Repeater
Regular Member
Police state in Ohio? Really?
Man arrested for having empty compartment in car
Good thing handguns are not controlled substances.
Man arrested for having empty compartment in car
In what has been called a further erosion of the Fourth Amendment, civil libertarian groups are blasting a recent arrest by Ohio police of a driver who had a compartment in his car that could possibly be used to store drugs, despite no drugs being found.
The arrest occurred when an officer with the Ohio Highway Patrol pulled over Norman Gurley, 30, of Michigan for speeding. During the stop, the officer noticed wires that ran to a secret compartment in the car and thus made the arrest.
The law states:
“No person shall knowingly operate, possess, or use a vehicle with a hidden compartment with knowledge that the hidden compartment is used or intended to be used to facilitate the unlawful concealment or transportation of a controlled substance.”
The Highway Patrol is defending the arrest.
“Without the hidden compartment law, we would not have had any charges on the suspect,” says Lt. Michael Combs, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol.
John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, said the police explanation is disturbing and shows how the Fourth Amendment continues to be chipped away.
“Although Norman Gurley had no drugs on his person, nor in his car, nor could it be proven that he intended to conceal drugs, he was still arrested for the ‘crime’ of having a hidden compartment in the trunk of his car,” Whitehead wrote. “This is what a world without the Fourth Amendment looks like.”
Good thing handguns are not controlled substances.
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