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From: "Paul Hager" <[h--ge--p] at [cs.indiana.edu]>
Subject: WoD: Frontline Report -- 24-Sept-1993
Message-ID: <[1993 Sep 24 112130 6930] at [news.cs.indiana.edu]>
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1993 11:21:24 -0500
Lines: 113
Frontline Report -- 24-September-1993
I thought I'd share with the net my first ranging shots in a
battle that has developed here in Bloomington, Indiana. To fill
everyone in ...
A local Republican politician, Jim Fielder, the incumbent
County Clerk, was busted for possession of less than 30 grams of
marijuana a few weeks ago. Although this is only the most recent
of a long series of offenses perpetrated by drug warriors, it
elicited a strong response from the Prosecutor's office headed by
Democrat, Bob Miller. In essence, Miller said that police
shouldn't be wasting their time getting search warrants to seek
out misdemeanor violations of the state drug laws.
As the story has unfolded -- which story has been
extensively covered by the local newspaper -- Fielder has
complained about intimidation by the police who demanded that he
"name names" of other government officials who were "users" lest
the police "ruin" his career. Then the floodgates opened. More
people came forward, going public with stories of botched police
raids where no drugs were found but people were humiliated and
"treated like criminals" -- e.g., a grandmother was made to stand
in her nightgown while police rifled through her belongings.
The local police have also been zealously pursuing the
"threat" of "drug gangs" in Bloomington, claiming that "Crips and
Bloods" have found our town fertile ground for "recruits." I
believe, although I'm not certain, that some of this may be
driven by anti-gang grants that were obtained by the police
department. Recently, the police began harassing youths who
gather on Kirkwood Street claiming that they were members of
gangs and that they were wearing "colors." To his credit, Miller
has finally spoken out about this insanity and appears to be
taking steps to rein in the cops. Meanwhile, a "citizens" Anti-
Gang Task Force has formed and is now holding meetings -- I call
the meetings two minute hates.
There has been a surprising public backlash against the
excesses which could be a source of political recruits.
Accordingly, I've been fairly active of late making contacts. I
was also interviewed by the local newspaper as a representative
of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. What follows is my first
"official" polemic. Enjoy.
--------------------------cut here--------------------------
24-September-1993
To the editor:
I was gratified to see that Prosecutor Bob Miller has taken
a principled, if belated, stand on the actions of the local
police. This stand, however, does not fully exculpate Mr. Miller
from responsibility in helping to bring about the current
situation.
To a certain extent, we can trace the activities of the
police to the hysteria generated by the drug war and the
institutionalized zealotry of the Governor's Commission for a
Drug-Free Indiana (DFI). Early in the existence of DFI, Mr.
Miller operated closely with them. Gathering from his recent
statements, this association was more a matter of politics than
of conviction. I say this because the threat of "drug gangs" is
one of the standard hobgoblins conjured up by DFI.
There is something more insidious at work here. Who
remembers the squalid Shuon affair in which the Prosecutor's
office, amid wild charges of "Satanic" crimes, engaged in the
religious persecution of Dr. Shuon and his followers? This is no
mere coincidence. The linkage of drugs, gangs, and mostly
imaginary Satanic crimes in the paranoid fantasies of perfervid
drug warriors is behind an unprecedented increase in police power
nationally and locally.
I'm glad that Mr. Miller has finally decided to distance
himself from the officially sanctioned nuttiness about gangs that
has infected the local political establishment. Unfortunately,
no one else seems to be willing to follow Mr. Miller's lead. I'd
wager that 80% of people in local government recognize that all
of this talk about drug gangs is a manifestation of hysteria.
Maybe it's time for them to dust off their copies of Profiles in
Courage and show a little political spine.
Paul Hager
[278 words]
--------------------------cut here--------------------------
NOTE: The "Shuon" affair to which I refer really was squalid.
Shuon, originally from Switzerland, is an internationally known
philosopher and theologian who has made his home here in
Bloomington. Shuon has a group of followers or disciples who
have formed a community. A couple of years ago, a disgruntled
follower of Shuon leveled charges against him and his group to
the effect that they were engaging in child sexual abuse and
Satanism. Fortunately, Shuon and his devotees were not heavily
armed which prevented a Waco-style massacre. But I digress.
Shuon and some of his followers were arrested and brought in
shackles (yes, this really happened) to the courthouse where they
were charged. The case collapsed when it became clear that there
was no evidence save the claims of the disgruntled follower, a
person who it turned out was of unsavory reputation and limited
trustworthiness.
--
paul hager [h--ge--p] at [moose.cs.indiana.edu]
Hager for Congress, c/o Libertarian Party
PO Box 636, Bloomington, IN 47402-636