Two Nights in Jail for Drinking…Snapple??
May 25th, 2011
And there's the bottle that started it all
How much does a bottle of fruit juice cost? For one New York City resident, it cost him two nights in jail.
Douglas Brown was sitting in his friend’s car in the Bronx on Tuesday afternoon when a policeman approached him. The policeman asked what was in the black plastic bag that Mr. Brown had between his legs, an act that violates the 4th amendment principle of illegal search and seizure, which he believed to be alcohol. Mr. Brown showed the officer that it was merely a bottle of Snapple, then quipped “You have nothing better to do”. The officer took offense to that statement, and had Mr. Brown arrested, charged with obstructing government administration and resisting arrest. Mr. Brown had to spend two nights in jail before a judge threw the charges out. Mr. Brown is now beginning a process of filing a civil suit against the city, claiming wrongful arrest.
It is rare that you see two constitutional amendments flagrantly violated in a manner such as this. The officer had no right to search Mr. Brown’s person without warrant or provocation, and he had no right to arrest him for making a snarky remark, which is protected by the 1st amendment. The police are there to protect our civil liberties, at least in theory, not to curtail them, as this officer did. Plato once remarked “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (Who watches the watchmen?), and it is the duty of every citizen to hold these officials accountable for their actions, or they’ll go on throwing people in jail for drinking fruit juice.
