Comedians sue over drug search program at Atlanta airport | Hacker News Reader

Comedians sue over drug search program at Atlanta airport

apnews.com

51 pointsglitcher28 comments

FTA: "Those 402 stops resulted in three reported drug seizures: about 10 grams of drugs from one passenger, 26 grams of “suspected THC gummies” from another, and six prescription pills without a prescription from a third, the lawsuit says. Only the first and third person were charged.

Those 402 stops also yielded more than $1 million in cash and money orders from a total of 25 passengers."

Sounds like a government sanctioned shakedown operation with a thin veneer of the drug war to explain it. Sickening. Civil forfeiture must stop.

You already touched on it but something that's always in the back of my mind when it's "because drugs" is that the excuse given doesn't even hold its own merit. The implication always seems to be that they're criminals (the dehumanization effect here is strong) and you're supposed to stop thinking critically now. It's incredibly frustrating to me how effective this is with a large population of people.

“prescription pills without a prescription”

How does this work? You’re not required to carry a prescription with you. You’re not even required to keep pills in their original container!

Is there a positive requirement to present a prescription upon request?

I travel with prescribed medications a lot, and the lack of any clear way to prove they are legit is weird.

Now they’re arresting people for what is impossible.

I assume they mean the person was unable to show a prescription obtained for the drugs at all, not that they didn't have the Rx on them.

But there’s no obligation to show anyone prescription, and proving guilt means proving a negative.

What would that trial look like?

These are scheduled substances, right?

So in the trial you would be able to present proof from the doctor’s office that gave you the prescription. If you can’t do that, how did you get the pills in a legal way?

In US courts, the prosecution has to prove guilt. Prosecutors must show that no doctor in any country prescribed be the medications.

It would be helpful for me to present a script. But if I don’t, it’s still on the prosecution to prove a large negative.

I bet they got the folks to confess. I don’t see how else you could prove this.

Simply having it and being caught with it is guilt unless you have proof that you're legally allowed to possess said narcotic. lol what else do you need for a crime other than a smoking gun? Are you listening to yourself?

It’s not. There’s no obligation to have any evidence the medication was prescribed.

I had assumed there was. At least carrying the medication in the original container. But nope.

You can carry it around in a tic-tac container.

And burden of proof is on prosecution. They have to show you don’t have a script.

Maybe if they showed you bought it from someone who wasn’t a pharmacist?

Or had messages on your phone about buying it illegally?

Or confessing, I guess.

It would look like you had a controlled substance on you, and you don't have any proof that you ever had a prescription. That's a crime, and doubly so at an airport where you're getting ready to cross state lines. It's really simple, actually.

This airport is in the constitution free zone.

You assume too much. This could really mean anything, including that their meds were next to too much cash for the cop to resist taking, or that the person was annoying.

Sounds like you’re making much more wild and less founded assumptions

> This could really mean anything, including

Nope.

No i didn't, if you have what can be considered narcotics and don't back that up with a prescription at some point you can certainly be arrested and charged with a crime, especially at an airport where it becomes a federal crime. It's as simple as that.

$40K per seizure or nearly $2,500 per stop, hell of an ROI.

I used to be acquainted with a cop out of Carroll county and the way he'd casually talk about the money he'd seized the prior week was gross. Hundreds of dollars. Usually on a Friday night. Pay day.

I interned with the Clayton County Public Defender's office years ago, when an "early mid-life crisis" pulled me out of the tech industry to pursue a law degree for a few years.

I have zero doubt that this is racial profiling. However, it's even more sad to note that Clayton County is majority-Black. Its Board of Commissioners, District Attorney, Chief of Police, and Sheriff are all Black. (As as side note, do some Googling on Sheriff Victor Hill... I'm amazed that no one has made a movie about him yet.)

https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/board-of-commissi...

https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/district-attorney...

https://www.claytonpolice.com/chief-of-police/

https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/sheriff/

https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/timeline-clayton-count...

Just an uncomfortable reminder that even changing the people at the top of the system doesn't change how the system works, or what it fundamentally is.

> (As as side note, do some Googling on Sheriff Victor Hill... I'm amazed that no one has made a movie about him yet.)

To save you some clicks [1]. That's quite a resume.

[1] https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/timeline-clayton-count...

blocked for europeans 'cause of GDPR :(

https://web.archive.org/web/20221012073947/https://www.ajc.c...

Sounds like they're lookign to fill cop coffers with illegally obtained "civil asset forfeiture" dollars. This is not an uncommon thing in southern and midwest states, especially against people of color

Amazing that carrying any amount of cash is deemed illegal.

Exactly they should have to prove that it was illegally obtained before they can take a dollar. "Suspicion" isn't a reason. If they don't want you hauling around large amounts of cash then they should make a rule about it and have it posted on the walls at the airport.

Even if it is illegally obtained, then that should be the crime. Just having the money is really quite irrelevant except that it may help in some cases to indicate there was a crime, but alone it isn't sufficient or illegal (well shouldn't be)

Reminder that civil asset forfeiture amounts for more loss than burglary each year

really great men!

on 'can we search your bag?' maybe answer: 'do I have a choice?' may help

but I am sure that being scared of losing the flight will just make you say: 'yes, you can'

Do you have a choice?

the point is having them declare if you do have a choice: if they say "NO" then, later on, they cannot state "you voluntary agreed".

If they say "YES", they we may try to gently say: "since I have a choice, you will excuse me, but I take it and go"

I know it sounds too easy, but it's better then nothing

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