywhere else in this country."
Philip Cobbs, a 53-year-old former teacher who cares for his blind, deaf 90-year-old mother, lives on a 39-acre tract of land in eastern Albemarle County that has been in his family since the 1860s. On the morning of July 26, 2011, while spraying the blueberry bushes near his Virginia house, Cobbs noticed a black helicopter circling overhead. After watching the helicopter for several moments, Cobbs went inside to check on his mother. By the time he returned outside, several unmarked police SUVs had driven onto his property, and police in flak jackets, carrying rifles and shouting unintelligibly, had exited the vehicles and were moving toward him.
The police officers claimed they had sighted marijuana plants growing on Cobbs' property and ordered Cobbs at gun point to produce them. Distressed and intimidated by the show of force, Cobbs indicated his lack of knowledge about any marijuana plants on his property. In response, one of the police officers radioed up to the helicopter, which then directed the officer to an area in the yard where an oak tree had fallen. Within the limbs of the fallen tree and an adjoining bush were two plants protruding, which the officers claimed were the alleged marijuana plants. The police then asked to search Cobbs greenhouse, which Institute attorneys contend was their prime objective from the start. The search of the greenhouse, which Cobbs had used that spring to start tomato plants, cantaloupes, and watermelons, as well as asters and hollyhocks, turned up nothing more than used tomato seedling containers.
According to Cobbs, the state agent subsequently remarked that the state was not interested in prosecuting two marijuana plants. Cobbs was not charged at that time, and inquiries to the police officer on the scene went unanswered. However, over a month later, Cobbs received a summons charging him with possession of marijuana under Va. Code § 18.2-250.1. That statute provides that "ownership or occupancy of the premises or vehicle upon or in which marijuana was found shall not create a presumption that such person either knowingly or intentionally possessed such marijuana."
http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/press_release.asp?article_id=976
Cornyn Introduces Amendment to Put an End to ‘Fast and Furious’
from TSRA.com
Provision Would Block All Funding for Current and Future Gun-Walking Operations
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and former state Attorney General, today filed an amendment toH.R. 2112 that would bar taxpayer funds from being used by the Department of Justice to conduct any current or future gun-walking program similar to the “Fast and Furious” operation.
“When 2000 firearms go missing and at least one is found at the crime scene of a murdered U.S. Border Patrol agent, we must do everything possible to ensure that such a reckless and ill-advised operation like ‘Fast and Furious’ is not repeated.
“In addition to this amendment, Mr. Holder owes Americans a full accounting on all alleged gun-walking operations, including a response to allegations of another Texas-based scheme, and I encourage him to come up to Capitol Hill to do so as soon as possible.”
Sen. Cornyn has also previously sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder demanding answers following other press reports of alleged Texas-based gun-walking programs similar to the “Fast and Furious” operation currently being investigated by Congressional lawmakers.
No funds made available under this Act shall be used to allow the transfer of firearms to agents of drug cartels where law enforcement personnel of the United States do not continuously monitor and control such firearms at all times.
Senator Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services and Budget Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.
http://tractioncontrol.well-regulatedmilitia.org/?p=11609
Marines back up on the bracelet issue
Marines to allow troops to wear KIA bracelets
WASHINGTON -- Marines are being allowed to wear bracelets commemorating friends killed in action, a policy change that settles a debate that has roiled some in the force.
At issue are KIA bracelets, usually thin rubber or metal bands bearing the names of the fallen in Afghanistan, Iraq or other combat zone. Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos said Tuesday the matter had been discussed and settled when he met last week with other senior Marine generals.
"We are acknowledging the close personal nature of our 10 years at war and the strong bonds of fidelity that Marines have for one another, especially for those fellow Marines who we have lost," Amos said.
The bracelets were technically not allowed under Marine Corps uniform regulations. Nevertheless, some troops have been wearing them while in uniform, and some but not all commanders have been telling them to stop.
That put some Marines in a dilemma: On one side was the Corps' tradition of good discipline and following orders. On the other, the searing emotions of a force hit with rising casualties as it helped reverse insurgent momentum in Afghanistan's southern Taliban stronghold.
"I never take it off," said Timothy Kudo, a former Marine captain and now a community organizer for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. He returned in March from duty in Afghanistan and served in 2009 in Iraq.
Kudo's bracelet carries the name of Staff Sgt. Javier Ortiz-Rivera, a platoon sergeant killed by a Taliban bomb Nov. 16 in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
"He made his wife promise that, if he was killed, she would spend a large portion of his life insurance on a party, celebration, for his Marines," Kudo said in an interview last week. And when they went to Ortiz-Rivera's memorial at Camp Lejeune, N.C., she gave the bracelets to more than 70 people.
Kudo said of his black rubber bracelet with purple lettering: "It's a constant reminder for me of what better men than myself have done for this country, and every day I think about it. I know that because ... a lot of guys didn't make it back, I need to live every day to the best of my ability."
"To ask someone to take something like that off, it's disrespectful to them," Kudo said. "And it's disrespectful to the person who died."
Others said there should be no arguing about a Marine's duty.
"The regulation is the regulation," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "Until it's changed, it has to be adhered to. The Marines are the most disciplined of all the services, and (the bracelet) is not a uniform item."
In announcing his decision, Amos said he approved the wearing not only of KIA bracelets, effective immediately, but also bracelets that memorialize prisoners of war, the missing in action and those who died of wounds or injuries sustained in a combat zone.
The regulation on Marine uniforms does not specifically mention the KIA bracelets among jewelry authorized for wear when in uniform. It says they can wear watches, but they must be inconspicuous; necklaces must be worn inside the uniform and not visible; men can't wear earrings, though women can wear one per ear. Both sexes can wear inconspicuous rings - one to a hand but not on their thumbs.
The bracelet prohibition has been the same for men and women in the Marine Corps, a force of some 202,000 that is only 6 percent female.
All the service branches have similar rules on jewelry, though they parted ways on some specifics, including on bracelets.
Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey wears a bracelet in the official portrait of him that was hung in the Pentagon several months after his spring retirement. It clearly shows the name of Sgt. 1st Class Randall L. Lamberson, who died in Iraq in 2006.
The Navy allows sailors to wear one "wristwatch/bracelet" on each arm. The Air Force bans bracelets "espousing support for a cause, philosophy, individual or group" with the exception of those for prisoners of war, the missing in action and the killed in action.
Part of the upset for Marines was that they were allowed to wear the POW/MIA wristbands that came into wide use in the Vietnam era, though not the now more popular KIA bands.
The POW/MIA bracelets were authorized by the Navy secretary in September 1972, with the following message: "Wearing of POW/MIA bracelets is authorized for Navy and Marine Corps personnel - at any time they desire, including while in uniform - as an expression of concern for their fellow servicemen who are prisoners of war or missing in action. This bracelet shall be of simple design, not more than one-half inch wide and containing rank/rate, name of the POW/MIA and date of capture or date missing."
That authority had never been rescinded or modified to include the KIA bracelet for Marines.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/18/1575823/marines-to-allow-troops-to-wear.html
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