To the OP:
This has to be the coolest post in eons.
I would nto deny that Elvis went overboard on this one. I am just more than a little sick of seeing dave make excuses and compare, as put above, apples with oranges.
Really. All he was missing were the leather mask and a hook :eek:
So what would be the border guard’s probable cause for applying for a search warrant? Doesn’t matter if it just takes a few seconds - it’s a search of the citizen’s “effects” and the federal agents are required to get a warrant, based on probable cause, to conduct that search. Suspicion alone is not probable cause. As others have posted, it could be oil, it could be animal blood. Possession of an oily or blood-stained chainsaw is not an offence. Even possession of a chain-saw with human blood is not necessarily evidence of offence - could have been an accident that caused it.
Let’s take this list one at a time.
Homemade sword - unusual, perhaps, but illegal? Under what federal or state statute?
Hatchet - that part of Maine and New Brunswick is pretty isolated. I’ll bet lots of people in the area have a hatchet. Not illegal to carry one, so far as I know - but if you can cite a federal or state statute making possession of a hatchet an offence, I’d like to see it.
Knife - most hunters carry these. Unless it’s over a certain size, or concealed, not usually a problem.
Brass knuckles - that might be an issue. I’m pretty sure they’re a prohibited weapon in Canada - are they in Maine? I dunno, but let’s assume it is. Even so, there’s an enforcement issue - technically, the guy isn’t in Maine until they let him in, and they don’t have any power to enforce Canadian law. So it may be that all they can do is confiscate the item as a condition of re-entry.
Yep, that could give probable cause - 'cept for a little question of timing:
Bullshit yourself. If you’d stop being a knee jerk tool and reacting to me the poster rather than what I actually said, you’d see that I am dead on in this one. If those Border Patrol Officers had detained this man further, as Elvis wants based upon the OP, they would be in violation of U.S. law and guilty of detaining a person without a legal justification for doing so, the exact same charge that Elvis and the chipmunks are so fond of leveling against those detaining the people at Gitmo. ( Here’s another newsflash for you sport, just to set you eyelid a twitter along with your jerking knee. I personally do not like how the administration has handled the detainees in Gitmo. That’s neither here nor there. Elvis’ blatant hypocrisy is the issue here.)
Also, I’m curious. Exactly which political opinions that I hold do you find so repugnant. Can you even state with any degree of accuracy what my political positions are? Why don’t you try and I’ll let you know how close to the mark you come.
They lack the ability to alert authorities to crimes which have been committed but not yet discovered.
Even agreeing that it would be a good thing for each nation’s border authorities to access databases from the other, I’m not sure it would have done any good here:
If he didn’t make his court appearence that day in New Brunswick, I would expect a bench warrant would issue immediately, but I’d be surprised if it were put on the computer systems instantly - some lag time is normal.
Not that I think it matters much to the overall debate, but I’d disagree here. I used to live in NB, and I’ve crossed the border at Calais a few times. The town’s not huge, and there’s not much for miles around it, but the border crossing itself is right in the middle of town, and compared to some border crossings ( Pembina ND, I’m looking at you), it’s downright urban.
Of course, the actual border station itself wasn’t much more elaborate than a toll booth, but I’d still pin Chuckie’s release on the lack of legal reasons to keep him, not on Calais being just east of West Bumblefuck.
While understanding and agreeing with your principle, we’ve been hosing around with a CDL program for years in the lower 48 and it’s still imperfect. Going back to the OP, the authorities acted appropriately, within the scope of law.
I was listening to the radio a while back and the discussion was this very thing. It appears that some/many of the Canadian border crossings don’t have computers let alone access to a database. They are also told that if someone refuses to stop to just let the person go and call the RCMP. Depending on where the border crossing location is, time of day, and staffing levels of the local RCMP detachment it might take hours for a response. I haven’t confirmed any of this, it was just what I’d heard on a talk radio show.
Regarding blood on the chain saw: Who the heck uses a chain saw to quarter meat? Not having been hunting for over 20 years maybe things have changed some in that time, but I don’t think I’d like the bone chips and chain oil in my meat and I’d definitely not like to be covered in the gore that a chain saw would throw all over the place. A hatchet and a good knife are all you need. Both sharp enough to shave with, of course.
I like this quote from the article:
Anthony said.
If there was a bizarro meter this guy would peg off the scale. This guy looked like a duck, walked like a duck, and quacked like a duck - he’s a duck (murderer in this case). Anyone remember the Gary Larson cartoon of the guy wearing a tutu, snorkle gear and carrying a bazooka? That’s this guy.
I understand that a two-country warrant search wouldn’t have worked in this particular case; I was just wondering if there was any particular reason such warrant searches could not be conducted, assuming all the budgetary shortfalls Uzi pointed out were corrected.
I think lieu was making a joke about how stabbing your neighbour tends to escalate arguments…
He does look like a duck, now that you mention it. A plastic duck.
Rubber duckie, you’re the one …
No, I would not. What gives you that idea, clown?
Hint: We have no idea whatsoever what evidence, if any, exists against anyone held in Guantanamo.
Have *you * ever been there? It gets pretty crowded, especially this time of year with vacationers in both directions. Interstate or not, it’s the shortest way by far from most of the Atlantic province population centers, and the state route that connects to I-95 isn’t that long. I’m fairly sure I-95 was routed north from Bangor, not east, to try to spur development in northern Maine, which is still pretty depressed, but that’s not the point here. Referring to the Calais crossing as “remote” being inaccurate is the point.
Correction: YOU have no idea whatsoever. But it doesn’t matter because there wasn’t enough evidence to hold the guy at the Canadian border either.
And you *do * know what evidence exists for Guantanamo “detainees”? Please enlighten us as to what it is and how you know.
Your second statement is false, as well. But my assertion that you’re a clown is not.
Since we’re asking people to enlighten us, how about you tell us what evidence the border patrol had to detain this guy at the border, Elvis? If you have any sources other than the article, please provide them.
Why don’t you think that was enough?
Please see my post #64. On what legal basis would you detain him?