From: gally@barsoom.network.com (Jerry Gally)
Subject: US jurisprudence
Originator: gally@barsoom
Organization: Network Systems Corporation
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 18:24:25 GMT

This is a crosspost from soc.men which seemed apropos for this
newsgroup (unfortunately I am unable to name the original poster):

Fair warning:  the weather is lousy here in Greater Frostbite Falls
and my mood is worse.  Anyone uninterested in a diatribe on our
beloved government's war on human rights, delivered in random swings
between rage and depression had better hit 'n' now.
 
What did it take to destroy my mood?  -- a snowstorm and too much 
time to listen to local news on the car radio.  
 
Newton's Laws of Motion were glaringly in evidence that morning.  
F=ma was doing its thing; and we were particularly conscious of the 
clause about a body in motion bloody well *remaining* in motion unless 
acted upon by an outside force.  Friction had ceased to be an all-
encompassing fact of life and become something applied only by human 
will and ingenuity.  Pedestrians were doing the 'Minnesota Shuffle' -- 
progressing slowly in a forward direction while trying desperately to 
keep the center of gravity positioned directly over both feet.  
Motorists were dancing delicately on the brakes and downshifting a
couple of blocks before the light in the fond hope that rolling friction
would be greater than sliding friction.  We were all going *very*
slowly, keenly aware that kinetic energy is mass times velocity *squared*,
and a few extra miles per hour could make the difference between a fender 
bender and a disaster.  
 
My usual 15 minute trip to work expanded to 45, and my usual quick
dose of national news from Minnesota Public Radio expanded to local
as well.  Ferris Alexander's case has gone all the way to the U. S. 
Supreme court.  Ferris is a 74 year old Minnesota man who is spending 
the last six years of his life in prison.  He was assessed $200,000 
in fines and in addition, because he was convicted under the RICO
statute, which allows Fedgov to confiscate all the 'business related'
property of anyone involved in 'racketeering':
 
        ". . . forfeited $8.9 million in business proceeds, 10
        bookstores valued at more than $2 million, and his interest
        in 18 other businesses and proceeds from 15 other businesses."
 
I'm safe from Ferris Alexander and his evil threat to sell me dirty 
books.  Of course I'm driving to my new job at a giant, Minnesota based 
conglomerate where it's part of the corporate culture that women get 
raped and occasionally killed in the company parking ramp.  And the 
Minneapolis Fuzzies do not consider this a valid reason for allowing 
me a carry permit -- hell, I might go berserk and actually *shoot* 
somebody.  So I get the interesting choice of being a criminal myself, 
or depending on the conglomerate's 'security guards' -- but I'm safe 
from Ferris Alexander.
 
As I creep over the snow at 15 mph, I remember that I'm also safe from 
Rebecca Rand, another evil Minneapolis entrepreneur convicted last year 
under the wonderful RICO statute.  As I recall, the deal Ms. Rand made 
kept her out of prison, but they still confiscated all of the business 
assets from her chain of massage parlours which were (surprise!) " ... a 
front for prostitution."  
 
The radio goes on to tell me that the wonderful Minneapolis Fuzzies 
have actually arrested a *suspect* in our three-month-old latest
serial rapist case (a mere 14 perpetrations) but they're warning women 
to still 'take precautions'.  *What precautions*?  The only realistic 
precaution I can think of makes me a criminal.  There is a brief 
discussion of the drawbacks of both mace and 'shriek alarms' and an
interview with a woman who teaches self defense courses and offers to
make us all black belts in something or other in just three classes per
week for an undetermined number of weeks.  Frankly, my prospects for
non-criminal self defense don't look good -- but I'm safe from Rebecca 
Rand . . . and Ferris Alexander.

As I creep over the snow at 15 mph, I remember that I'm also safe from 
Rebecca Rand, another evil Minneapolis entrepreneur convicted last year 
under the wonderful RICO statute.  As I recall, the deal Ms. Rand made 
kept her out of prison, but they still confiscated all of the business 
assets from her chain of massage parlours which were (surprise!) " ... a 
front for prostitution."  
 
The radio goes on to tell me that the wonderful Minneapolis Fuzzies 
have actually arrested a *suspect* in our three-month-old latest
serial rapist case (a mere 14 perpetrations) but they're warning women 
to still 'take precautions'.  *What precautions*?  The only realistic 
precaution I can think of makes me a criminal.  There is a brief 
discussion of the drawbacks of both mace and 'shriek alarms' and an
interview with a woman who teaches self defense courses and offers to
make us all black belts in something or other in just three classes per
week for an undetermined number of weeks.  Frankly, my prospects for
non-criminal self defense don't look good -- but I'm safe from Rebecca 
Rand . . . and Ferris Alexander.
 
Oh, and the radio goes on to tell me that the Fabulous Fuzzies have been
busy for the last 'few months' with a 'major drug sting operation' -- gee,
same few months they've been trying to turn up a suspect for our serial
rapist.  But then the rapist hasn't been engaging in 'racketeering' and
probably doesn't have even one bookstore, massage parlour, helicopter, or
bank account to forfeit to the RICO boys.  
 
As an old computer programmer I tend to think in the jargon of my profession.
As an old SF fan I'm prone to arcane references, rotten puns, and lousy
plays on words.  The phrase that occurs to me as I contemplate the workings
of Our Fuzzie's priorities when it comes to protecting the citizens of our
fair, frozen state is "Bugs, Mr. Rico -- thousands of bugs!"
 
Look, at this point I don't even have the energy to wax philosophical 
about the violations of human rights, mine and Mr. Alexander's and Ms.
Rand's and the unnamed stinging drug dealers and their unknown customers.
I don't have the energy to discuss the legal aspects of the "chilling effect"
the Alexander conviction has had on booksellers' inclinations to defend what
are left of their first amendment rights.  I'm just looking at the sheer
*impracticality* of it all.  
 
As I tried to explain the other day to the Martian anthropologist who was
writing a paper on our legal system, there are two types of criminals,
 
        A) the kind that seek out unsuspecting, unconsenting victims and
           perpetrate violences upon their persons and properties
 
        B) the kind whose victims have to seek them out and pay them to
           perpetrate their crimes upon them
 
Our legal and law enforcement system devotes most of its time, effort, talent
and (taxpayer supplied) money to tracking down, entrapping, and imprisoning
group B while claiming itself too short-handed and under-funded to do much
about group A.  While doing this they also make criminals out of, and
devote considerable of their scarce time and resources to hunting down and
entrapping any citizens who would attempt to exercise their constitutional
right to effective technological self defense.  
 
The Martian anthropologist is currently working on an hypothesis of mass
psychosis.
 
 
 
 
                                        Carole Ashmore
 
 
 
 
Free Ferris Alexander!  Free Rebecca Rand!  Protect People, Not Morals!
Take Back the Night!  Take Back the Streets!  Take Back the First 
Amendment!  Take Back the Second!  
 
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Newsgroups: alt.politics.usa.constitution