[IP] Student sues over mistaken drug bust
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bob Frankston <Bob19-0501@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: December 30, 2005 12:03:32 PM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Student sues over mistaken drug bust
“Police told her a field test indicated that the powder contained
opium and cocaine, but a lab test later proved the substance was
flour and prosecutors dropped the charges, the Inquirer reported.”
------------------------
Oops?
In looking at all of the surveillance it’s easy to assume that the
only problem is a theoretic violation of privacy but this story is a
reminder that what is gathered is Rorschach test of interpretation.
With enough data any paranoid fantasy will find its confirmation.
------------------------
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/30/
student_sues_over_mistaken_drug_bust/
Student sues over mistaken drug bust
By Associated Press | December 30, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- When Bryn Mawr College freshman Janet Lee headed for
a Christmas trip home two years ago, her luggage contained three
condoms filled with flour -- which she and some friends made as a joke.
Philadelphia Airport screeners found the condoms, and their initial
tests showed they contained drugs. Lee was arrested on drug
trafficking charges and jailed. Three weeks later, she was released
after a lab test backed her story, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported
yesterday.
Lee filed a federal lawsuit last week against Philadelphia police,
seeking damages for pain and suffering, financial loss, and emotional
distress. She was arrested Dec. 21, 2003, was held on $500,000 bail,
and faced up to 20 years in prison had she been convicted of the drug
charges.
''I haven't let myself be angry about what happened, because it would
tear me apart," Lee said. ''I'm not sure I can bear to face it. I'm
amazed at how naive I was."
Screeners found the condoms filled with powder in her checked luggage
shortly before she was to board a plane to Los Angeles. She said she
told police they were filled with flour. She said she made them as a
joke and would squeeze them to relieve stress.
Police told her a field test indicated that the powder contained
opium and cocaine, but a lab test later proved the substance was
flour and prosecutors dropped the charges, the Inquirer reported.
--------------------------
Bob Frankston
http://www.frankston.com
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