~U.S. Constitution: Article [IV.]

~The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ~

Have you ever been peacefully driving down the road, minding your own business, perhaps on your way to work, to school, to the grocery store or just driving along, enjoying a beautiful summer day and breathing in the sweet air of freedom...when suddenly you round a curve and...uh-oh... a police stop. A line of cars with drivers patiently waiting for their papers to be checked. Some unfortunate souls pulled over on the shoulder.

If you're like most of us, you resignedly dig into your glove box for your registration and license and join the queue of cars, hoping "they" won't find anything out of order or not like your looks and make you join the other unfortunates on the shoulder. But...if you're like most Liberty Activists, doesn't the thought of having to hand over your papers to be able to proceed down a highway in a free country...well, stick in your craw?

Why are the citizens of the US putting up with these tactics and giving up their unalienable rights? Fear? Ignorance? The desire for safety? Why do the officers, who know this is wrong, continue in violating the unalienable rights of citizens? Fear of losing their job? Is it wise to round up every vehicle to catch a couple drunks? Is law enforcement so helpless and incompetent that it can't identify a drunk driver barreling down the road?

The state has turned our law enforcement into "road Nazis" and our roads into gestapo checkpoints. Maybe folks are willing to be rounded up like sheep and criminals. Maybe they feel safer that way. Maybe the cute names the government attaches to their illegal and immoral roadblocks such as, "Click It or Ticket", "Booze It and Lose It" pacifies the ignorant mind.

But...don't we have a right to freedom of movement and freedom from government harassment, and freedom from illegal searches and seizures?

If you think enough is enough, and, it's time to take action ~educate, agitate, organize~against these police stops... Liberty Activists Action of the Month for August presents the first two steps...educate and agitate...a letter to the editor and petition.

Organizing against these police stops could take the form of a peaceful demonstration in front of city hall, (see the ACTION page) or, an organized resistance at a police stop.(For a discussion of technical difficulties with this, please see below.)

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Benjamin Franklin

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."- James Madison

"Throughout recorded history, without exception, it has been the sole accomplishment of organized government to deprive their populations of their Liberty and of their Property."--John C. Calhoun

Thanks to Liberty Activist Dan Kardas for the letter and petition in this month's Action.

Dan Kardas 183 Chapman Mill Pond Westbrook CT 06498 dsk11@ix.netcom.com

ORGANIZING RESISTENCE at POLICE STOPS:

Many Liberty Activists are calling for organized resistence (refusal to show your papers) at the checkpoints themselves. From a technical standpoint, this presents several difficulties (beyond the usual "civil disobedience" planning, including organizing participants & training them in non-violent civil disobedience techniques, retaining an attorney, setting aside bail money, alerting the media etc.) For a brief discussion of this, see the section on First Amendment Rights and Arrest at the ACTION PAGE)

Technical problems: Police stops and checkpoints are "random". No particular place, no particular time. In order to organize an action , you would have to either have inside info as to where and when the stops would occur, or, have enough activists trained, ready, and "on call" to drop whatever they're doing and go to the location (or contact the media or the attorney or whatever their job was) immediately when alerted (presumably by an Activist who has come upon a police stop and calls in by cell phone) The latter option is unworkable, leaving us with the necessity for "inside info" to pull off a successful action.

Liberty Activists would be delighted to entertain any and all ideas and suggestions on how to obtain the "inside info". If we receive viable suggestions, we will publish it on the Liberty Activist Site (see below) .Meanwhile... get those leditors and petitions out to "educate and agitate" around this important issue!

SUBMIT IDEAS HERE

ACTIONS BY THE MONTH
ACTIONS BY CATEGORY

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