When Do Police Become Criminals?
By Steve GillmanThe concept of crime is not limited to illegality. Most of us can think of “legal” crimes in other times and places. Owning slaves in 1850, for example, was certainly a crime against humanity, even if it was allowed by law. And making laws to preventing certain races from marrying did not make it less of a crime to stop two people from being together. Worse examples can be found as well.
Now, what about an example from here and now? Will it someday be seen as a crime to imprison a man, to take away his liberty, just because he smokes a certain plant? It already is seen as such by me. I don’t do any illegal drugs, but I see it as a crime when lawmakers call those who use pot (marijuana) criminals, when police cooperate in stealing their liberty, and when judges sentence them.
It’s especially offensive when one considers how many of these same people go home after committing their crimes and take even worse drugs than the ones used by the “criminals” they persecute. Every study shows that alcohol, cigarrettes and even many prescription drugs do far more harm than pot.
Web MD says, “there’s no such thing as a fatal overdose,” and points out two studies of over 100,000 people which showed no decrease in life span with those who use pot.
Meanwhile the government’s CDC (Centers For Disease Control) says that over 400,000 people die from cigarretes every year (in the U.S.), 75,000 die from alcohol, and on down the list of dangerous substances. Even aspirin and related pain killers kill more than pain: 6,000 deaths annually. Meanwhile even this government-sponsored organization doesn’t try to make a claim of any deaths directly attributed to pot.
Enough of arguments about the dangers. Others have done a good enough job showing the hypocrisy of these laws. What I want to address here is the idea of when police become criminals. How serious does a crime have to be to start holding accountable those who help perpetrate it? After the atrocities we have seen in history that came from obeying authority, few still think that “I was just doing my job” is an acceptable justification for serious crimes, so where is the line?
I don’t have a line to propose here. If they were executing people for their beliefs, I would join almost any effort to stop the lawmakers, police, prosecuting attorneys and judges. But they’re not doing that. Still, isn’t it a serious crime to rob years of a mans life, to take away his liberty, take away his family’s support, and ruin his future employment prospects?
Speaking one’s mind is a good start perhaps - even when in the presence of those who are commiting the crimes. It isn’t necessary to be rude (although it will almost certainly be taken that way). Most police think they are doing a good job, as do the prosecutors and judges. It seems fair to point out that this has been true of most criminals behavior disguised as law throughout history.
They don’t know nor will they agree that what they are doing is criminal. But it is possible that putting the idea in their minds will make them see things differently the next time they sit down with their killer evening drink after jailing a scared young woman for having a bit of a plant that the law calls bad. We are fortunately still free to point out hypocrisy.
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