VoteKansas.org

One of my favorite things about summer is cultivating a summer reading list. Regular readers may have noticed that I frequently ask people what books they’re looking forward to reading. One of the books on my list is Jay Cost's new one.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZLisa De Pasquale

Watching the protesters in Chicago, who are commonly referred to as the “Occupy Wall Street” crowd, I am inclined to believe that we need to reinstitute the military draft for both boys and girls. It would make them into men and women.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZBruce Bialosky

Like a shape-shifter from a sci-fi film, Obama’s primary skill is to appear to be something he is not, as he repeatedly masks his full-tilt assault on entrepreneurs and small businesses.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZLurita Doan

Why would any Republicans (most recently Sen. Lindsey Graham and Jeb Bush) want to help the Democrats achieve those goals? 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZDaniel J. Mitchell

We have to admit that we're pretty amused by the latest economic dispute to break out in the world of social media involving a Nobel-prize winning economist, Paul Krugman, and the President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves. 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZPolitical Calculations

BY A VOTE of 183-50, town meeting members in Middleborough, Mass., last week approved a bylaw making public cursing a civil offense and authorizing police to enforce the ban by fining offenders $20.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZJeff Jacoby

We know Americans love to shop, but how are they pulling it off? The simple answer is consumers have been dipping into savings, but even that trend has odd angles. In the meantime, the S&P Retail Index has skyrocket since the financial meltdown. 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZCharles Payne

The Constitution is very clear about separation of powers; the Congress makes laws, the executive branch administers them. 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZBob Beauprez

If there wasn’t a financial crisis in Europe, God- that is Obama- would have to invent one, just to turn the fire hoses on the rest of us. 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZJohn Ransom

The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously observed that “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” It’s an admonition not taken particularly seriously by today’s political left. They embrace, extol, advocate ideas and policies based on what they wish were true, regardless of how often and consistently their ideas have been proven wrong.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZStar Parker

Self-made billionaire Sheldon Adelson says the secret to his success was "never knowing anything" about the businesses he entered. That sounds like an exaggeration, but he emphasized that point when speaking to students at UNLV recently, upon receiving the Hospitality Industry Leader of the Year by the UNLV's Harrah Hotel College. 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZDoug French

If Presidential politics is a chess game, then it’s time to checkmate Obama. And the perfect place to do that is in Orlando at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZWayne Allyn Root

This is a time for serious reflection. We all need to think about what government owes us (or doesn't), what taxpayers owe public union workers (or don't), and what promises have been made by politicians at taxpayer expense that cannot possibly be met. 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZMike Shedlock

As a hedge against economic uncertainty, central banks around the world added over 450 tons of gold last year, the most in five decades and are expected to add another 400 tons in 2012, according to the World Gold Council.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T22:10:03ZChris Poindexter

George Washington is the Big Daddy in the US. 2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T14:40:04ZJeff Carter

Bullfighting is a dangerous sport; the bull wins by lethally plowing into the matador. Nevertheless, President Obama is trying his hand at bullfighting and he’s using unconstitutional trickery to shield himself from a lethal political blow. In Obama’s case, the bull’s name is “Wall Street”—the lifeblood of American culture.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T14:40:04ZKatie Kieffer

Four years ago, the Obama forces heavily outspent those supporting John McCain. The Obama campaign had enough money to target -- and carry -- heretofore Republican states like North Carolina and Indiana.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T14:40:04ZMichael Barone

The left wants us to believe that paying for teachers, firefighters and police is a federal responsibility. Not so. Such services have traditionally been the responsibility of state and local governments.2012-06-18T00:01:00-04:002012-06-18T14:40:04ZBrian Darling

Police were investigating a serial rapist who struck on rainy nights. An officer saw a Jeep parked in a likely neighborhood because of a report of a man in a ski mask, and he felt the hood which was warm. He noted the license number finding it didn't stay in the neighborhood, looked through the windows, and drove off. An hour later he saw the vehicle moving and stopped it, asking the driver about what he was doing in the neighborhood, and he noted the answer. He asked for consent which was denied, and he let the driver go. The next day, after a rape was reported, officers followed up on the story obtained from the stop and found it false. The stop was with reasonable suspicion. State v. Burdick, 2012 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 396 (June 13, 2012):

We conclude that, under the totality of the circumstances, Officer Hamm had reasonable suspicion to stop the Defendant's Jeep. At the time of the stop, "The Wooded Rapist" was at large in the community. "The Wooded Rapist" had committed his rapes on rainy evenings in the Brentwood area. On the night of April 27, 2008, which was rainy, Officer Hamm responded to a call about a man wearing a ski mask and dark clothing in the area of Meadow Lake and Arnold Road. While patrolling that area, looking for something out of place, he noticed a gray Jeep parked on the side of the road. Upon approaching the vehicle, he found the hood of the vehicle warm. He ran the vehicle's tags and determined that it was registered to the Defendant, whose listed address was not in the subdivision. The officer left and returned an hour later, passing the Defendant driving the Jeep away from the Meadow Lake area. Officer Hamm initiated an investigatory traffic stop to identify the driver of the Jeep and determine if he was related to the call about the man in the ski mask. We conclude Officer Hamm had an articulable and reasonable suspicion that the vehicle, or its occupant, were subject to seizure for violation of the law.

We further conclude that Officer Hamm's stop of the Defendant did not exceed the proper parameters. The stop lasted between three and five minutes. The officer asked the Defendant if he had seen anything suspicious, and the Defendant responded negatively. The officer filled out a field interview card, and the Defendant offered the officer his phone number. The officer asked the Defendant why he was in the neighborhood, and the Defendant responded that he was there to visit a friend.

Does this case suggest a sliding scale of reasonable suspicion where the more serious the crime the lesser reasonable suspicion is required? If so, should that be permissible? Catching a serial rapist is certainly among the weightiest of government and public interests, as was preventing the armed robbery in Terry. Remember, that case also involved a frisk, not just a stop. Can it be said that comparing this case to a drug case where reasonable suspicion is the excuse for a stop, maybe this wouldn’t be reasonable suspicion for a stop? Well, you can’t compare this case to a drug case: Serial rapist on the loose striking on rainy nights; man with a ski mask seen in the neighborhood; a vehicle not belonging in the neighborhood is seen parked there, and it hadn’t been there long; stopping it to ask if the driver had seen anything suspicious, like the man in the ski mask, and asking for identification was not unreasonable. If defendant had been taken in on that, the discussion would be different. But, at the time of the stop, no rape had yet been reported, and he was let go in 3-5 minutes, getting only a name and why he was there. This was just good police work that fully respected the detainee's rights. It wasn't a stop on a pure hunch--it was because this car didn't come back as belonging in the neighborhood, and there was a report of a prowler.

Defendants and their vehicle matched the description of people alleged to have stolen from open houses. They were found within 30 minutes of the initial dispatch in the same city in a distinctive vehicle. The stop was with reasonable suspicion, and they admitted then to having been at the open house in question. People v. Rangel, 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 694 (1st Dist. June 14, 2012);* People v. Little, 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 705 (4th Dist. June 15, 2012).*

Claimant’s money was seized after a valid consent, and his testimony was found incredible on the consent issue. He was flagged by an Amtrak drug courier profile: one-way ticket bought just before departure for a sleeper car on somebody else’s credit card. United States v. Funds in the Amount of $239,400, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82682 (N.D. Ill. June 5, 2012).*

In a forfeiture case, the government is not required to show probable cause or meet its ultimate trial burden. Therefore, claimant’s 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss is denied, and he must answer. United States v. $33,984.00 in United States Currency, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83119 (D. Neb. June 14, 2012).*