Federal Judge ruled Stop & Frisk unconstitutional. Time for a 2nd look at Terry Stops?

New York Despot Michael Bloomberg has taken his virulent hatred of firearms beyond just infringing on the 2nd Amendment rights of his citizens and promoted a program that denies New Yorkers their 4th Amendment rights.

This program is colloquially known as “Stop and Frisk”. Stop and Frisk gives NYPD officers the ability to stop an individual on a whim and search him. Now, a lot of people complain that it is unfairly targeting black people. I complain that it is unfairly targeting ANYONE.

The practice has increased 600% since Bloomberg took office.

Stop and Frisk by the numbers

Stop and Frisk basically lowers the amount of reasonable articulable suspicion needed for an officer to engage in a stop. In fact, looking over the “justifications” on the official police form, reasonable seems to have taken a hike.

Fits description? Funny how many innocent people fit someones description about something.

Actions indicative of casing a victim or location? Actions indicative of acting as a lookout? Just standing around waiting for your friend pretty much gives the NYPD reason to harass you.

Suspicious bulge/object? Phone, wallet, keys, well endowed, take your pick because apparently any of those is going to have you with your hands against the wall.

Furtive movements? REALLY…furtive movements? That doesn’t even take any imagination on the part of the officer to make up. That is the EZ Pass to the rights infringing superhighway.

Fortunately, there was a federal judge who might have actually read the Bill of Rights once or twice and correctly ruled that Stop and Frisk is unconstitutional.

Bloomberg vowed to appeal the ruling. Not surprising because Bloomberg hates not only guns but freedom and liberty of people he thinks are beneath him. He believes that his way is the best way and you can only own what he allows, only eat what he allows, only walk the streets when he allows, only make choices that he allows.

I don’t call Bloomberg a despot because he is anti-gun…he is anti-gun because he is a despot and a fanatical hater of liberty.

But I digress. With this blow against Bloomberg’s tyranny perhaps it is about time the courts took another swing at “Stop and ID” laws and Terry Stops.

The first is much like Stop and Frisk. An officer, with little reason beyond just wanting to, can stop you on the street and demand to see your papers. Very Berlin circa 1938. We’re not talking about trying to vote, or drive a car or board a plane or anything other than simply existing in the world. You shouldn’t need to justify or prove your existence to an officer on his whims.

The latter, for those of you who may be unfamiliar, is called a Terry Stop named after the case Terry v Ohio in 1968 that pretty much opened the door for the gutting of the 4th Amendment.

Terry states that is it not unconstitutional to stop and frisk someone if there is reasonable articulable suspicion that said person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime and has a reasonable belief that the person “may be armed and presently dangerous.”

This is what happens when you start to make exceptions to rights. When you start to chip away at the Bill of Rights, it reverberates throughout the years. Once the crack forms a rivulet of water can crumble the greatest mountain. And so has Terry been that crack that has led us to a dystopian present which finds New York a modern version of Berlin 1938, where Jews are replaced by Blacks and subject to the mad ideas of another tyrant.

As a gun owner I have been subject to a terry stop a time or two simply for being armed. Not being armed in a restricted place or any other way illegally mind you…just simply being armed and as such RAS was inflated in order to justify seeing what else I had on me.

I can assure you, it is not enjoyable to be helpless to a modern day Gestapo who, by violating your rights, dehumanize you and make you feel less than free.

We need to rein in police “discretion” on who they think might be on the way to maybe planning a crime. This isn’t Minority Report.

In reaffirming the 4th Amendment by striking down Terry Stops and all other “show me your papers” infringements, we also strengthen the right to keep and bear arms by not being victimized by police simply because they feel like it.

After all…a rising tide lifts all boats.

It is time for liberty to rise again.