Drug-Sniffing Police Dogs Are Intercepting Abortion Pills in the Mail
Drug-Sniffing Police Dogs Are Intercepting Abortion Pills in the Mail
An incident in Mississippi provides a window into a dystopian future where USPS workers and local cops can block people from accessing reproductive care.
Darknet markets have been dealing with drug-sniffing dogs for years. You can wrap the drugs enough that even dogs won't smell it.
This only worked because the dealers had no reason to expect it.
12This is the future a quarter of Americans are fighting for.
Now if we could just get the other 3/4 out to vote...
25When I read the headline I thought about the audacity Mississippi had to spend money training dogs to sniff out abortion pills. Then I read the article:
"An employee there had reported seeing someone in the lobby putting pills into hot pink envelopes."
....and....
"Steed, a K-9 handler, arrived with Rip, his narcotics sniffer dog. Rip strode around and, when he got to the pink envelope, sat down. According to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Steed said this meant the dog had smelled narcotics. "
So no, the police dog can't sniff out abortion pills, instead a dirty cop either signaled his dog to the behavior, or the copy is straight lying about what the dog did.
If anything any defense attorneys must love this. If the police indicate a dog is signaling drugs where there weren't any, then any searches authorized by that dog's actions should be thrown out including any evidence found in a followup human search.
185So no, the police dog can't sniff out abortion pills, instead a dirty cop either signaled his dog to the behavior, or the copy is straight lying about what the dog did.
You're not wrong, but that reality didn't stop a warrant from being issued or those envelopes from being opened
61Because judges usually need the support of the prosecutor and police to get re-elected. So the warrant will be issued, otherwise the judge is "soft on crime". It's never "the judge is strong on Constitutional rights."
15And justice being served eventually also doesn't help the person get the care they need in a timely manner. Abortions are safer when done earlier in the pregnancy, and often there are more legal hoops that have to be jumped through later in the pregnancy if they're not barred altogether. A court case settled a year or more later doesn't do much to help a woman who needs care now whether it's for immediate physical safety or to prevent her body from being used for life support for another person without her consent.
41You’re not wrong, but that reality didn’t stop a warrant from being issued or those envelopes from being opened
Nothing stops police from intervening in any way shape or form. The only thing a warrant does is make the actions or evidence legal for future legal proceedings .
9
Those dogs all operate on signaling from the handling officer.
21Unfortunately they can just say there might have been residual traces of narcotics leading to a positive alert. It doesn't matter that it leads to the search/seizure of an innocent person.
5
Not all dogs go to heaven
40The dog isn't doing anything wrong. Most of the time they just alert based on subtle handler behavior anyway.
23Dogs "alerting" has as much grounding in truth as a polygraph test.
Polygraph results are not admissable in court, FYI.
12We need an rct where the clinic sends abortion pills to some people and placebo pills to others. Or even to the same person in separate identical packages. Then see if the dogs alert more on the abortion pills or not.
5Which is likely in this case since the envelope did not contain any narcotics.
3
ADAB
-4No just pit bulls.
/s
-6
Well that’s a federal crime, assuming they’re being shipped by the USPS.
Lock them up.
43Do you mean that mailing abortion pills is a federal crime, or that interfering with the mail is a federal crime?
15Interfering with the US mail is a federal crime. Further, even in states that have banned medicated abortions; both medications have perfectly valid uses outside of abortion (including things not related specifically to women's health altogether.) Neither the USPS nor the cop can know if the drugs are for illegal purposes without filing subpoenas and warrants for that medical information; and probable cause is going to be difficult to get, considering.
It's also a federal crime to interfere with interstate commerce, which is solely the province of the federal government to regulate. Additionally, USPS screen for illegal substances anyway; maybe not every package, but enough to suggest that there shouldn't be local bastards screening them too.
Edit to add: Screwdrivers are commonly used tools for breaking in, they’re way more useful than lockpick sets, for example, and they can be used as a weapon, too.
Possessing a screwdriver, or even carrying one, is not suspicious or illegal. It wouldn’t give a cop probable cause. For that they need other things; this is similar. Having a medication is not sufficient for suspicion. Even having been pregnant is not suspicious; since they’re also used to manage a pregnancy that has failed for other reasons.
In short these asshats need to stop being asshats.
44
But education is just a waste of money
12Seems like a good use of taxpayer money...
18This is why truffles are still so goddamn expensive. These pigs need to work within their scope
13
The dog has been meaning to tell you something but you didn’t catch the hint.
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