PIML 96052206 / Forwarded to Patriot Information Mailing List: [Our very own police state] PIML Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 02:49:49 -0400 From: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor) Subject: "Drug Train" Searches ACLU News- *"Drug Train" Searches* KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Passengers on a cross-country Amtrak excursion from Kansas City to Los Angeles have increasingly been complaining about undercover narcotic police regularly searching luggage and even private berths, the Associated Press reports. Some travelers, the AP said, were so upset by the searches that they have filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union. "This is supposed to be Kansas. The Land of Oz. But I swear it was just like the 'Midnight Express,'" one passenger, Greg Skibbee, told The Kansas City Star in a story published Thursday. Police say their searches -- which have uncovered illegal drugs and weapons -- help keep Kansas City safe. A police spokesman told the AP that Kansas City police try to hit the trains as often as they can. Dick Kurtenbach, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, told the AP that he was considering a lawsuit. "This is the third complaint we've had about this in the last year,'' Kurtenbach said, adding that he believes the searches are illegal. "Clearly, if you search everyone on a train, you might find people with contraband," he said. "But it doesn't justify the violation of privacy rights of totally innocent people." Skibbee, 37, said he had no idea why police focused on him and his boss, Paul Fischer, 28. The two had flown to Las Vegas April 26 for a vacation, then they drove to Los Angeles, where they caught a May 3 train. "We went to bed fairly late on Saturday night, and about 7:30 in the morning on Sunday I hear this banging on the door,'' Skibbee told the Star in a telephone interview from his office in Tuxedo Park, N.Y. Skibbee said the officer asked him to step out of the room while he searched for contraband. The officer did not have a search warrant, he said, nor did he ask whether he could search. ---------------------------------------------------------------- For general information about the ACLU, write to info@aclu.org ### **************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor,1933 E. Dublin-Granville Rd.,#176, Columbus, OH 43229 **************************************************************************** * Patriot Information Mailing List * http://constitution.org/piml/piml.htm * A service to help inform those who have an active interest in * returning our federal and state governments to limited, * constitutional government * Send messages for consideration and possible posting to * butterb@sagenet.net (Bill Utterback). * To subscribe or unsubscribe, send message with subject line * "subscribe patriot" or "unsubscribe patriot" * Forwarded messages sent on this mailing list are NOT verified. * See World's Smallest Political Quiz: www.self-gov.org/quiz.html * Libertarian is to LIBERTY as librarian is to library (DePena) * PIML grants permission to copy and repost this message * in its entirety with headers and trailers left intact.