If you see a lost/abandoned bag someplace, don’t look, don’t touch, just leave.

————

Nine months ago, a similar police decoy program called Operation Lucky Bag was effectively shut down by prosecutors and judges who were concerned that it was sweeping up the civic-minded alongside those bent on larceny. Shopping bags, backpacks and purses were left around the subway system, then stealthily watched by undercover officers. They arrested anyone who took the items and walked past a police officer in uniform without reporting the discovery.

Now, a new version of the operation has started to catch people in public places outside the subways, and at much higher stakes, Criminal Court records show.

Unlike the initial program, in which the props were worth at most a few hundred dollars, the bags are now salted with real American Express cards, issued under pseudonyms to the Police Department.

Because the theft of a credit card is grand larceny, a Class E felony, those convicted could face sentences of up to four years. The charges in the first round of Operation Lucky Bag were nearly all petty larceny, a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.

Dragnet That Ensnares Good Samaritans, Too - New York Times

The leaders of an alternative newspaper chain were arrested after running a story about grand jury subpoenas they received seeking reporters’ notes and information on who visits their Phoenix weekly’s Web site.

Michael Lacey, executive editor of Village Voice Media, and Jim Larkin, CEO of the Phoenix-based chain, were arrested at their homes Thursday, the same day their story was published in the Phoenix New Times, a free, weekly alternative paper.

Capt. Paul Chagolla, a sheriff’s spokesman, said Lacey and Larkin were arrested on suspicion of violating grand jury secrecy and that the arrests came at the requests of the prosecutor.

The story, titled “Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution,” said Maricopa County authorities want every story New Times has written about Sheriff Joe Arpaio since Jan. 1, 2004, and all the notes, tapes and records of the reporters.

The subpoenas also seek online profiles of anyone who read four specific articles about Arpaio and profiles of anyone who visited the paper’s Web site since Jan. 1, 2004. Also sought was information on what Web users did while on the site, the story said.

KPHO Phoenix

edit - original story - breathtaking-abuse-of-the-constitution.

Techdirt: Court Agrees That Pulling Content Out Of The Public Domain May Violate The First Amendment

This one comes as a bit of a surprise. The third in Larry Lessig’s triumvirate of copyright cases may present his first serious court victory on these issues (and it potentially could come back to help the second case as well). A little history first. A few years back, Larry Lessig took a copyright case to the Supreme Court. The so-called Eldred case challenged recent changes to copyright law by Congress, stating that the repeated extensions to the length of copyright violated the Constitution, which guaranteed that copyright should only last a “limited” time. The Supreme Court disagreed with Lessig and Eldred, saying that Congress was within its Constitutional right in extending copyright. However, the case opened up some potential arguments to be discussed in later cases — and Lessig has taken full advantage of that. The key point that the court made was that Congress’ actions can be scrutinized under the First Amendment when it changes the “traditional contours of copyright protection.” The court didn’t think that simply extending copyright changed the contours of copyright protection — but it did set some of the parameters for getting the courts to review changes to copyright law.

In fact, Lessig used that ruling in the next case, the Kahle case, arguing that the changes Congress made back in 1976, switching copyright from an “opt-in” system to an “opt-out” system clearly changed the traditional contours — which seems like a reasonable argument. However, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unfortunately seemed to think that Lessig was simply re-arguing the Eldred case and couldn’t tell the difference even though the Kahle case was about changes to the nature of copyright law, and the Eldred case was simply about extending copyrights. The Kahle case is being appealed to the Supreme Court. Of course, the Supreme Court tends to like to take cases where two lower courts have seemingly disagreed with each other — and a new ruling in a different case involving Lessig may have just created that type of disagreement — which could hopefully make the Supreme Court pay attention.

Classically Liberal: Violent police attack family home by mistake.

It was a scene of domestic tranquility. David and Lillian Scott were in their living room talking. Their 15-year-old daughter was in the garage with two friends. Their 16-year-old son was elsewhere in the house feeding the 5-month-old baby. This was just last week in Temecula, California.

Just past 9:30 p.m. a gang of armed men burst through an unlocked front screen door shouting orders that couple and forcing them to the floor. The couple were then handcuffed. They begged to know what was happening and got no answer.

In the garage the men went after the teen aged girls ordering them to “get down on the fucking floor”. They too were handcuffed. And the son was in a similar situation as the armed men forced him to the ground. Lillian could hear her new-born crying and she asked one of the armed thugs if her baby was all right. She says that he “told me if I moved he was going to put a bullet in my head.”

Then the men started ransacking the house. Lillian found her bedroom door was ripped off the hinges and the door to her daughter’s room had a hole violently ripped into it. Of course the men were local police high on adrenaline and anxious to bash in the heads of “bad guys”. They haven’t said who they were looking for that night.

Lillian Scott could hear their radio’s as they spoke to one another. One of the officers announced that the second floor of the house was “clear”. That was one of the other officers pointed out that the house they were supposed to raid had only one floor. Apparently no one noticed, before attacking this family, that the house had two floors..

Notice also what is missing from this story. An open screen door with the Scott’s in the living room was entered by the police. No attempt was made to announce they were police first. Had they done that it would have easily been heard by the family. Nor was a search warrant shown to the family at the time of the attack and police refused to answer questions.

This is what lead to the murder of Kathryn Johnston by out-of-control police in Atlanta.

Papers Please: Arrested at Circuit City

Two minutes later Brooklyn, Ohio police officer Ernie Arroyo arrived on the scene. As I began to explain the story leading up to Joe Atha preventing my egress from the parking lot, officer Arroyo began to question why I refused to show my receipt in the first place. I explained that I lawfully purchased the contents in the bag and didn’t feel that it was necessary for me to let a Circuit City employee inspect the bag as I left. Officer Arroyo disagreed. He claimed that stores have the right to inspect all receipts and all bags upon leaving their store.

At this point Officer Arroyo asked to see my receipt and driver’s license. I handed over the receipt, and stated that my name is Michael Righi. Again, Officer Arroyo asked to see my driver’s license. The conversation went something like this:

Me: “I’m required by law to state that my name is Michael Righi, but I do not have to provide you with my driver’s license since I am not operating a vehicle.”
Officer Arroyo: “Give me your driver’s license or I will place you under arrest.”
Me: “My name is Michael Righi. I am not willing to provide you with my driver’s license.”
Officer Arroyo: “Turn around and up against the wall.”

At this point I was placed in handcuffs, patted down, had my wallet removed from my back pocket and was placed in the back of Officer Arroyo’s police car. My three siblings sat in the back of the Buick crying their eyes out, which is the only part of today that I regret. I wish my little brother and sisters didn’t have to watch this, but I knew exactly what I was doing and was very careful with my words. Other than putting my family through a little scare I don’t regret anything that happened today.

Classified surveillance intel revealed - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

McConnell confirmed for the first time that the private sector assisted with President Bush’s warrantless surveillance program. AT&T, Verizon and other telecommunications companies are being sued for their cooperation. “Now if you play out the suits at the value they’re claimed, it would bankrupt these companies,” McConnell said, arguing that they deserve immunity for their help.

Page 33 FTW.

” The federal government filed a lawsuit against state officials and Verizon Communications Monday to prevent the release of information about the company’s alleged role in the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program.

The lawsuit comes after 22 residents asked the state’s Public Utilities Commission to investigate whether Verizon provided federal agents with information that could have resulted in the warrantless surveillance of telephone calls.”

http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/3050929.shtml