VoteKansas.org

NEW YORK (AP) -- As spring approaches, Occupy Wall Street protesters who mostly hibernated all winter are beginning to stir with plans for renewed demonstrations six months after the movement was born....

NEW YORK (AP) -- As spring approaches, Occupy Wall Street protesters who mostly hibernated all winter are beginning to stir with plans for renewed demonstrations six months after the movement was born....

The federal government says schools can opt out of ground beef containing a filler derided by critics as "pink slime," but consumers will have more trouble avoiding it....

Secular Pharisees 4-14-11

PHOENIX (AP) -- Women in Arizona trying to get reimbursed for birth control drugs through their employer-provided health plan could be required to prove that they are taking it for a medical reason such as acne, rather than to prevent pregnancy....

PHOENIX (AP) -- Women in Arizona trying to get reimbursed for birth control drugs through their employer-provided health plan could be required to prove that they are taking it for a medical reason such as acne, rather than to prevent pregnancy....

PHOENIX (AP) -- Women in Arizona trying to get reimbursed for birth control drugs through their employer-provided health plan could be required to prove that they are taking it for a medical reason such as acne, rather than to prevent pregnancy....

PHOENIX (AP) -- Women in Arizona trying to get reimbursed for birth control drugs through their employer-provided health plan could be required to prove that they are taking it for a medical reason such as acne, rather than to prevent pregnancy....

SEATTLE (AP) -- The U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers last weekend saw his friend's leg blown off the day before the rampage, his lawyer said Thursday night....

New Haven Register: Bill would let Connecticut towns seek search warrants to inspect properties by Jordan Fenster:

A bill up for legislative review would grant municipalities the right to seek a search warrant if zoning officials believe there has been an ordinance violation.

The pending legislation, requested by state Rep. Susan Johnson, D-Windham, is the result of a state Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the right of citizens to, in the words of the court’s decision, “be free from unreasonable searches.”

In the case of the town of Bozrah v. Anne D. Chmurynski, town zoning official Thomas Weber had been asked to examine private property because, according to the court record, “he intended to inspect the property for ‘junk.’”

And the beat goes on:

GPB News: Welfare Drug Testing Bill Revised by Jeanne Bonner:

Georgia lawmakers are revising a bill that opponents say is almost certain to land in federal court. It would require welfare recipients to take a drug test before receiving benefits. Its sponsor says the measure would save taxpayers money but others say it’s unconstitutional.

Sen. John Albers, a Roswell Republican, is the bill’s sponsor. He modeled it on a Florida law, now blocked by a federal judge because it violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unlawful search.

When these clowns pass such bills, they just make money for the plaintiffs' civil rights bar that files the case in attorneys fees. They are clueless.

DEXTER, Mich. (AP) -- A tornado ripped through a rural southeastern Michigan community Thursday, damaging or demolishing more than 100 homes, downing trees and power lines, sparking fires and flooding neighborhood roads....

Inventory policy that allows the vehicle to go with somebody “immediately available,” not otherwise defined, does not require the police to allow somebody to be called and the police wait for that person to show up. The person essentially has to be there already. If the inventory is conducted in “good faith,” that’s enough. United States v. Reyes-Vencomo, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34141 (D. N.M. February 13, 2012):

The officers initiated the search in compliance with standardized police procedures and the requirement that the officers make a post-search notation regarding the decision to search adds little to the protections that the Fourth Amendment and Supreme Court precedent seeks to impose. The Fourth Amendment is satisfied so long as an officer conducts an inventory search in good faith. See United States v. Battle, 370 F.App'x at 430 (citing Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. at 374). Holfelder and Ortega conducted an orderly inventory search, documenting and photographing the items in the vehicle as they went, and were not "general[ly] rummaging in order to discover incriminating evidence." United States v. Martinez, 512 F.3d at 1274. Holfelder explained that he understood the policy's purpose to be to protect the department and the driver's property, and nothing indicates that he was acting in bad faith. See United States v. Maraga, 76 F.App'x at 228 ("An impoundment must either be supported by probable cause, or be consistent with the police role as 'caretaker' of the streets and completely unrelated to an ongoing criminal investigation."); United States v. Lugo, 978 F.2d at 636 ("When the police acquire temporary custody of a vehicle, a warrantless inventory search of the vehicle does not offend Fourth Amendment principles so long as the search is made pursuant to 'standard police procedures' and for the purpose of 'protecting the car and its contents.'"). Failing to make a notation in the police report regarding the tow decision was a minor deviation from procedure, and an understandable one given the circumstances, and does not render the inventory search invalid.

[I had to go read these cases on good faith, and both appear to just be throw-away lines as to what the government's burden of proof is:

Battle: "Rather, he acted in good faith as he undertook to identify, secure and protect valuable property."

Bertine: "We conclude that here, as in Lafayette, reasonable police regulations relating to inventory procedures administered in good faith satisfy the Fourth Amendment, even though courts might as a matter of hindsight be able to devise equally reasonable rules requiring a different procedure."

So, don't see there being a "good faith exception" to inventory searches. Good faith inventory and not a rummaging is something that the government has to prove in every case.]

SEATTLE (AP) -- The U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan villagers last weekend saw his friend's leg blown off the day before the rampage, his lawyer said Thursday....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Guys, when your sweetheart says "No thanks" to sex, do you knock back a few stiff drinks to feel better? Turns out fruit flies do pretty much the same thing....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Guys, when your sweetheart says "No thanks" to sex, do you knock back a few stiff drinks to feel better? Turns out fruit flies do pretty much the same thing....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Guys, when your sweetheart says "No thanks" to sex, do you knock back a few stiff drinks to feel better? Turns out fruit flies do pretty much the same thing....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Guys, when your sweetheart says "No thanks" to sex, do you knock back a few stiff drinks to feel better? Turns out fruit flies do pretty much the same thing....

HOUSTON (AP) -- Long after tiny Miguel Morin disappeared in late 2004, the infant's family still paused to mark the milestones of his life, holding a celebration every year on his birthday and praying for his safe, swift return....

HOUSTON (AP) -- Long after tiny Miguel Morin disappeared in late 2004, the infant's family still paused to mark the milestones of his life, holding a celebration every year on his birthday and praying for his safe, swift return....