December 10, 2005

• I read the Journal-Inquirer article about it and I think the legal deal is the business-permit/double bankruptcy problems. If she did have people coming in and out of her house in a suburban area, especially in CT, people are going to get cranky. Admittedly, the articles do go into too much detail about the type of business. But 30 cops? It's a town of 45k. Even if the State Police were involved, that seems like far too many. Even in New Haven I never see that many in one place at a time.
• Here's that article. Thanks cobaltnine!
• I think you're right about the permit violation; I think the dungeon sessions for dollars sunk her battleship. But I'm still pretty concerned about the search warrant issue and the number of cops they sent over.
• Perhaps she used 'BOMB!' as safeword on some session? /lame attempt at humor This is quite crappy. I've read about concern of the adult entertainers' safety over mandatory info to be kept available, easily obteinable by who knows how many parties, from law enforcement to stalkers to religious fanatics. At times it seems the plan is to scare certain segments of the population who are deemed 'deviant' by the 'majority'... seems farfetched (the sex industry still moves big money, and certainly some that goes into many a politician's pockets) but hey, stranger things keep happening.
• mj: I think you're right about the permit violation; I think the dungeon sessions for dollars sunk her battleship. But I'm still pretty concerned about the search warrant issue and the number of cops they sent over. Under a town ordinance, home occupations are limited to "personal service" businesses which do not "alter the exterior of the building, the property, or the residential character of the neighborhood." i suppose they could argue the "character of the neighborhood" but this sure seems like a "personal service" business to me. I don't find it hard to believe that the cops sniggered and went over the line.
• I have a feeling this story is going to take off if it's seen as a test case for the 'new obscenity'.
• > the number of cops they sent over. being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to get in the newspaper story about it.alice's restaurant may have been a case of "we're off to raid the dungeon, who wants to come along?" it sounds like the search and seizure was illegal, but i'd imagine that the mistress will be found in breach of her license based on the frequency of customer visits. off-topic: i'm frequently struck by the similarities in language used by bdsm lifestylers and rpgers. i guess the activities are very closely related in terms of the psychological needs/wants they address.
• Alice's Restaurant! YAY! Oh, and I feel much safer now the government has started its War on the Bedroom. If she was out of line in terms of home business regulations, wouldn't that call for an inspector and a fine? You know, they don't send 30 cops to restaurants around here to investigate the dirt and roaches and end up confiscating all the frying pans and oil.
• And you know damn well all that BDSM gear isn't just lying around locked up in an evidence room right now.
• This seems like it had all of the subtlety and sexual politics of a panty raid.
• Totally. I mean, WTF? I thought they at least had inhouse training like "All Those People The PC Bastards Say You Can't Be A Dick To, Like Bitches, Fags and Coloreds, Add Sex Freaks" seminars. You know, at least an attempt at recognizing diversity in 2006. Guess not.
• I suspect meredithea's got it right. The raid sounded like 'fun' and everyone wanted to be a part of it.
• We asked him why they were taking our things. The officer replied, “I’ll bet if we looked, 95 percent of the homes in town here would not look like this inside.” He added, “That makes it contraband and that is why we can take it during a search.” I don't know about the rest of this story, but I find this quote hard to believe.
• Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone heard anything lately about that legal rave in Utah that was busted by 200 cops in riot gear and a police helicopter? As a Canadian, it seems to me that there's lots of rumblings of fascism from south of the border. It's probably just that only the most terrible stories get reported out of the country, but does it feel like there's something terrible going on to any of you American monkeys? In this case it sounds like the bankruptcy brought on the police attention, even though it was still an illegal bust.
• Weell, we kind have our own rumblings here in Yankeeville, too...
• does it feel like there's something terrible going on to any of you American monkeys? Yes. But I'm not sure we know how to gauge it's seriousness. Is this right-wing ascendancy just temporary until 2008 or is it a permanent feature of our political life? I don't know. I hope I figure it out while there's still time to get out if need be.
• a case of "we're off to raid the dungeon, who wants to come along?" And you know damn well all that BDSM gear isn't just lying around locked up in an evidence room right now. More a case of: "Free ball-gags and butt plugs? Count me in!" Because we know that there's nothing cops love more than ball-gags and butt plugs. Well, donuts. But otherwise, nothing.
• ...a case of "we're off to raid the dungeon, who wants to come along?" That would be your 11-86, I believe.
• um have to agree with six.oh.six a little - reading the second article - how in the hell can a search warrant be 'sealed' at the time of the raid? I know we have some weird things down under but that one just reeks.
• how in the hell can a search warrant be 'sealed' at the time of the raid? Happened to me many years ago in a small midwestern US college town. Police showed up a the door with a sealed warrant. Judges signature, they assured us, menat that they could search our entire premises, but they didn't have to tell us what it was they were looking for. It was obvious that they were looking for drugs (given our appearance and their behavior)but the few joints and remnants of a lid that were around the house (it was a college house in the early 70s after all) clearly was not satisfying them. We were handcuffed and sitting on the couch while several officers searched and two kept their attention on us, both alternating good cop bad cop. Very confusing. After about an hour and a half of this dance, I told the officer that if they would let us know what it was they were looking for, we might be able to keep the ridiculous factor to a minimum. They were lookiing for "the kilo bag of H that was on our table yesterday." !!! So, we showed them the instructions from the vet that were meant to keep a sick, stray cat alive--Use syringe to feed 50/50 sugar water as necessary; use brown sugar if available. We showed them the bag & the syringe, too. Outcome: a lot of laughs, mostly tense, on both sides. They left the roaches & the small bag of weed. They found our missing hamster wandering around outside. We struggled for a few days, trying to figure out who called the cops with the prying eyes tip. Eventually we figured it out--the landlord was selling the place, a realtor came by, looked in the windows saw a syringe & a large bag of "brown powder." Idiots.
• The Right to be Free from Unreasonable Search and Seizure. Individuals must be free from unreasonable searches of their person, homes, and workplaces. We are concerned that federal law enforcement officials are increasingly using "sealed warrants" to enter homes and offices and confiscate large quantities of documents, records, and computer searches, and that these searches may be being conducted primarily on the basis of the ethnic identity or association with a particular group of those being searched. Sealed warrants, while deemed necessary in a small number of circumstances, impede public oversight and protection of individual rights. Strange bedfellows in strange times
• As I understand it, having Googled "sealed search warrant" and related terms, sealed warrants are almost always used for raids based on a belief there is terrorist activity. How many little cases are there out there like this one, where something used to fight terrorist activity is becoming something used to harrass or intimidate anybody found engaged in activities the authorities consider abnormal or suspect? Is non-mainstream sexuality becoming "Terrorism" in the US? Something the president can wage a dirty war on? Where is "terrorism creep" headed next? Roe v. Wade? Journalists?
• Man, I'm on a tear! Bear with me if you can. It has occurred to me that 2257 may not be about pornography at all, but a methods test. 2257 was brought in via a trojan horse. There are a few things nobody wants to be accused of being 'for', and child pornography is one of them. 2257 was brought in to fight child pornography when its real purpose is to harass and intimidate those involved with online adult content. It's been asked - and I agree that it's puzzling - why the powers that be would want to curtail an industry that directly or indirectly brings in millions for mainstream corporations. Maybe because they aren't going to actively enforce it; and that it's a trojan horse inside another; namely a gauge of how much mainstream will is there to defend 'pornography' inside the trojan horse called child porn? I don't want to stray into black helicopters territory, but to me this makes a certain amount of sense; it's the apparatus of chilling by trojan horse rather than directly challenging rights to privacy and legal business pursuits that will result in public protest and litigation. Child porn = 2257, terrorism = sealed search warrants. Gay marriage = Bush for four more years. I'm sure there are and will be many more. The one I'm waiting for is ? = abolition of eight year limit as president.
• I remember a post in a message board, many years ago: (paraphrased) 'All those shows of force, all the hardline stances and extreme measures by the authorities are to instill fear and keep the 'law-abiding' population under control, not the criminals, not the terror agents'. This was prior 9-11. Of course, the poster was a tinfoiler. Wonder where is he now. Wonder what he's posting today.
• No doubt. The creepier the mainstream gets, the more I wonder if all the conspiracy theorists I dismissed as idiots were onto something. Maybe not factual information so much as an understanding of how wide and deep is the river we will allow to slowly rise until we drown.
• Um ok understand ;sealed' search warrants now - that scares the bejesus out of me!!! That ia just so wrong no way should you intrude to that level without telling the person why you are there i mean hey if you have a warrant and it is accurate surely the poor bastard you are intimidating has some idea why yu are there or is it double blind?
• "Sure, of course it's a search warrant! It has 'Search Warrant' written on the envelope, doesn't it?"