If you have a secret compartment in your car -even empty - you could soon do 5 years in PA

[Tsiyu]

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140519/cops-can-now-search-your-car-without-a-warrant-in-pa


Cops can now search your car without a warrant in Pa.

"The state Supreme Court ruled last week that police are allowed to search vehicles without a warrant. The state General Assembly, meanwhile, is moving forward with a bill that would give cops the authority to arrest people caught with “secret compartments” in their vehicles, even if there is nothing illegal in those suspicious containers.

snip

On the same day the Supreme Court ruling was announced, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved legislation making it a crime to possess a car with “secret compartments.” If the bill becomes law, anyone caught with such compartments could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor and have their vehicle seized by police — even if the compartments hold nothing but air.


A conviction would carry up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.


State Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery, the bill’s sponsor, said law enforcement asked her to introduce the bill. Police are concerned about vehicles that pass through Pennsylvania on a well-known smuggling route between New York and Florida."

Well this should do wonders for tourism in the state. I sometimes drive to NY. I will DRIVE AROUND Pa next time, no matter how long it takes. Who wants to go on a trip knowing you might end up spending 5 years in prison for having air in a secret compartment you maybe didn't even know about?

Are Republicans all going batshhit crazy control freak or what?

FUCK YOU HARPER!

Here's the miserable excuse for a human right here:

&maxh=400&maxw=667


Jayzuss when I think I've heard everything......

[Baitball Blogger]

1. Land of the free.

[Tsiyu]

2. I guess they have to trample on every right we have

to keep us free?

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. +100

[Octafish]

3. Land of the Free.

Home of the Brave.

[Tsiyu]

10. Isn't this the state that had payoffs to judges to incarcerate kids for nonsense?

I wonder if their for-profit prisons aren't staying full, and it wasn't law enforcement, but Corrections Corp of America who asked for another new stupid crime to charge people with to fill up those cells?

Harper should be ashamed of herself, ashamed to show her face in public...just another Repuke who views the Constitution as a "goddamned piece of paper."

This is just insanity. And the clown posse Republicans keep voting for this erosion of their rights, but want zero regulation of corporations.

Insanity

[Uncle Joe]

40. I wouldn't be surprised one bit, if that was the case.

I wonder if their for-profit prisons aren't staying full, and it wasn't law enforcement, but Corrections Corp of America who asked for another new stupid crime to charge people with to fill up those cells?

[Octafish]

51. Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr appreciated children as a business opportunity.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022891989

[Tsiyu]

70. Yes, sick sick sick

I guess they haven't learned their lesson in PA.

Greed knows no bounds, does it?

[diabeticman]

5. Wait a minute! My grandmother's 1999 car which I am driving how has a compartment inside her glove

compartment. NOT to mention this bill goes against the 4th amendment.

this country is really getting fucked up....

[Tsiyu]

11. Tell her NOT to ever go to Pennsylvania!

Or Nazi Pennsyltucky, Godwin's law be damned - this new law is worse.

And screw their Courts there. They are shitting on the Constitution every way they can.

Makes me so disgusted, but I hope it backfires, and maybe MAYBE the SCOTUS will strike both laws down as the Unconstitutional crap they are

[diabeticman]

29. We live in Pennsylvania and unfortunately she passed... don't feel bad--but this really is getting

sad this whole entire country.

[Tsiyu]

31. My condolences

Last edited Thu May 22, 2014, 10:53 PM - Edit history (1)

At least she didn't have to see her nation coming to this awful state.

Hope you get rid of the car!

[diabeticman]

58. really all cars can fall into this catagory. how many arm rests double as storage? This is just

a crap law design to feed our for profit prison system...


thank you for your symphathy.. she passed away a few months ago. lived to the age of 94

[snooper2]

68. that isn't a secret compartment they are referring to

They are looking for what I had on my 1977 Jeep Wagoneer where we welded a steel box under the passenger side floor board that could hold a six pack of 16 ounce beers and a good couple ounces

[Art_from_Ark]

18. I've got a "secret compartment" under my front passenger seat

It's there as a way of hiding valuables from potential thieves.

[Tsiyu]

32. You stop lying, Boy, and respeck Kate Harper's Authoritah!

We know you're smuggling Mexican babies in there!

[Art_from_Ark]

35. It's a fair cop,

but society's to blame

[Half-Century Man]

6. What constitutes a "secret compartment"?

My parents owned a 1970 or 71 VW microbus/ camper version, which had at least 2 compartments which were hard to find if you were unfamiliar with the model.
Is police ignorance of a particular model of vehicle a violation of the law?

[Aerows]

14. Police ignorance

is usually the contributing factor to a violation of the law, but not by the person they are accusing.

[Tsiyu]

16. I'm sure cops won't abuse their discretion, aren't you?

Suppose you buy a new car and have no clue about "hidden compartments?"

Can you imagine just taking a nice trip to Philly or Hershey or Lancaster with the kids, and the next thing you know, you're sentenced to five years in prison?

Holey Moley, Harper is one ghoulish fiend I hope to never meet. She and the supreme court of PA have just declared that they have probable cause to suspect that every single driver in their state is a terrorist or smuggler.

How's that for a politician thinking the best of people?

[Half-Century Man]

20. If you use the filter of "yourself" as the basis of how you see the world.

And you automatically assume everybody is a criminal....That says something interesting about you.

[Tsiyu]

28. That's what I'm saying

Kate Harper and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania have all just said that any driver on their roads is a criminal who deserves to have no fourth amendment rights, even if they are innocent.

Treating people like this is going to backfire one day.

Who knows what the tipping point is going to be, but there will be a reckoning if Republicans don't stop this Gestapo shit.

Why are the voters on the right so stupid, to elect this trash

And make no mistake, Kate Harper is pure Republican TRASH, not worth as much to society as the used up gum stuck to her shoe.

[Half-Century Man]

33. Never attribute to malice those things easily explained by stupidity.

This might be a ALEC test case.
She might be.....challenged by linear thought.
She is a lawyer, so could be doing her industry a solid by drumming up business.

[Tsiyu]

39. You have 2222 posts

but I digress...


she is doing someone's bidding, even if it's only that of the demons in her own soul

[Half-Century Man]

42. I passed another un-noticed milestone....

Time really flies when you stop paying attention.

[FiveGoodMen]

82. 2/3 of your examples indicate malice

[Dawson Leery]

37. Kate Harper has less value than a pile of horse s**t.

[Tsiyu]

41. Horse shit is very valuable actually

nice mild fertilizer


I wouldn't want Kate Harper to even taint my nice horse manure!

[MohRokTah]

7. There are so many spaces on any given car that could be described as "secret compartments"...

that they will make every PA driver a felon as soon as the bill becomes law.

[TeeYiYi]

15. True, but I don't think they'll target Pennsylvania drivers...

...so much as drivers from any other state, passing through on their way to .a.n.y.w.h.e.r.e.

Although, I'm sure they'll use the law as an excuse to bust a few locals. Creepy as fuck.

Jesus Christ, I hate republicans.

TYY

[Tsiyu]

17. Oh, yeah, they will target anyone from any other state first

but like you said, this opens the door for them to abuse everyone equally driving on their roads.

Why are Republicans hellbent on destroying all but the second amendment?

Do they WANT us to come after them with torches and pitchforks?

Do they DESIRE the guillotine?


Makes you wonder if Harper and her Repuke cronies don't have a death wish. This is an intolerable law they are proposing.

[hunter]

57. Out of state and/or driving while brown or black.

White people from white people places driving newer white people cars won't be stopped.

[TeamPooka]

65. +1000

[MohRokTah]

60. When the law makes everyone a criminal, police get to pick and choose. eom

[jberryhill]

8. My son's car has several secret compartments

The washer fluid reservoir, the radiator overflow reservoir, and the oil pan - As far as he is concerned, the functions of these compartments is a total enigma.

[MohRokTah]

9. BTW, if the court ruled that the cops can search without a warrant in absence of consent,...

the PA Supreme Court will be overturned on appeal due to the SCOTUS ruling in Arizona v. Gant.

[Tsiyu]

19. What in hell are they thinking?

I think they want to fill their prisons, and this is their novel approach to do just that.

"Well, Herbert. Our prisons are empty. People are being too GOOD!"


"Well, let's make it illegal to wear shoes with secret compartments."

"Ooooh, I like it! Anyone wearing shoes can be searched, and even if we don't find anything, we'll put them in jail for five years just for THINKING about putting something in their shoes!"

"I love the way you think, Miss Harper!"


Pretty sick whatever their rationale.

[sofa king]

89. Cash-jacking.

All paper money has traces of cocaine on it, so police in many states have used that and other flimsy justifications to confiscate large sums of cash money found in car searches. The victim is invited to return with proof of ownership of the money--or something, but usually they never get it back whether the money was legitimate or not.

The secret compartment ruse is probably a component of the cash-jacking. Did you have the money in a custom-made place? We'll take the money and don't come back for it or FIVE YEARS!

http://jalopnik.com/5913416/cops-can-confiscate-money-and-property-from-law-abiding-citizens

[jmowreader]

12. Did PA just contract out the management of its prisons or something?

The law states that the compartment must be "used or intended to be used" for criminal activity. That doesn't make me feel so good; every car made today has "secret compartments" in it (heat ducts and the space under the back seat of a Volkswagen Bug - which isn't all that secret since it's where the battery is - come to mind) and the combination of a heating duct and "just look at him, your honor, doesn't he look like a Dope Peddler?" is enough to put you in the prison kitchen for the next five years.

If they want to do this they need to add language that the cops must prove the secret compartment was not installed in the car at the factory.

[Tsiyu]

21. Just pure craziness is all

And I think you're right.

they want that prison $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and they will get it off the backs of innocent people

Pure Repuke scum

[Aerows]

13. I think this is true in OH, too

I read an article about it, and was stunned that a guy bought a used car and was prosecuted for having a hidden passage that he didn't even know about.

[Tsiyu]

23. This is the first I heard of this crap

It's unbelievable.

Either they think we're all too stupid to know they want MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ or they want us to revolt.

I can't see any sane person thinking this is in any way Constitutional.

Kate Harper and her ghouls are making America a laughing stock. The rest of the civilized world thinks we're batshit insane, and I guess Kate Harper wants to keep it that way.

[Aerows]

44. It's unbelievable

You could be so far removed you don't know what a drug looks like or own a gun, but get arrested for potentially having either just because you bought the wrong car. It's insane.

[hollowdweller]

22. Tell the NRA and gun owners

It is designed to deny people a place to conceal their guns from government confiscation and it will be overwhelmingly opposed.

[Tsiyu]

25. Well, there's a strategy

Interesting way to battle it....

[Le Taz Hot]

83. Might I suggest you go to the gungeon

and make that suggestion? That's (almost) worth signing on to some crazy NRA website and alerting them. Be sure and misspell every 4th or 5th word so you blend in better. Don't forget to throw something in about "obummer."

[MattBaggins]

24. I live in NY

We call PA "The state you pass through to get some place else"

[Tsiyu]

26. Do they still post the fines for speeding on the signs everywhere?

Bill Bryson did not have good things to say about his experience on the Appalachian trail there, in his book A Walk in the Woods

Maybe if they spent more money on parks and trail shelters and tourism, they would be a decent state.

Screw em now. I'll never drive through there again.

And I like Philly....

[TeeYiYi]

27. I think I'd start going around. ..nt

TYY

[liberalhistorian]

59. I'm originally from Ohio and that's also

how we used to talk about PA. Except that, nowadays, you could say the same thing about most of Ohio, unfortunately.

[KT2000]

30. SUV's and wagons

have secret compartments to discourage thefts. How stupid can they get?

[Tsiyu]

36. Very, very stupid, apparently!

Kate Harper and her Supremes probably have secret compartments in their own vehicles.

This is just mind boggling, ain't it?

[Comrade Grumpy]

34. This is a bill that won a committee vote, not yet a law. There is time to kill it.

Pennsylvanians need to let their representatives know they don't like this.

[Tsiyu]

38. Let's hope they respond vehemently

And even if it's not passed, who thinks up such a draconian concept as "secret empty compartments will cost you ten grand and five years of your life?"

What kind of foul beast do you have to be to imagine such a law?

[X_Digger]

43. I'd want to read the case first.

The state Supreme Court ruled last week that police are allowed to search vehicles without a warrant.

Cops have always been able to search cars without a warrant, given proper probable cause. This isn't something new.

[Aerows]

45. And it's a bad law.

Period.

[X_Digger]

47. The secret compartment thing? Yep.

I installed a pc in my truck 15 years ago, back before ubiquitous input jacks on head units and mp3 players. To keep the install neat, I removed one of the jump seat cushions, creating a compartment for the PC to hide in.

I can imagine falling afoul of this law with that kind of compartment.

[Aerows]

48. It really is.

I can imagine people getting arrested for not knowing that the person that owned the vehicle before them had amps in a cutaway.

[X_Digger]

50. According to the article, police are supposed to have to prove it's for nefarious purposes, but..

.. we know how low such a bar can be in the right court room.

[Aerows]

53. I can see it now

"Frog discovered in hidden compartment, and officers were concerned it was a poison dart frog, native to South American rain forests. Upon further investigation, the frog was a common American green tree frog, but the discovery of the frog caused officers to seize the vehicle in question and arrest the driver. The driver was held for 6 days until authorities from the University identified it as a common American green tree frog."

[phil89]

56. Well

I think they'd shoot the frog first.

[Aerows]

88. Yeah, probably :(.

Frog in the wrong place at the wrong time.

THEN they would arrest and hold the driver for X amount of days.

[Dawson Leery]

46. I am all in favor of breaking up and outlawing ALL law enforcement unions/

representative organizations.

[Logical]

52. + 1000 police "unions" are only to protect bad cops. nt

[Dawson Leery]

54. The other issue is that these "unions" would promote

the criminalization of everything in order to get more business. Calvin Coolidge and FDR agreed. This is why both opposed police unions.

[cleanhippie]

49. This won't pass Constutional muster at all. Its another waste of time and resources.

Even if they pass it, it won't stand.

[Spirochete]

55. WTF?

Did they decide they need to increase the size of their motor pool or something?

[A HERETIC I AM]

61. The Federal Government needs a "Department of Have You Lost Your God Damned Mind?"

And they should be empowered to walk into any agency, Law Enforcement department or State Legislature and loudly ask;

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR GOD DAMNED MIND?

And then strike down absurd regulations.

[Tsiyu]

66. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[wickerwoman]

74. +1

With district offices in Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania.

[A HERETIC I AM]

86. LOL ..... Yup! n/t

[WinkyDink]

85. LOVE it!

[defacto7]

62. I don't know if I have secret compartments or not

but I'm not driving through that state even if to not spend money there.

[NV Whino]

63. I have a car that has a secret compartment as standard equipment

So, is a secret compartment secret if everyone knows about it?

[yuiyoshida]

64. This is so nuts....

I don't I will ever leave California. (Unless Hawaii is calling!)

[wandy]

67. It just occurred to me that I have never owned a car that.........

Did NOT have something that could pass as a 'secret compartment'.
I'm not just thinking spare tires, air cleaners, air induction hoses and windshield washer reservoirs.

Does Pa. intend to set up check points and field strip each and every vehicle?

[Tsiyu]

69. I don't know, but I'd just steer clear of PA if I were anyone from out of state

Let them lock up all their own if that's the kind of state they want. Out-of-staters shouldn't give them a dime of their hard earned money.

I've travelled a lot in PA in the past, actually. Took the kids to Hershey factory, to Lancaster to visit an Amish homestead, etc.

Never again. My own state is pretty bad, but this law is just crazy. No one will want to go through Pennsylvania if they don't absolutely have to.

Too much of a risk. I don't have ten grand or five years to give Kate Harper, that lowlife scumsucking cretin....

[wandy]

71. For what it's worth, I was raised there................

Somewhere between closing coal mines and closing industry it was, well, a nice place to be from.
Still if you really want to impose a stone age lifestyle, turn away business and have the only thing government is usefully for is imposing on human rights, just turn control over to the GOP.
Ahhhhh,,,,,,, the freedumbs of Red State life.

[Tsiyu]

73. I hear ya

I live in red state hell aka TN.

The TN GOP and our resident foaming-at-the-mouth snake-handling teabagger legislators are doing everything in their power to take us back to the stone age.

Just passed a law forbidding high speed transportation in the entire state, with funding from the Kochsuckers. Time for everyone to buy a horse, because next thing you know, we won't be allowed to drive automobiles either.

Our governor Haslam is Bush Jr with a twangy ( real ) accent. He sounds and looks like a goober in a suit, and he, too is in love with Corrections Corporation of America. He just signed a bill re-authorizing electrocution. The Goober Marquis De Sade we got here.

I think the Repukes like Harper and Haslam who fellate the for=profit prison industry have orgasms just thinking about all the people they can lock up for dollars.

Curse them all, and my condolences to you...

[yellowcanine]

72. What if you tell the cop about it as soon as he pulls you over? No longer a secret.

Seems like a big loophole right there.

[Tsiyu]

75. If you trust the cops there, which I wouldn't

And you've also given him a reason to search you.

"Your honor, she admitted to having this super-secret compartment. No, we didn't find anything, but look at her. She's on something and she admitted she went to Mexico seven years ago."


Cops don't normally respect loopholes.

[Ed Suspicious]

76. So what if you buy a car with a secret compartment,

but since the nature of secret compartments is that they're secret, you don't know about it?

[Tsiyu]

77. According to Aerows up above

This is already a law in Ohio, and no, your ignorance of the secret compartment does not convey immunity from 5 years in prison and a 10,000 smackeroo fine.

Fun times, huh?

[knownow]

78. Stop and frisk expanding

unceremonious reduction of your character for public safety, if you have that (secret compartment) you're a bad person so we caught you with air in a compartment that you probably didn't know about. Yeah, that won't clog up the courts.

[Jackpine Radical]

79. Is she at risk of arrest if the cops find the empty secret compartment

between her ears?

[Tsiyu]

84. A most vital question!

To paraphrase Shrub: " Our enemies are doing everything they can to destroy our freedom, and so are we Republicans!"


Can you imagine how sick you have to be to propose incarcerating people for having secret air in their cars? Republicans are all sadists, I am convinced. Kate Harper joins the ranks. I can picture her in spike-heeled leather boots cracking a whip on the hoi polloi and getting off on it.

What in the hell makes a person that mad for power, that eager to lock people up? Oh, yeah. GREED.

[Vinca]

80. My car came with a whole bunch of "secret" compartments.

What are car owners supposed to do . . . have them removed? Total idiots. And where would I hide the objects of my addiction? Twizzler Bites????? Huh?????

[Jackpine Radical]

87. Jeez--Are you gonna admit right out here online

that you smuggle Twizzler Bites?

[customerserviceguy]

81. Asshattery of Harper aside

Wouldn't it be a complete defense to show that the alleged 'secret' compartment was fully described in the vehicle's owner's manual?

[StarryNite]

90. Kick