 
|
Science Fiction Writer to be jailed over questioning authority — Let me summarize. A guy is in his car at the border and gets out to find out what the delay is. He asks some a-hole working the border as to what’s going on. The border guy tells him to get back into his car. The guy does not rush back to his car as ordered and gets arrested for a bogus felony. This is just the sort of thing we need for good relationships with our Canadian neighbor. Reading the various reports (below) about this and you’ll know immediately who is in the right and who is in the wrong. But that apparently means nothing.
Didn’t work out that way. Because, there is this statute – that essentially criminalizes non-compliance to such a broad degree that asking a question (as Peter did) before complying with an order from a border guard is a felony. In terms of the sentence one might serve – well, Peter might as well have choked Beaudry. It amounts to the same thing.
As Peter explains on his blog:The press has frequently characterized the charge against me as “assaulting a federal officer”. The alleged (and discredited) “choking” episode has been repeated ad nauseum. Here at the Sarnia Best Western I don’t have the actual statute in front of me but it includes a lengthy grab-bag of actions, things like “assault”, “resist”, “impede”, “threaten”, “obstruct” — hell, “contradict” might be in there for all I know. And under “obstruct” is “failure to comply with a lawful order”, and it’s explicitly stated that violence on the part of the perp is not necessary for a conviction. Basically, everything from asking “Why?” right up to chain-saw attack falls under the same charge. And it’s all a felony.
Found by Micah Phillips.
Similar case a while back with a man murdered by a vigilante mob.
He had been convicted 20years earlier as a teen for rape (of an adult women) – but the title of the ‘won’t someone think of the children act’ said something like: “Rape of a child, eating a baby, indecent assault, exposure.” The public notice abbreviated the title and the ‘good old boys’ went looking for the child rapist.
Bullcrap. Is that anything like bullshit? If so, how is it different from some of the stuff found on blogs?
Present company excepted.
No offense.
Canada has been a latent police state since its inception. It’s only now coming out of the closet.
#3 Sadly this happened on the US side of the border.
#4, This is what we should expect for believing the nonsense about Muslims perpetrating 9/11. It was the fascist Bilderbergers who did it and now they are forcing their fascism down our throats.
Some day soon we will be shooting the police for our own protection. How soon after law enforcement looses its moral authority does the Republic fall? My guess is sooner rather than later.
In my work as a truck driver I’ve crossed the border into Canada and back many times. I’ve encountered roughly 3x as many A-holes coming back into the US (I am a US citizen) than going into Canada. And I have crossed at the Bluewater Bridge between Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, ON numerous times. At least 5 times in the past 5 months.
One thing I’ve noticed at this crossing is that the ICE is always pulling over a couple of Canadian bound trucks after the trucks have passed thru the bridge toll booths and before crossing the bridge into Canada. And I would guess 3/4 of them appear to be Canadian trucks. I don’t recall seeing anything similar crossing at other crossing points.
Remember, this guys blog entry is only one side of the story.
Part of the problem is the crazy hold-ups at the border these days! Hours and hours, pure frustration.
After literally HOURS of inching along, you get to the border and discover that half the lanes are closed!
Needless to say, this doesn’t put me in a good mood to deal with some dullard border guard.
I’d gladly pay a couple of bucks for a crossing-fee and have all the lanes open. I burn more than that in gas, waiting in line.
So, the next time a border agent (or TSA agent) tells you to do something, instead of asking “why”, just attack them with a chain-saw. You’ll get the same penalty and you’ll enjoy yourself more.
>> Truthy said, on March 22nd, 2010 at 8:29 am
>> #4, This is what we should expect for believing the nonsense about Muslims perpetrating 9/11. It was the fascist Bilderbergers who did it and now they are forcing their fascism down our throats.
I think you mean TeaBaggers, not Bilderbergers.
The Bilderberers are so past history.
Our new fascism is coming from the “populist” conservative movement who collectively crapped on the constitution in their panic after 911.
(It’s not nonsense to believe that a tiny radical fringe of Muslims did 911. Or that conservatives over-reacted to 911 in a way that arguably damaged America worse than the original attack.)
GregAllen said, …”(It’s not nonsense to believe that a tiny radical fringe of Muslims did 911. Or that conservatives over-reacted to 911 in a way that arguably damaged America worse than the original attack.)”
Exactly.
Why did the guy get out of his car? I know its traffic, but that is life when you are crossing the border. The border guard asked him to return to his car, we haven’t heard the whole story about how he reacted. I would be suspicious of anyone who comes to a line of cars at a border crossing and decides he can solve this by getting out of his car and demanding an answer. Wait your turn in traffic, it sucks but that is life.
The guy got roasted.
Like the USA needs more people in Jail.
The US taxpayers also get roasted on this one.
Having crossed the border 100’s of times as a truck driver I have to say the Canadian border guards are 100 times worse than dealing with the US border patrol. I guess the US is just taking lessons from them. Maybe this will discourage Canadians from crossing into the US and they will stay in their own god forsaken country.
@Semantics
I to have crossed the border as a trucker driver (alas I have not been a driver since shortly after 9/11) many times and my experience was directly opposite yours. I crossed mainly at Detroit/Windsor and Buffalo/Niagara and found Canadian customs to be friendly and pleasant (the ladies that worked there were all gorgeous) and the American side to be a bunch of jack booted Nazis.
Truthy said “Canada has been a latent police state since its inception. It’s only now coming out of the closet.”
Semantics said “Maybe this will discourage Canadians from crossing into the US and they will stay in their own god forsaken country.”
Americans say the darndest things, eh? They’re so adorable when they’re grumpy and need a nap.
This is a non-issue. The idiot was told to get back in his car an didn’t comply. End of story.
I live 15 miles form the border and a such travel to/from Canada quite often. I have known my whole life (40 years) that you basically have no rights at the border crossing. Only had one problem when had a rental car and didn’t have the paperwork with me, but after a brief questioning they let me in.
They guy was an asshole and deserves what he got.
And yes a lot of the inspectors are assholes themselves.
Everyone knows that when you step over the (border) line even an inch you have no rights, no nothing…
Just sit there for as long as it takes and smile and say “yes sir” or “yes ma’m”.
Carrying a valid Passport helps too…
It’s your own fault for leaving your country of origin to begin with!
@qb
It will be even worse now they lost the hockey.
I propose that the big olympic countdown clock here now be reused to countdown the days until the Americans forgive and forget – and it’s safe for us to visit y’all.
qb, being $12.5 trillion in debt, and having a money pit for health care would make anyone grumpy, eh?
Not an expert on US jurisprudence – do they now extradite the guy or do you just send up a predator drone to drop a couple of hellfire missiles on his last known address?
We sometimes get a bit confused at your big city ways down there.
You see we are brought up to say please and thank you and be friendly and helpful to our neighbours.
Of course our food is a little bland and so we do appreciate your attempts to add a little pepper now and agains.
Thank you, Canuck. It was very nice of you to post that link.
Putting aside the blog posts’ outrage atthe conviction of their friend, and putting aside the various reports of Canad or USA border guards being assholes, I just have to wonder why? Why do we even bother to mount a big border inspection program with Canada. Last I heard there were no real immigration problems between our countries. I can understant the big rigs being checked for since there will always be trade issues but it just seems to me individuals ought to be able to move freely back and forth. I know, I’m a bit naive about this. I admit is has been many years since I last visited Canada but I remember the experience as telling a polite Mountie I was going to visit friends and being wished a nice trip. Then the return: a languid border guard on the US side would take a cursory look at my driver’s license and say, “Welcome home.” I lived in the southwest and going back and forth to Mexico wasn’t much worse. And I’m not talking fifty years ago. The last time I visited Canada was about 15 years ago. Mexico about ten.
I have always had problems at the Port Huron/Sarnia border crossing. They seem to have more time to harass you at this border or think you are trying to bypass the busier border crossings because you are hiding something. They wave you through with much less hassle at the Detroit/Windsor crossing so I just go through here even though I don’t like traveling through Detroit. Avoid the less busy border crossings because they will always harass you more at them.
It’s delayed revenge for the Underground Railway. Millions struggled for centuries to gain equality, but now that Homeland Security has been elected Überführer, their message is “Yup, you’re all equal now, you’re all n*ggers.”
Seems that some of the jurors (who voted guilty in the Watts trial) were more concerned about being good “Sheeple” than standing up for justice. Well, maybe justice does not count in the US anymore. Then on the other-hand, maybe the apologetic jurors just have this problem:
“http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7530701744597358451&hl=en#”
PS – isn’t this kind of like how the Iron Curten got started. You know, the one that kept people in, not out.
@Animby
Voters are scared, at the moment they are scared of terrorists so something has to be done. As a politician the more you do the better you look.
Eventually the attitude filters down to the minions on the front line, they used to be just there to check your drivers license – now they are an elite force of warriors on the front line against terror – or so their mission statement says.
That has an effect on how they act – it’s no different from school principles over-reaction to zero tolerance drug policies (except these people have guns)
The key here is “Lawful Order”. Can the border guards order people to get back in their cars? Is that a lawful order; if not then he did not break the law. It would seem to me that ordering someone to get in their car would be like putting someone in house arrest without them committing any crime. Your car is legally the same as your house when it comes to searches and private property laws so I am not being flippant about this. If the statute require you to follow any lawful order then the defense should focus on whether the order is lawful!!! please get this message to the defense! I constantly notice things that competent professionals completely miss so please don’t assume that the defense already pursued this route!
@TheMAXX
I think the problem is that pretty much anything a border guard wants to do is legal. They can take you laptop without a reason, stop you and ask for ID 200miles from the border and arrest you for asking why.
The courts have ruled that the US constitution pretty much doesn’t apply at the border – I’m not sure if it isn’t technically legal for a border guard to simply shoot a foreigner for fun.