On Sunday, November 4, 2001, at 10:09 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> > I think "overlooking" is too strong a word, I think it's more > reasonable to call it mitigating circimstances. The guardsman > needs to have it explained to him (in a way that the lesson will > stick) that he does not have the authority to block travellers > because he doesn't like their attitude or their political views. > I'm not sure what disciplinary action is appropriate, probably > a reptimand is good enough as long as it's made VERY clear that > any sort of repeat performance will result in sever consequences. >
The problem lies in the _institutional_ abuse of power. Whether that particular soldier is on duty, or "learns his lesson," is neither here nor there. Some _other_ soldier is probably, as we speak, doing the same thing to some other person reading an Unapproved Book, being a member of an Unapproved Political Party, or displaying Unapproved Religious Ornaments. "Reprimanding" a particular soldier does nothing useful. Left as an exercise is what should be done to curtail such violations of Posse Comitatus and such violations of the First and Fourth Amendments. --Tim May "How we burned in the prison camps later thinking: What would things have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive?" --Alexander Solzhenitzyn, Gulag Archipelago