Making sense of the Justice System Go lend a useful comment » Governments can’t stand having people around who tell the truth In the U.S. Former Border Patrol agent sues over firing The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit for a former Border Patrol agent who claims he was fired — just weeks before his probationary period ended — because he expressed opinions about illegal immigration and drug legalization. […] Gonzalez said while patrolling near Deming, N.M., in April 2009, he told a fellow agent during a casual conversation that he believed legalizing drugs would reduce violence in Mexico. Gonzalez, who held dual citizenship in Mexico and the U.S. until he turned 18, also told his colleague he understood the economic factors driving immigrants to cross the border illegally. The lawsuit says word of Gonzalez’s comments spread to his supervisor, who notified agency officials in Washington, D.C. An internal affairs investigation followed, leading to the firing. According to the lawsuit, the termination letter stated that Gonzalez held “personal views that were contrary to the core characteristics of Border Patrol agents, which are patriotism, dedication and esprit de corps.” In the U.K. The U.K. government’s been going through all sorts of efforts to get rid of actual scientists from its Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Actual scientists sometimes tend to tell the embarrassing truth rather than merely providing government with made-up justification to support the policy they already chose. Now the government is demonstrating the kind of advisors they want… Government drug adviser under fire over views on gay lifestyle The body that advises the government on its drugs policy faces fresh controversy after the appointment of an expert with controversial views on homosexuality and the role of religion in combating addiction. Dr Hans-Christian Raabe, a Manchester GP and member of the Maranatha Community, an inter-denominational Christian movement, was appointed to the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) last week. Here are some of the beliefs of this new “scientific” drug policy advisor. “Harm reduction has its place, but I’m concerned that it’s the only policy being advocated,” said Raabe, who has spoken out in favour of abstinence-based approaches. [….] Raabe wrote: “The only way of stopping people from dying from drug-related deaths is to prevent drug use in the first place!” […] He also co-signed a letter to a national newspaper in 2004, warning against the government’s decision to reclassify cannabis from class B to class C […] “Studies have shown that religious commitment, religious involvement or being part of a religious community significantly reduces the risk of alcohol, nicotine and drug misuse, and reduces the risk of depression and suicide,” the Council for Health and Wholeness said [Raabe is their medical co-ordinator]. […] Raabe also co-authored a paper that claimed: “While the majority of homosexuals are not involved in paedophilia, it is of grave concern that there is a disproportionately greater number of homosexuals among paedophiles and an overlap between the gay movement and the movement to make paedophilia acceptable.”