[CBFF] David Haugh: Well, said

[Jim Ferolie]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jason Cetina" <jason at cetinas.org>


> The other side of the coin is that he may very well be guilty of DWB. I
> have no evidence to back this up, just that I wouldn't be surprised. If
> the people of AZ love this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio,
> then what else will they tolerate?
>
> Additionally, they've got a history of screw-ups there:
> http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0622gr-report0622-ON.html
>
> All that coupled with the weak sounding circumstances surrounding the
> arrest (""made observations that led him to believe Johnson was
> impaired" & "being impaired to the slightest degree" - WTF?) make me
> think there is more to the story here.
>
> With apologies to any good cops on the list, I'm *always* suspect of the
> police. I've been dicked around by cops before (not arrested, just
> jerked around), so I might be the wrong guy to ask.

I don't know that "the people of AZ" love Joe Arpaio. He's kind of a magnet 
for people who think the way he does, a little like our president. Also like 
a ridiculous governor Arizona had once (Nat, were you there for Mecham?). 
He's an elected official, and Arizona has a history of electing idiots. 
Hell, Arizona re-elected Fife Symington after he was investigated for fraud, 
then he got convicted of fraud while serving his second term.

The state has a very strong group of old-school "kick em in the mouth til 
they learn their lesson" types who tend to drown out the moderates living 
all over the Phoenix and Tucson area.

I do agree that screwups happen all the time, but as someone who combs 
police reports every week, I have to say -- and I hate to admit this -- the 
police are almost always right when they say they made observations that led 
them to believe the person was over the limit. Those are very by-the-book 
signals such as red eyes, being unable to track lights properly, slurred 
speech, inability to balance properly, etc., and they have to find multiple 
signals. They just usually don't get into that sort of detail in the log, 
which is what this would have come from.

I bet you the stupid wording of "being impaired to the slightest degree" was 
a political phrase used in legislation to show they were serious about 
drunken drivers. It's freaking stupid. There are lots of things that impair 
people more than the slightest degree that don't show up on breath tests. I 
saw someone weaving in her lane the other day, scared the shit out of me --  
turne dout she was texting while driving. Then there's being sleepy, 
fighting with your significant other, having kids in the car...