Rick Giles, poster on SOLOP forum, in jail

[Martin Radwin]

I found this on the SOLOP site, posted by Melissa Lepley. The link is:

http://www.solopassion.com/node/3510

Here is what happened, as described by Melissa:

"Some of you may have noticed the absence of Rick Giles from this forum for the last month or so. He is not on vacation; he has not given up, or left in a huff. He is in jail, and has been since the 26th or 27th of September. He has been in prison, without arrest, without trial, without legal recourse or appeal, for almost a month. And why? What heinous crime, you might ask, warrants being thrown into jail with no rights, no information, and no idea how long he’ll be incarcerated? Well, the combined crimes of not being a US citizen and misreading the date on his tourist visa.

Rick was asking directions to the bus station, as pedestrians aren’t allowed to cross the border into Canada, on the 26th of last month. Instead of helping, the policeman took his ID, checked his visa, and found that instead of expiring on the 27th, as Rick believed, it expired on the 20th. He was taken into custody, and has been there ever since.

The INS, which is supposed to notify the New Zealand embassy whenever a NZ citizen is arrested, did not. His social worker, whom he requested get the address and phone number of the NZ consulate, got him the contact information for the embassy in New Zealand. If he hadn’t written my phone number on his arm during the few moments he had alone with his stuff, nobody would have any idea where he is. He used his one phone-call to call me, and I have harassed, begged, and bluffed my way to getting his address, inmate number, and all the information I can get, which is woefully little.

I have made contact with the NZ consulate in Chicago, and the Embassy in Washington DC. I informed them that one of their citizens had been summarily tossed into prison for the smallest offense imaginable. You’ll be glad to know that they are using their full diplomatic might on his behalf. They are making a file. They faxed him a letter informing him of his rights, which amount to nothing. They are very friendly and courteous, and try to be helpful. However, unless the US starts to torture Rick, there’s nothing they can do. Apparently the US government can hold him as long as they want, for whatever reason (or lack thereof) they choose.

This is a plea, dear SOLOists, from me. If anyone has any experience with dealing with the INS, or with the US Justice system… if anyone knows anything or anyone who can help, or even give advice, please contact me. I have done everything I can think of, and he’s still there, no court date, no rights, and no expectation of release. I can write letters to him, and send him books, writing materials, and stamps. However, I don’t even know where to begin to get him free.

Thank you."

It's hard to think of a better example of how the US is creeping toward totalitarianism than this. Rick is in jail awaiting deporation for the crime of overstaying his tourist visa by one week. This is the kind of thing for which people are now being put in jail. No victim, noone hurt, noone's rights violated, but Rick committed the unpardonable offense of not following the state's increasingly oppressive bureaucratic regulations. And for this, he must be locked up like a dangerous criminal.

I don't often have anything good to say about Lindsay Perigo, but Linz has taken up the banner of "Free Rick Giles!". He claims to have contacted some friends of his in high places who may be in a position to help.

This is a truly pathetic illustration of the kind of society the US has become since 9/11.

Free Rick Giles!

Martin

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I hope Rick's problems are soon resolved.

Michael

[tjohnson]

This is a truly pathetic illustration of the kind of society the US has become since 9/11.

Yep, the world is a changin'! It used to be kind of fun to go to the US on a trip but I won't even go there any more. In fact, I think you need a passport to go there so I probably can't even get in if I wanted to because I don't have a passport. If that's the way they want to be, fine with me, I'll just stay home.

[Selene]

I found this on the SOLOP site, posted by Melissa Lepley. The link is:

http://www.solopassion.com/node/3510

Here is what happened, as described by Melissa:

"Some of you may have noticed the absence of Rick Giles from this forum for the last month or so. He is not on vacation; he has not given up, or left in a huff. He is in jail, and has been since the 26th or 27th of September. He has been in prison, without arrest, without trial, without legal recourse or appeal, for almost a month. And why? What heinous crime, you might ask, warrants being thrown into jail with no rights, no information, and no idea how long he’ll be incarcerated? Well, the combined crimes of not being a US citizen and misreading the date on his tourist visa.

Rick was asking directions to the bus station, as pedestrians aren’t allowed to cross the border into Canada, on the 26th of last month. Instead of helping, the policeman took his ID, checked his visa, and found that instead of expiring on the 27th, as Rick believed, it expired on the 20th. He was taken into custody, and has been there ever since.

The INS, which is supposed to notify the New Zealand embassy whenever a NZ citizen is arrested, did not. His social worker, whom he requested get the address and phone number of the NZ consulate, got him the contact information for the embassy in New Zealand. If he hadn’t written my phone number on his arm during the few moments he had alone with his stuff, nobody would have any idea where he is. He used his one phone-call to call me, and I have harassed, begged, and bluffed my way to getting his address, inmate number, and all the information I can get, which is woefully little.

I have made contact with the NZ consulate in Chicago, and the Embassy in Washington DC. I informed them that one of their citizens had been summarily tossed into prison for the smallest offense imaginable. You’ll be glad to know that they are using their full diplomatic might on his behalf. They are making a file. They faxed him a letter informing him of his rights, which amount to nothing. They are very friendly and courteous, and try to be helpful. However, unless the US starts to torture Rick, there’s nothing they can do. Apparently the US government can hold him as long as they want, for whatever reason (or lack thereof) they choose.

This is a plea, dear SOLOists, from me. If anyone has any experience with dealing with the INS, or with the US Justice system… if anyone knows anything or anyone who can help, or even give advice, please contact me. I have done everything I can think of, and he’s still there, no court date, no rights, and no expectation of release. I can write letters to him, and send him books, writing materials, and stamps. However, I don’t even know where to begin to get him free.

Thank you."

It's hard to think of a better example of how the US is creeping toward totalitarianism than this. Rick is in jail awaiting deporation for the crime of overstaying his tourist visa by one week. This is the kind of thing for which people are now being put in jail. No victim, noone hurt, noone's rights violated, but Rick committed the unpardonable offense of not following the state's increasingly oppressive bureaucratic regulations. And for this, he must be locked up like a dangerous criminal.

I don't often have anything good to say about Lindsay Perigo, but Linz has taken up the banner of "Free Rick Giles!". He claims to have contacted some friends of his in high places who may be in a position to help.

This is a truly pathetic illustration of the kind of society the US has become since 9/11.

Free Rick Giles!

Martin

Sorry to hear of your friends plight. I cannot give you legal advice, however, as a mediator I can offer you insight and guidance. Methods that have been used in the past, would be a Writ of Mandamus in the Federal District Court to compel the production of the individual before a Federal Magistrate in order to present the facts of his "detainment". It is a step down from a Writ of Habeaus Corpus, the sacred writ as it is referred to, which would argue that he is being illegally detained. However, the states defense would be that he is being legally detained pursuant to the Patriot Act or another Federal Act. Unfortunately, you have an uphill fight. Out of curiosity, did the NZ embassy tell you that they cannot provide him with counsel to represent him? Also, it would be important for you to get a limited power of attorney from him so that you can push the system. The "social worker" should be able to have the document notarized. Wish I could be more helpful.

[Chris Grieb]

I found this on the SOLOP site, posted by Melissa Lepley. The link is:

http://www.solopassion.com/node/3510

Here is what happened, as described by Melissa:

"Some of you may have noticed the absence of Rick Giles from this forum for the last month or so. He is not on vacation; he has not given up, or left in a huff. He is in jail, and has been since the 26th or 27th of September. He has been in prison, without arrest, without trial, without legal recourse or appeal, for almost a month. And why? What heinous crime, you might ask, warrants being thrown into jail with no rights, no information, and no idea how long he’ll be incarcerated? Well, the combined crimes of not being a US citizen and misreading the date on his tourist visa.

Rick was asking directions to the bus station, as pedestrians aren’t allowed to cross the border into Canada, on the 26th of last month. Instead of helping, the policeman took his ID, checked his visa, and found that instead of expiring on the 27th, as Rick believed, it expired on the 20th. He was taken into custody, and has been there ever since.

The INS, which is supposed to notify the New Zealand embassy whenever a NZ citizen is arrested, did not. His social worker, whom he requested get the address and phone number of the NZ consulate, got him the contact information for the embassy in New Zealand. If he hadn’t written my phone number on his arm during the few moments he had alone with his stuff, nobody would have any idea where he is. He used his one phone-call to call me, and I have harassed, begged, and bluffed my way to getting his address, inmate number, and all the information I can get, which is woefully little.

I have made contact with the NZ consulate in Chicago, and the Embassy in Washington DC. I informed them that one of their citizens had been summarily tossed into prison for the smallest offense imaginable. You’ll be glad to know that they are using their full diplomatic might on his behalf. They are making a file. They faxed him a letter informing him of his rights, which amount to nothing. They are very friendly and courteous, and try to be helpful. However, unless the US starts to torture Rick, there’s nothing they can do. Apparently the US government can hold him as long as they want, for whatever reason (or lack thereof) they choose.

This is a plea, dear SOLOists, from me. If anyone has any experience with dealing with the INS, or with the US Justice system… if anyone knows anything or anyone who can help, or even give advice, please contact me. I have done everything I can think of, and he’s still there, no court date, no rights, and no expectation of release. I can write letters to him, and send him books, writing materials, and stamps. However, I don’t even know where to begin to get him free.

Thank you."

It's hard to think of a better example of how the US is creeping toward totalitarianism than this. Rick is in jail awaiting deporation for the crime of overstaying his tourist visa by one week. This is the kind of thing for which people are now being put in jail. No victim, noone hurt, noone's rights violated, but Rick committed the unpardonable offense of not following the state's increasingly oppressive bureaucratic regulations. And for this, he must be locked up like a dangerous criminal.

I don't often have anything good to say about Lindsay Perigo, but Linz has taken up the banner of "Free Rick Giles!". He claims to have contacted some friends of his in high places who may be in a position to help.

This is a truly pathetic illustration of the kind of society the US has become since 9/11.

Free Rick Giles!

Martin

Sorry to hear of your friends plight. I cannot give you legal advice, however, as a mediator I can offer you insight and guidance. Methods that have been used in the past, would be a Writ of Mandamus in the Federal District Court to compel the production of the individual before a Federal Magistrate in order to present the facts of his "detainment". It is a step down from a Writ of Habeaus Corpus, the sacred writ as it is referred to, which would argue that he is being illegally detained. However, the states defense would be that he is being legally detained pursuant to the Patriot Act or another Federal Act. Unfortunately, you have an uphill fight. Out of curiosity, did the NZ embassy tell you that they cannot provide him with counsel to represent him? Also, it would be important for you to get a limited power of attorney from him so that you can push the system. The "social worker" should be able to have the document notarized. Wish I could be more helpful.

All of the last post sounds good to me. Push the NZ embassy if you can.

[Martin Radwin]

I found this on the SOLOP site, posted by Melissa Lepley. The link is:

http://www.solopassion.com/node/3510

Here is what happened, as described by Melissa:

"Some of you may have noticed the absence of Rick Giles from this forum for the last month or so. He is not on vacation; he has not given up, or left in a huff. He is in jail, and has been since the 26th or 27th of September. He has been in prison, without arrest, without trial, without legal recourse or appeal, for almost a month. And why? What heinous crime, you might ask, warrants being thrown into jail with no rights, no information, and no idea how long he’ll be incarcerated? Well, the combined crimes of not being a US citizen and misreading the date on his tourist visa.

Rick was asking directions to the bus station, as pedestrians aren’t allowed to cross the border into Canada, on the 26th of last month. Instead of helping, the policeman took his ID, checked his visa, and found that instead of expiring on the 27th, as Rick believed, it expired on the 20th. He was taken into custody, and has been there ever since.

The INS, which is supposed to notify the New Zealand embassy whenever a NZ citizen is arrested, did not. His social worker, whom he requested get the address and phone number of the NZ consulate, got him the contact information for the embassy in New Zealand. If he hadn’t written my phone number on his arm during the few moments he had alone with his stuff, nobody would have any idea where he is. He used his one phone-call to call me, and I have harassed, begged, and bluffed my way to getting his address, inmate number, and all the information I can get, which is woefully little.

I have made contact with the NZ consulate in Chicago, and the Embassy in Washington DC. I informed them that one of their citizens had been summarily tossed into prison for the smallest offense imaginable. You’ll be glad to know that they are using their full diplomatic might on his behalf. They are making a file. They faxed him a letter informing him of his rights, which amount to nothing. They are very friendly and courteous, and try to be helpful. However, unless the US starts to torture Rick, there’s nothing they can do. Apparently the US government can hold him as long as they want, for whatever reason (or lack thereof) they choose.

This is a plea, dear SOLOists, from me. If anyone has any experience with dealing with the INS, or with the US Justice system… if anyone knows anything or anyone who can help, or even give advice, please contact me. I have done everything I can think of, and he’s still there, no court date, no rights, and no expectation of release. I can write letters to him, and send him books, writing materials, and stamps. However, I don’t even know where to begin to get him free.

Thank you."

It's hard to think of a better example of how the US is creeping toward totalitarianism than this. Rick is in jail awaiting deporation for the crime of overstaying his tourist visa by one week. This is the kind of thing for which people are now being put in jail. No victim, noone hurt, noone's rights violated, but Rick committed the unpardonable offense of not following the state's increasingly oppressive bureaucratic regulations. And for this, he must be locked up like a dangerous criminal.

I don't often have anything good to say about Lindsay Perigo, but Linz has taken up the banner of "Free Rick Giles!". He claims to have contacted some friends of his in high places who may be in a position to help.

This is a truly pathetic illustration of the kind of society the US has become since 9/11.

Free Rick Giles!

Martin

Sorry to hear of your friends plight. I cannot give you legal advice, however, as a mediator I can offer you insight and guidance. Methods that have been used in the past, would be a Writ of Mandamus in the Federal District Court to compel the production of the individual before a Federal Magistrate in order to present the facts of his "detainment". It is a step down from a Writ of Habeaus Corpus, the sacred writ as it is referred to, which would argue that he is being illegally detained. However, the states defense would be that he is being legally detained pursuant to the Patriot Act or another Federal Act. Unfortunately, you have an uphill fight. Out of curiosity, did the NZ embassy tell you that they cannot provide him with counsel to represent him? Also, it would be important for you to get a limited power of attorney from him so that you can push the system. The "social worker" should be able to have the document notarized. Wish I could be more helpful.

Rick is not my friend. I've never met him. I just learned about this case while browsing the SOLOP site. Rick is a friend of Melissa, who has bravely taken up his cause. Rick will at some point be released from jail, at which time he will be deported to his home country of New Zealand, even though he was legally working in Canada. But instead of letting Rick return to Canada, where he is legally entitled to be, the US taxpayers will bear the cost of imprisoning him, then paying for his plane ticket back to New Zealand, where Rick doesn't want to go, after which Rick will presumably have to buy another plane ticket to fly back to Canada. But the idiot bureaucrats of the INS are just doing their jobs, just like any other mindless bureaucrats.

Another lesson to be learned from this episode -- the police are not your friends! This is not the first story I have heard of someone innocently approaching the police for help and being subsequently arrested by the ever-so-helpful police. As the United States slips relentlessly into a police state, the job of the police is increasingly becoming not "to protect and to serve" the public but to enforce mindless bureaucratic rules and regulations, even to the extent of imprisoning people like Rick who have harmed noone, just over a technical violation of a tourist visa. That a citizen of New Zealand should even require a visa to enter the US is a pathetic indictment of the mindless security measures that are now in force in the US. New Zealand is not Saudi Arabia. Visas were previously required only for citizens from countries not on friendly terms with the US.

Martin

[James Heaps-Nelson]

I found this on the SOLOP site, posted by Melissa Lepley. The link is:

http://www.solopassion.com/node/3510

Here is what happened, as described by Melissa:

"Some of you may have noticed the absence of Rick Giles from this forum for the last month or so. He is not on vacation; he has not given up, or left in a huff. He is in jail, and has been since the 26th or 27th of September. He has been in prison, without arrest, without trial, without legal recourse or appeal, for almost a month. And why? What heinous crime, you might ask, warrants being thrown into jail with no rights, no information, and no idea how long he’ll be incarcerated? Well, the combined crimes of not being a US citizen and misreading the date on his tourist visa.

Rick was asking directions to the bus station, as pedestrians aren’t allowed to cross the border into Canada, on the 26th of last month. Instead of helping, the policeman took his ID, checked his visa, and found that instead of expiring on the 27th, as Rick believed, it expired on the 20th. He was taken into custody, and has been there ever since.

The INS, which is supposed to notify the New Zealand embassy whenever a NZ citizen is arrested, did not. His social worker, whom he requested get the address and phone number of the NZ consulate, got him the contact information for the embassy in New Zealand. If he hadn’t written my phone number on his arm during the few moments he had alone with his stuff, nobody would have any idea where he is. He used his one phone-call to call me, and I have harassed, begged, and bluffed my way to getting his address, inmate number, and all the information I can get, which is woefully little.

I have made contact with the NZ consulate in Chicago, and the Embassy in Washington DC. I informed them that one of their citizens had been summarily tossed into prison for the smallest offense imaginable. You’ll be glad to know that they are using their full diplomatic might on his behalf. They are making a file. They faxed him a letter informing him of his rights, which amount to nothing. They are very friendly and courteous, and try to be helpful. However, unless the US starts to torture Rick, there’s nothing they can do. Apparently the US government can hold him as long as they want, for whatever reason (or lack thereof) they choose.

This is a plea, dear SOLOists, from me. If anyone has any experience with dealing with the INS, or with the US Justice system… if anyone knows anything or anyone who can help, or even give advice, please contact me. I have done everything I can think of, and he’s still there, no court date, no rights, and no expectation of release. I can write letters to him, and send him books, writing materials, and stamps. However, I don’t even know where to begin to get him free.

Thank you."

It's hard to think of a better example of how the US is creeping toward totalitarianism than this. Rick is in jail awaiting deporation for the crime of overstaying his tourist visa by one week. This is the kind of thing for which people are now being put in jail. No victim, noone hurt, noone's rights violated, but Rick committed the unpardonable offense of not following the state's increasingly oppressive bureaucratic regulations. And for this, he must be locked up like a dangerous criminal.

I don't often have anything good to say about Lindsay Perigo, but Linz has taken up the banner of "Free Rick Giles!". He claims to have contacted some friends of his in high places who may be in a position to help.

This is a truly pathetic illustration of the kind of society the US has become since 9/11.

Free Rick Giles!

Martin

Sorry to hear of your friends plight. I cannot give you legal advice, however, as a mediator I can offer you insight and guidance. Methods that have been used in the past, would be a Writ of Mandamus in the Federal District Court to compel the production of the individual before a Federal Magistrate in order to present the facts of his "detainment". It is a step down from a Writ of Habeaus Corpus, the sacred writ as it is referred to, which would argue that he is being illegally detained. However, the states defense would be that he is being legally detained pursuant to the Patriot Act or another Federal Act. Unfortunately, you have an uphill fight. Out of curiosity, did the NZ embassy tell you that they cannot provide him with counsel to represent him? Also, it would be important for you to get a limited power of attorney from him so that you can push the system. The "social worker" should be able to have the document notarized. Wish I could be more helpful.

Rick is not my friend. I've never met him. I just learned about this case while browsing the SOLOP site. Rick is a friend of Melissa, who has bravely taken up his cause. Rick will at some point be released from jail, at which time he will be deported to his home country of New Zealand, even though he was legally working in Canada. But instead of letting Rick return to Canada, where he is legally entitled to be, the US taxpayers will bear the cost of imprisoning him, then paying for his plane ticket back to New Zealand, where Rick doesn't want to go, after which Rick will presumably have to buy another plane ticket to fly back to Canada. But the idiot bureaucrats of the INS are just doing their jobs, just like any other mindless bureaucrats.

Another lesson to be learned from this episode -- the police are not your friends! This is not the first story I have heard of someone innocently approaching the police for help and being subsequently arrested by the ever-so-helpful police. As the United States slips relentlessly into a police state, the job of the police is increasingly becoming not "to protect and to serve" the public but to enforce mindless bureaucratic rules and regulations, even to the extent of imprisoning people like Rick who have harmed noone, just over a technical violation of a tourist visa. That a citizen of New Zealand should even require a visa to enter the US is a pathetic indictment of the mindless security measures that are now in force in the US. New Zealand is not Saudi Arabia. Visas were previously required only for citizens from countries not on friendly terms with the US.

Martin

Rick forgot the cardinal rule of dealing with US policemen: always have a box of doughnuts and a crisp $20 at the ready . Seriously, my experience with the INS suggests several things: always have your documents in order, try not to move from state to state if you don't have to. always keep your appointments and make as little contact with officials as possible.

Jim

Edited October 25, 2007 by James Heaps-Nelson

[Barbara Branden]

What happened to Rick is unfortunate, and as presented, clearly stupid and wrong. But I don't see that one can conclude from this single example -- or even a dozen such examples -- that America is becoming a police state. If I told you that late one night, when I was afraid to drive into the garage in my building because a murder had been committed there, two sheriff's deputies drove me home, escorted me to my apartment, checked out the apartment, wished me well and left -- would you conclude that the police are our friends and use good judgment about the laws they enforce? Would you conclude that this proves we are not becoming a police state?

Barbara

[James Heaps-Nelson]

What happened to Rick is unfortunate, and as presented, clearly stupid and wrong. But I don't see that one can conclude from this single example -- or even a dozen such examples -- that America is becoming a police state. If I told you that late one night, when I was afraid to drive into the garage in my building because a murder had been committed there, two sheriff's deputies drove me home, escorted me to my apartment, checked out the apartment, wished me well and left -- would you conclude that the police are our friends and use good judgment about the laws they enforce? Would you conclude that this proves we are not becoming a police state?

Barbara

I agree, but if you get on the wrong end of some of its more thuggish bureaucracies such as the INS, IRS, DEA and others it can seem differently. I guess if you pay your taxes, keep your immigration appointments and keep it simple, and stay away from drugs you can usually avoid the most annoying hassles.

Jim

[Chris Grieb]

Jim; I am very happy your dealings with the INS are at an end. I am right about that. I totally feel for anyone who has to deal with the DEA.

Barbara; I hope my dealings with police go like yours did.

Edited October 26, 2007 by Chris Grieb

[Philip Coates]

This whole story just doesn't sound quite right to me:

Given the sheer volume of people coming across the borders and through the airports, there must be thousands of people every year whose papers are not in order; it must be very common to let something expire. If you had a policy of arresting all of them, that would be impractical. Even bureaucracies are seldom that stupid.

[Robert Campbell]

I wish Rick Giles a quick and safe exit from arbitrary detention. And I would like to hear some high US government official explain, in front of TV cameras, exactly how locking Rick up is protecting the United States from terrorists or international criminals.

There are certain bureaucracies that are capable of monumental stupidity as well as considerable thuggishness. La Migra (now called ICE, formerly the INS) has demonstrated both qualities on many an occasion.

I think Martin is overgeneralizing about visas, though. Until the 1990s, British citizens needed a visa to visit the United States. That requirement has since been removed. I wonder when Americans stopped needing to get visas to travel to non-hostile Western European countries, and vice versa.

Meanwhile, I don't know the history behind the requirement that New Zealanders get visas to travel to the USA, but I doubt that it was laid on post 9-11-2001. I do know that I had to obtain an electronic visa (pretty easy to get, but definitely required) to travel to Australia in 1998.

Robert Campbell

[James Heaps-Nelson]

This whole story just doesn't sound quite right to me:

Given the sheer volume of people coming across the borders and through the airports, there must be thousands of people every year whose papers are not in order; it must be very common to let something expire. If you had a policy of arresting all of them, that would be impractical. Even bureaucracies are seldom that stupid.

Phil, my guess is that Rick had the misfortune of getting detained in Detroit. Dearborn Michigan has one of the biggest Arab populations in the country. I think they need to deport a certain number of non-Arabs in order to not to be accused of discrimination.

Jim

[Brant Gaede]

This whole story just doesn't sound quite right to me:

Given the sheer volume of people coming across the borders and through the airports, there must be thousands of people every year whose papers are not in order; it must be very common to let something expire. If you had a policy of arresting all of them, that would be impractical. Even bureaucracies are seldom that stupid.

Phil, my guess is that Rick had the misfortune of getting detained in Detroit. Dearborn Michigan has one of the biggest Arab populations in the country. I think they need to deport a certain number of non-Arabs in order to not to be accused of discrimination.

Jim

If the INS detains someone who is in the country illegally certain procedures are followed and they have nothing to do with race or nationality. Typically the illegal is offered voluntary departure as opposed to appearing before an immigration judge. When my step-mother had that job they were called Special Inquiry Officers. She retired for health reasons before they were called judges, but she stayed long enough to begin wearing a black judicial robe during proceedings. These positions are for the highest government pay grade, I think GS-15. Any higher requires appointment and I think confirmation. The discretion of an immigration judge is strictly limited by law. For instance, through my step-mother I was acquainted with the SIO who presided over the John Lennon deportation hearing, Ira Fieldsteel, who was a big fan of Lennon and would have done anything to not issue an order of deportation, but since Lennon, I believe, had pleaded guilty in Great Britain to a mary jane possession he had no choice but to order him deported. Lennon appealed to a Federal Court which arbitrarily said he didn't have to be deported. The government declined to appeal the verdict, which would have been successful, so Lennon was allowed to stay. He was murdered nine years later in NYC. What obviously happened is that the judge let the Nixon Administration off the hook (and Lennon) by issuing a legally indefensible verdict and the Dept. of Justice declined to appeal avoiding all the horrible publicity that would have ensued by kicking Lennon out of the country.

--Brant

Edited October 26, 2007 by Brant Gaede

[Brant Gaede]

Addendum: An immigration judge is NOT a member of an independent judiciary. He can simply be fired, albeit with cause. A true Federal judge is. However, that independence has been severely limited by the end of discretionary sentencing. Once upon a time a Federal judge could destroy an egregious, unjust prosecution and conviction with a light sentence. Not any more.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

This whole story just doesn't sound quite right to me:

Given the sheer volume of people coming across the borders and through the airports, there must be thousands of people every year whose papers are not in order; it must be very common to let something expire. If you had a policy of arresting all of them, that would be impractical. Even bureaucracies are seldom that stupid.

Phil,

Nobody is saying the following out of respect for Rick while he is in jail, but his online presence is characterized by being feisty and at times smart-assed. If he shot off his mouth to a law enforcement agent (and I am not saying he did, but I can easily imagine it if the agent's demeanor was aggressive), this could be one of the reasons for his woes.

I personally know two people in Brazil who were smart-asses to police and ended up in the clinker. One was an underworld dude who liked to taunt cops. He was always in an out of jail, half the time for the taunts. The other, a woman, ended up on the front page of the yellow press newspapers for about a week in a story about being a psychologist who slept with homeless bums in her car as a study. She told me the story was false. The story was retaliation for cussing out the police after waking up in jail. She had blacked out in her car alongside the road after a party so the cops put her in jail until she slept it off. Then, waking up, she went off on them and wouldn't stop. After several threats, they simply called the reporters who were hanging around the station, got a homeless guy to corroborate a story they made up on the spot and off it went. Of course they released her immediately so she could face the publicity in the comfort of her own home.

And during the military dictatorship, there was one poor soul who went on a drinking binge with a sergeant, got into some kind of pissing match and woke up in DOI-CODI (where they tortured political prisoners during that time). They tortured him for a month to get him to "tell the real truth" about why he was arrested. They tried hard to get him to confess being a communist.

To be fair to Brazilian police, I was friends with several and they were of high integrity. They helped me more than once when they did not need to. They believed in their mission to get the bad guys. I am not acquainted with any American law enforcement agents, but I imagine they are pretty much the same. There are those of high integrity alongside with some really nasty folks and lots of degrees in between.

Michael

[Chris Grieb]

Jim; Your point about Dearborn sounds like a good one.

Phil; I've gotten into trouble smarting off to a police officer so it can happen.

I hope everything works out.

[tjohnson]

Unsanity is present at all levels in our bureacracy - from the border guard to the Prime Minister. The border guards are just "doing their jobs" - so were the Nazi guards at the crematoriums. What's a fella to do?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/politicalbytes/

Now it's a crime to protest war in the US and if your convicted you can't come into Canada either. We don't want any damn peace activists up here!

"The border officer doesn't make a distinction between what were the extenuating circumstances that arose to a certain conviction," Day says, "And so border officers are required in fact to restrict certain people from coming in."

Says the Public Safety Minister - I'm so glad he's looking out for my safety. I feel really threatened by a peace activist lady from the US.

[Martin Radwin]

Unsanity is present at all levels in our bureacracy - from the border guard to the Prime Minister. The border guards are just "doing their jobs" - so were the Nazi guards at the crematoriums. What's a fella to do?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/politicalbytes/

Now it's a crime to protest war in the US and if your convicted you can't come into Canada either. We don't want any damn peace activists up here!

"The border officer doesn't make a distinction between what were the extenuating circumstances that arose to a certain conviction," Day says, "And so border officers are required in fact to restrict certain people from coming in."

Says the Public Safety Minister - I'm so glad he's looking out for my safety. I feel really threatened by a peace activist lady from the US.

Thanks for bring up this latest abomination coming out of Canada. I just read about this on Wendy McElroy's site,

http://zetetics.com/mac/news.php

Wendy writes,

"Today I am ashamed to be Canadian. The Associated Press reports, A U.S. peace activist who was barred from Canada after past arrests for anti-war activities was denied entry to the country again Thursday, despite having an invitation from several members of parliament...."If you get arrested just for protesting policies, Canada will exclude you," Wright said. Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the anti-war organization CODEPINK who is also barred from entering Canada, states, It is outrageous that the FBI is placing peace activists on an international criminal database--a blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies. But the Canadian Border Service should not be using this FBI database as its Bible and we are prepared to challenge these policies.

Her concern is pressing as the American "terror watch list" used to refuse entry has grown to 755,000 names. Wired reports, Since the list is now used in nearly all routine police stops and for domestic airline travel, Americans made up the bulk of those matches. If you estimate conservatively that 2/3rds are American (500,000 names out of a population of 300,000,000), then approximately one in every 600 Americans is on the list.

I wish Canada had a leader with the principles and balls of former PM Lester B. Pearson. While in office (1963–1968), Pearson flatly and repeatedly refused American demands for Canada to enter the Vietnam War. On April 2, 1965, he famously spoke at Temple University in Philadelphia and argued for a negotiated settlement to the War -- an act that enraged President Lyndon B. Johnson. Under Pearson's government, American draft dodgers were not only welcomed as immigrants but also received extensive assistance from Canadian anti-war activists. Approximately 125,000 Americans arrived and an estimated 50,000 stayed despite the amnesty offered by President Carter in 1977. Now Canada turns away peace activists who are invited by its own members of Parliament. I am ashamed."

This is a perfect example of how the US is not only becoming a police state but is exporting this totalitarianism to formerly relatively libertarian enclaves like Canada. Canada used to be a place where Americans could escape the slavery of conscription during the Vietnam War. Now, Canada bans US peace activists from entering the country. What a distance to travel in less than 40 years.

It is now the policy of the US government to deny US citizens passports for all kinds of minor crimes, including victimless crimes than should not be crimes at all. Among other things, US citizens can be denied a passport for being delinquent on their child support payments, even though, amazingly enough, there is nothing in the US constitution giving the US government jurisdiction over family law. Without a passport, it is now impossible to leave the US. So the government can and does literally imprison US citizens within the US. This is just like the old "iron curtain" of the old Soviet Union under communism, where Soviet citizens were imprisoned within their own country. How long will it be before US citizens start having to defect, to seek political asylum in other countries? Unfortunately, there will be very few countries left to defect to. I think we can now safely cross Canada off the list.

Martin

[James Heaps-Nelson]

Unsanity is present at all levels in our bureacracy - from the border guard to the Prime Minister. The border guards are just "doing their jobs" - so were the Nazi guards at the crematoriums. What's a fella to do?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/politicalbytes/

Now it's a crime to protest war in the US and if your convicted you can't come into Canada either. We don't want any damn peace activists up here!

"The border officer doesn't make a distinction between what were the extenuating circumstances that arose to a certain conviction," Day says, "And so border officers are required in fact to restrict certain people from coming in."

Says the Public Safety Minister - I'm so glad he's looking out for my safety. I feel really threatened by a peace activist lady from the US.

Thanks for bring up this latest abomination coming out of Canada. I just read about this on Wendy McElroy's site,

http://zetetics.com/mac/news.php

Wendy writes,

"Today I am ashamed to be Canadian. The Associated Press reports, A U.S. peace activist who was barred from Canada after past arrests for anti-war activities was denied entry to the country again Thursday, despite having an invitation from several members of parliament...."If you get arrested just for protesting policies, Canada will exclude you," Wright said. Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the anti-war organization CODEPINK who is also barred from entering Canada, states, It is outrageous that the FBI is placing peace activists on an international criminal database--a blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies. But the Canadian Border Service should not be using this FBI database as its Bible and we are prepared to challenge these policies.

Her concern is pressing as the American "terror watch list" used to refuse entry has grown to 755,000 names. Wired reports, Since the list is now used in nearly all routine police stops and for domestic airline travel, Americans made up the bulk of those matches. If you estimate conservatively that 2/3rds are American (500,000 names out of a population of 300,000,000), then approximately one in every 600 Americans is on the list.

I wish Canada had a leader with the principles and balls of former PM Lester B. Pearson. While in office (1963–1968), Pearson flatly and repeatedly refused American demands for Canada to enter the Vietnam War. On April 2, 1965, he famously spoke at Temple University in Philadelphia and argued for a negotiated settlement to the War -- an act that enraged President Lyndon B. Johnson. Under Pearson's government, American draft dodgers were not only welcomed as immigrants but also received extensive assistance from Canadian anti-war activists. Approximately 125,000 Americans arrived and an estimated 50,000 stayed despite the amnesty offered by President Carter in 1977. Now Canada turns away peace activists who are invited by its own members of Parliament. I am ashamed."

This is a perfect example of how the US is not only becoming a police state but is exporting this totalitarianism to formerly relatively libertarian enclaves like Canada. Canada used to be a place where Americans could escape the slavery of conscription during the Vietnam War. Now, Canada bans US peace activists from entering the country. What a distance to travel in less than 40 years.

It is now the policy of the US government to deny US citizens passports for all kinds of minor crimes, including victimless crimes than should not be crimes at all. Among other things, US citizens can be denied a passport for being delinquent on their child support payments, even though, amazingly enough, there is nothing in the US constitution giving the US government jurisdiction over family law. Without a passport, it is now impossible to leave the US. So the government can and does literally imprison US citizens within the US. This is just like the old "iron curtain" of the old Soviet Union under communism, where Soviet citizens were imprisoned within their own country. How long will it be before US citizens start having to defect, to seek political asylum in other countries? Unfortunately, there will be very few countries left to defect to. I think we can now safely cross Canada off the list.

Martin

We could all be like Bobby Fischer and go to Iceland .

Jim

[Jonathan]

Nobody is saying the following out of respect for Rick while he is in jail, but his online presence is characterized by being feisty and at times smart-assed. If he shot off his mouth to a law enforcement agent (and I am not saying he did, but I can easily imagine it if the agent's demeanor was aggressive), this could be one of the reasons for his woes.

I see that SOLOPsists are trying to get the media interested in Giles' case. I hope they succeed because, honestly, the only reports that I would even come close to thinking of as reliable would be those based on interviews of both sides of the ordeal (and of any disinterested bystanders who may have witnessed what happened). To be blunt, I wouldn't trust the cop who arrested Giles, any INS agents who handled his case, or Giles (or most other SOLOPsists, for that matter) as far as I could kick any of them. Not only is it possible that Giles was "feisty" and "smart-assed," but I wouldn't be surprised if he intentionally overstayed his visa, and then looked for a cop at whom to flash his expired papers, or otherwise provoked him.

Have you seen SOLOPsist Claudia's account of her night out? I could easily see Giles coming from the same enraged, preachy, complete-lack-of-proportion mindset when dealing with the cop he approached. (Btw, it's interesting that apparently a dude can touch Claudia's ass five times before she says anything about it, and even after the sixth time she won't chew him out for touching her ass, but for enforcing a rule on private property without being able to explain with sufficiently correct logic why he's enforcing it.)

Anyway, it would be great to see something resembling an unbiased report from a journalist who has investigated the events without having been involved in them -- I'd like to hear all sides of the story.

J

Edited October 26, 2007 by Jonathan

[bmacwilliam]

This is a perfect example of how the US is not only becoming a police state but is exporting this totalitarianism to formerly relatively libertarian enclaves like Canada. Canada used to be a place where Americans could escape the slavery of conscription during the Vietnam War. Now, Canada bans US peace activists from entering the country. What a distance to travel in less than 40 years.

"libertarian enclaves like Canada."

That the first time I've seen these words strung together in that order!

Bob

[Selene]

What happened to Rick is unfortunate, and as presented, clearly stupid and wrong. But I don't see that one can conclude from this single example -- or even a dozen such examples -- that America is becoming a police state. If I told you that late one night, when I was afraid to drive into the garage in my building because a murder had been committed there, two sheriff's deputies drove me home, escorted me to my apartment, checked out the apartment, wished me well and left -- would you conclude that the police are our friends and use good judgment about the laws they enforce? Would you conclude that this proves we are not becoming a police state?

Barbara

Precisely Barbara. I have clients, family and friends that are in law enforcement. The non sequitur that is being advanced here is basically not valid.

Incidently, when I attended NBI in the Empire State Building, I always admired the way you carried yourself, happy to see you well and still being rational.

[Selene]

This is a perfect example of how the US is not only becoming a police state but is exporting this totalitarianism to formerly relatively libertarian enclaves like Canada. Canada used to be a place where Americans could escape the slavery of conscription during the Vietnam War. Now, Canada bans US peace activists from entering the country. What a distance to travel in less than 40 years.

"libertarian enclaves like Canada."

That the first time I've seen these words strung together in that order!

Bob

Libertarian and socialist Canada is an oxymoron.

[Robert Campbell]

Jonathan,

To be blunt, I wouldn't trust the cop who arrested Giles, any INS agents who handled his case, or Giles (or most other SOLOPsists, for that matter) as far as I could kick any of them. Not only is it possible that Giles was "feisty" and "smart-assed," but I wouldn't be surprised if he intentionally overstayed his visa, and then looked for a cop at whom to flash his expired papers, or otherwise provoked him.

I'm going to give Mr. Giles the benefit of the doubt on this one, and I think everyone else should, too.

This is not because my personal interactions with him have been pleasant. Quite the contrary--after one baffling exchange on the old SOLOHQ, I stopped responding to his posts.

Over at SOLOP, even Mr. Perigo has complained about Mr. Giles from time to time.

None of that is particularly important here. A government agent who has been granted the power to arbitrarily arrest and detain people under grossly nonobjective laws has used that power.

I'll believe that Mr. Giles provoked said agent when I see the evidence. Not before, not until.

Robert Campbell