It's getting to be where the police...
 

...are as entertaining as the politicians. Which is kind of scary because a politician is unlikely to taser you.

http://reason.com/brickbats/bb-2005.shtml

Stripped of Her Identity (5/2)

"Michelle Szuhay used Haley Dawson's driver's license and Social Security number to hide her identity while working as a stripper. But she didn't commit identity theft, says Miami County, Ohio, prosecutor Gary Nasal. And neither did the state liquor-control agents who gave Szuhay Dawson's identity. Nasal says state law permits law enforcement to use anyone's identity as part of an investigation, but he admits Dawson could suffer problems because her identity was used. Szuhay danced nude for about three months, while state agents watched, as part of an investigation of club Total Xposure in Troy. Troy police officers also watched Szuhay strip on the Internet, using an account they created in the identity of a dead man, which they say is also legal. Investigators believed the club was linked to drug-trafficking and prostitution, charges they could never confirm. But they did bust the club on two misdemeanor counts of furnishing liquor without a license and a civil nuisance charge that helped shut the club. Troy police officers wound up charging Szuhay with perjury and obstruction of justice for associating with club employees during the investigation. Those charges were dismissed, but Nasal reportedly plans to refile the obstruction charge."

I think the problem here is still with politicians and lawyers.

All the cops did was watch the chick strip online. Good on them, I say, for finding out how to do that and get paid for it. You're just jealous.

Szuhay is a University of Dayton grad (a Catholic university) . I'll bet her folks are so proud! :D

No. That's not all they did. They set the stripper up with an assumed identity and sent her in undercover. The ID belonged to a law abiding citizen. Then they wasted taxpayer money to watch the strip shows live and in person for months. They finally were able to close the club on a liquor license violation, a far cry from the drug trafficing and prostitution they suspected. What a boondoggle.

I re-read, and stand corrected.

\

Well, according to her video, she wanted to work for the U.S. Marshals.

I liked this one from the same site:

If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body, Could I Seize $46,950? (7/18)
Ileana Valdez was stopped at Boston's Logan International Airport when a metal detector went off as she passed through. Security officials didn't find any weapons on her, but they found she was carrying $46,950 in cash. Valdez told them she was going to Texas for plastic surgery on her buttocks and breasts and she was going to use the money to pay for it. She says a male Drug Enforcement Administration agent told her she had a "nice body" and didn't need surgery. Then he seized her money, saying it was drug money. Valdez, who has no criminal record, is suing to get her money back from the government.

Maybe she just wanted to go into law enforcement! :cool:

If she was coming into the country they could nail her for not declaring the money but if she was flying from Boston to Texas it's just another DEA game. We take it and you prove how you came by it, to a judge. If you win you get your money back (minus legal fees of course) and it's no skin off the DEA's ass.
A year or two ago the NJ police stopped two men from the mid-atlantic region somewhere leaving Atlantic City with $50k in cash. The DEA grabbed the money and said it must be drug money. Hello...AC...gambling...money....duh. :mad:

I heard that the Supreme Court has been following the use of seizure. It's certainly a clear test of the Fourth Amendment (and the 5th and 14th). If widespread abuse continues it might just get slapped down.

Maybe the DEA needs to confiscate some large political donations as potential money laundering. I'll bet that would get noticed.

What the hell is widespread? If they take my money and say that's OK because it isn't "widespread", it's not a problem?? :eyebrow: