Innocence is irrelevant

Guilty:  Because we say so, because we have the power to say so, and that’s how we keep you in your place.

DUI BLOG : Bad Drunk Driving Laws, False Evidence and a Fading Constitution

Minneapolis, MN. Mar. 25 – That Daryl Fleck , 55, may not have intended to drive when he was found sleeping drunk in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, parked in his home lot at 11:30 p.m. “is immaterial,” Judge Terri Stoneburner argued in a Minnesota Appeals Court decision that upheld Fleck’s drunk driving conviction…

A sleeping drunk with no intent to drive or motion to constitute driving can now be charged under Minnesota’s Driving While Impaired statute. Make no mistake: This ruling holds that the potential to commit crime constitutes actual crime, and one is guilty until proven innocent. “There is no evidence his purpose for being in the vehicle was inconsistent with driving,” the opinion stated.

By the same “logic,” if you are found admiring someone else’s cool car you are guilty of car theft, and if you are caught window-shopping you are guilty of burglary.

Via Two–Four, who has a quote that you also must read.