Now, the government has gone too far...

[Frohickey]

It was too many appliances, not pot, that police found at Carlsbad home (http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CA_ELECTRICITY_PROBE_CAOL-?SITE=APWEB&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) -- When police noticed Dina Dagy's family was spending $250 to $300 a month on electricity, they suspected a marijuana farm was flourishing under high-intensity lights inside their suburban home.

What they found when they showed up with a drug-sniffing dog and a search warrant was a wife and mother who does several loads of laundry a day, keeps a dishwashing machine going, has three electricity-guzzling computers and three kids who can't remember to turn the lights out when they leave a room.

"It's hard to believe a high utility bill would be enough to issue a state warrant," said Dagy, who is demanding the Police Department issue a written apology.

Authorities say they have already apologized verbally several times and were only following proper procedures. Tracking down marijuana growers by reviewing electricity bills, they say, is a common practice.

"I understand they feel something isn't appropriate here, but it is very much consistent with how search warrants are prepared," said police Lt. Bill Rowland.

When authorities noticed how high the bill for the Dagy home was, they sent a police dog to the neighborhood, and it reacted as though it had smelled drugs.

They also noticed the family had put its trash out that morning, something police say drug growers often do to hide the evidence. In the Dagys' case, however, it was trash day.

When officers returned on March 19 with a search warrant, Dagy was volunteering at her son's second-grade class. She was heading back to her car when police arrived at the school, and she returned home and let them into the house.

They found nothing illegal, and she says she feels fortunate she wasn't in her son's classroom when they arrived.

"I would have been so embarrassed," she said, "and my son would have died: `They're taking your mommy away!'"

==========

Bad cop, no donut for you!

[JamesDPS]

With this government, it's only a matter of time before there are random searches of people's houses, followed by mandatory searches, followed by 24/7 camera surveillance and forced morning workouts... :cool:

[Frohickey]

Yeah... thats why a small government is a good one. Better for it to be unable to do it because of its size, than one that PROMISES not to do it. It, being the bad violations of civil rights that government can do so well.

[miloblithe]

Those who fantasize about small governments, can you provide an example of a country (just one) where a small, efficient government that doesn't (and lacks the resources to) involve itself in "bad violations of civil rights" or much of anything else has created (or allowed to blossom) a vibrant, successful society.

[Frohickey]

Those who fantasize about small governments, can you provide an example of a country (just one) where a small, efficient government that doesn't (and lacks the resources to) involve itself in "bad violations of civil rights" or much of anything else has created (or allowed to blossom) a vibrant, successful society.

Somalia thriving despite war and neglect (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/896517.stm)

Better than expected, it would appear. Behind a seemingly endless civil war and despite the destruction this has caused, business in Somalia is thriving.

It's not unusual to find restaurants and shops in towns once fiercely contested by the warlords crowded with people, workshops bustling with activity, and new buildings going up amid a jungle of ruins and rubble.

The Somalis have always been great traders. They have a flair for business and it's visible on the streets.

Trucks carrying goods with only token protection move throughout the country.

Businessmen may even have benefited from the power vacuum, working with local communities to help restore law and order in some areas.

There is your one example. The nice thing here is that without a large government, people are figuring out for themselves that they can provide for themselves, and can governm themselves. The experiment now is how long can they keep this situation of small government, low taxes, thriving economy before someone hoodwinks them to instituting a fulltime legislature.

I always admired parttime legislators, that have to work for a living, and serve in the legislature as their civic duty.

[miloblithe]

Somalia thriving despite war and neglect (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/896517.stm)

The U.S. should try to be more like Somalia?

But that article does support a reasonable point: that small local government (warlords) and weak (or nonexistant) central government is better than the a corrupt government.

[Frohickey]

I knew it... I knew it.

How did I know that miloblithe was going to morph my Somalia example into saying that the US ought to be like Somalia, when I never claimed that it should?

The US ought to have a smaller government so that things like the post about a search warrant being issued for high power bills would never be done. Lets see, a judge signing the search warrant, a detective getting the tip of high power bills, a police dog visit, maybe a few uniformed police officers to execute the search warrant, add to that the various paperwork costs... how much did the government just waste?

[zimv20]

The US ought to have a smaller government so that things like the post about a search warrant being issued for high power bills would never be done. Lets see, a judge signing the search warrant, a detective getting the tip of high power bills, a police dog visit, maybe a few uniformed police officers to execute the search warrant, add to that the various paperwork costs... how much did the government just waste?
i understand your frustration.

i think the problem has more to do w/ an over-imaginative justice department w/o enough respect for civil liberties.

your inherent suggestion of starving the gov't is indeed one way, but i think for purposes of this example it's overkill. i'd sooner look for another way to "police the police", as it were. i don't believe for a second that if starved of funds, ashcroft would drop the medical marijuana, euthanasia and prostitution campaigns; it'd probably starve some terrorism, serial killer and corporate wrongdoing investigations instead.

[miloblithe]

I knew it... I knew it.

How did I know that miloblithe was going to morph my Somalia example into saying that the US ought to be like Somalia, when I never claimed that it should?

I thought I didn't need to indicate that was a joke. I thought it was obvious.

I just disagree with the equation that you are putting forth, that this is an example that shows big government is bad. I would, however, agree that the "war on drugs" is a terrible waste of resources.

[mactastic]

Wait a second, only NOW has the government gone too far? We invade a sovereign nation on false pretenses and you don't care, but the cops invade some lady's house on false pretenses and suddenly the government has gone too far?

You're a day late and a dollar short, pardner! :D

[pseudobrit]

This had been happening (utility-bill/thermal scan warrants) for at least a decade. I'm surprised you hadn't heard of it before.

I'm puzzled as to why the media has chosen this one case to finally bring a story mainstream.

Perhaps it's because an innocent housewife was targeted instead of someone actually guilty of harvesting pot. Ends justify the means, however crooked, in the public opinion, usually...

[Sun Baked]

At least read the Warrant at the Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0330044pot1.html)

The officer may have been clueless, but at least he "may" have been acting on a tip -- and the electric bill and garbage rollout backed up the tip.

[macka]

It seems the police reckon they're all that when they ain't, not just in the US but all over the world. I guess it's a question of how far police powers stretch and the level of jurisdiction they cover.

...invading Iraq...invading innocent peoples' homes...sheesh.

[patrick0brien]

-Gents

Pseudobrit is absolutely correct, this story is just a light on a relatively common occurrence. Just the current state of national/international affairs has made the story savory and sellable.