Robert Harte and his son went to a gardening store to purchase supplies to grow hydroponic tomatoes for a school project. A state trooper had been positioned in the store parking lot to collect the license plate numbers of customers, compile them into a spreadsheet, then send the spreadsheets to local sheriff’s departments for further investigation. Yes, merely shopping at a gardening store could make you the target of a criminal drug investigation.
Federal judge: Drinking tea, shopping at a gardening store is probable cause for a SWAT raid on your home
Robert and Addie Harte had to spend $25,000 to find out why a SWAT team mistakenly raided their home.
This post has been reshared 14 times on Google+
View this post on Google+
I don't normally care about these "marijuana should be legal, you jackbooted thugs" stories, but, wow, what a waste of taxpayer dollars.
I don't have strong feelings about weed legalization. Â To me the irritating thing about this story is just how bad the government was at its job from the police to the judiciary.
The judiciary can be a bit whack (apparently) sometimes, but they're trying to anticipate how their rulings will be used as precedents in unexpected ways in the future.
The "we need a positive on the field test" part is where it went off the rails.
Immigrants from the UK, take note. 🙁