My friend jailed overnight, wrists bruised, put in the cold for 1 gram of pot | Hacker News Reader

My friend jailed overnight, wrists bruised, put in the cold for 1 gram of pot

19 pointsdanschumann16 comments

Tonight I was eating at Hardee's when a friend of mine walked in. He could have been a homeless person by his look: gaunt, breaking out, clothes 2 sizes too small. He told me he had been in jail overnight (it was now evening, so all day too)

Since it was his second possession, in Wisconsin, a single gram of pot is a felony. His wrists were bruised from handcuffs, he had obviously been treated pretty poorly by the officers, and all day, he had been assured that he could collect his belonging at the Oshkosh police station. ( he was at a jail about 5 miles out of town and the police station is downtown )

So, he waited for 45 minutes in 18 degree weather, in the clothes they had given him, a weird turtle neck and a spring jacket, both were too small. No socks either. I mean, it was cold!

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(continued)

The jail bus took him to the police station, where they acted like he was an idiot for asking for his stuff, and told him to come back during business hours. So he went back into the cold, to the nearest place with heat, Hardee's ( they're like McDonald's ).

There I was by the grace of God, and he was happy to see me, to use my phone, and figure out logistics of how to get home ( he lives a town over ). I let him use the phone, call a few people. Offered him a burger, bought him a sprite.

I'm car-less, but I said we could walk over and borrow my mom's car. The cops left him with no phone, no keys, no laptop, no clothes (that fit), and he was also concerned because he had a bunch of magic cards with him ( geek cred anyone? ) who knows if the cops kept em nice.

This guy is not a criminal. I think he does freelance programming. He's kind of a delicate flower in some ways. Not the most delicate person I know, but he works with computers. He doesn't brave the untamed wilderness with no supplies including no winter gear.

I do Wim Hof method, jump in ice lakes, and all that crazy stuff, and I had on a hat and gloves tonight, because it was so cold. He does none of that, and had a too-small spring jacket and no hat nor gloves, was mis-informed about collecting his belongings, and was set loose with nothing else, all for a single gram of pot, which is legal in a growing number of states.

I dunno what else to say. What should I do? Pretty sure he wants to fight this with a lawyer. I want to get the laws changed. Can anyone help?

Welcome to the Gulag. Seriously, the police didn't do anything legally wrong here--assuming the arrest was based on probable cause. They followed procedure. Your friend has no compensable injuries. But by all means, get involved and try to change the U.S.'s draconian drug laws. Start with Wisconsin.

I'm not offended, but I really do dislike it when people compare something like US police force enforcing crappy drug laws to the Gulag. It just undermines the suffering and horrors of those who actually experienced the Gulag.

I know we're all quite libertarian when it comes to drug law here, but a lot of people are still unsure about legalisation. In my country I can only go 70MPH on the motorway. I find that stupid, but I'm not going to break the law and then complain when I get pulled over for "only" doing 20MPH over the limit.

Is getting a $200 ticket for potentially endangering others really comparable to being physically abused and put in jail for doing something that harms no one?

Move to another state. You can't do anything about it.

We just got a new governor, so potentially laws could change.

You need voter action not a leader change. --WA citizen

He was released OR, in less than a day, without a hearing, on a felony charge?

They held him overnight.. it's a class I felony. When I saw him it was evening. So, yea? I dunno, is that odd? He said last night around midnight he was picked up.

Back in 2011, I had a mental breakdown and ended up streaking down the block where I was living. Police apprehended me and threw me in the local jail cell. I was denied telephone calls which made me even more paranoid. A scuffle broke out where I was punched in the head, eliminating my memory of the incident - footage later showed that it was 10 officers beating me after something happened around a corner - conveniently, the police claimed to not have footage of any other angle.

After this scuffle they charged me with 6 or 7 counts of felony assault on officers and transferred me to Twin Towers correctional facility, left me naked in a solitary confinement cell for 3 days while constantly hitting me with a microwave beam from across the hall through the cell door window. The cell was so small I couldn't hide from it.

This is the device I believe they used on me: https://youtu.be/CwYvhY-g10A

On day 3, my whole body was tingling and all my hairs had become burned and embedded ingrown beneath the skin causing sepsis, blood infection. I knew I was dying.

I was also losing sanity since I had been in this cell for 3 days straight without anyone on the other side letting me out for even a shower. So I clawed myself and spread blood on the cell window and EMTs finally got me out of there.

At the annexed medical facility I was put on antivirals and antibiotics intravenously to save my leg and fix the sepsis.

Had a lawsuit but my lawyer was a flake and bailed on me once Raytheon denied having the equipment at Twin Towers.

Hospital images: http://imgur.com/a/qzrEICg

Here is an album of the damage months later (EXPLICIT): http://imgur.com/a/uHYr5

Images are a bit disorganized as I didn't plan on sharing my experience.

I am a shell of a person I used to be. I haven't worked in 2 years since resigning after a year at Amazon due to a shit boss. I been keeping most of what happened to myself because I ended up dropping the civil suit, and the PTSD combined with the long winded details of the case make it painful to recall and retell. I feel like every aspect of America let me down - having lawyer tell me that "I wasn't allowed to make a phone call" is not meaningful, despite the placard being nailed to the cell door, just infuriates me. Was told there is no way to prove things like this so it doesn't mean anything.

Tortured and stuck in a cell for 3 days smelling my own shit because the toilet didnt work. Then being told I don't have a case. My family not caring enough about me or the potential $$ to even help me.

I am so cynical in systems now. I sure fell through the cracks :-/

Not to knock on your friend, I read a lot about some technicality based cases that win some nice money.

I just dont understand how I wad almost assasinated and have proof of going into this jail ok, and 3 days later being burned from head to toe, and it doesn't mean anything.

Fml. At least Mathematics and Software/Reversing/Hacking will always behave according to rules that don't destroy one's faith in the laws...

Why were his clothes 2 sizes too small?

They didn't have his stuff.. they just gave him random clothes on the way out.

He already got arrested prior to this, and continued to engage in the activity?

smoking weed?

Dunno, the OP just says possession. Why do you ask?

I'm trying to find the problem here. He was transporting a Schedule 1 drug, which is a felony in states that still respect the rule of law. He was arrested, taken to the police station, and then released on his own recognizance after an overnight stay.

Where's the issue?

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