Letters from the issue of Thursday, March 27, 2008

So what do they do with hundreds more agents? They use them to bust people with tiny amounts of pot. What a waste of tax money, even if it does help Yuma County pay its bills.
Raul Montoya, Phoenix

"Are you all U.S. citizens? Okay, then, are you high?": The story says: "The Border Patrol takes pains to explain that it's running immigration checkpoints, with the secondary mission of detecting illegal drugs," which justifies its checkpoints under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Wouldn't the fact that the Border Patrol makes hundreds of times more drug busts than immigration busts (and presumably spends an equivalent proportion of time on drug busts vs. immigration busts) mean that drug busts are no longer their "secondary" mission?
John Semple, via the Internet

Now entering an altered state: Come on! You've been smoking weed for too long if you try to take it through a federal checkpoint, whether or not you realize dogs might be there.
Michael Mathis, via the Internet

Think of your rights as The Club: Mary and her friends in "Doggy Style" were asked if they'd consent to a search of their car. It is important to remember that a police officer or federal agent without a warrant can always be told no!

Then the officer or agent has to make an argument that proves his "reasonable" cause. If you tell him yes, he can search without impedance.

Hold your rights dear to you lest they be stripped, people. Never let officers convince you that it would be easier or better if you cooperated. Be silent and allow them no quarter. If you make them have to back up every decision, they'll let you go. Much like a car thief, they'll just wait and find an easier target.
Name withheld by request

Old hippies catch no breaks: Typical liberal article. If these people stopped at Border Patrol checkpoints weren't fined, then it would be attributed to them being mostly white and middle-class. Talk about a Catch-22.

If you break the law, then you should be subject to the consequences, and I don't give a rat's ass if you're a grandmother. Signs are posted that a checkpoint is ahead. Do the laws only apply to certain people? Such arrogance.
Name withheld by request