

Man compelled by police to undergo surgical procedure to "search for drugs" - whiddershins
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3209305.shtml#.UnlKY5TEqG9

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hga
Whoa, the colonoscopy, which is hardly a simple or safe procedure, really
crosses the line of "first, do no harm"
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primum_non_nocere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primum_non_nocere)).
Echoing jlgreco, all the "doctors" involved should lose their licenses to
practice and be barred from ever gaining one in the US in the future. Ditto
the equivalent for nurses.

Of course, I know there are efforts to change the Hippocratic Oath et. al. to
put "the good of society" before that of your patient, so maybe I'm just being
old fashioned.

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epmatsw
Wow, those providers need to lose their jobs. Performing a surgical procedure
without getting consent from the patient in a non-life threatening situation?
Seriously messed up.

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whiddershins
I am actually so naive, I would have thought no amount of probable cause could
force any sort of medical procedure whatsoever. Under any circumstances. No
matter what.

~~~
rcthompson
Yes, I too thought there was no such thing as a court-ordered colonoscopy.

~~~
sp332
There might be, but I don't see a court being involved here. Looks like the
cops shopped around for compliant doctors.

~~~
jlgreco
They apparently got a warrant, but the "searches" were performed in the wrong
jurisdiction and after the warrant was expired.

That a warrant could be issued for such a thing is a problem in itself; the
judge that saw fit to sign that should be thrown out and any law that might
permit such a thing needs to be rectified.

~~~
sp332
Oh, I misread that! Anyway, I think anal searches should be allowed, and
getting a warrant is probably the right way to go about it.

~~~
nate_meurer
Probably?

~~~
sp332
Well, if a cop sees a guy put a knife up there to hide it, maybe a warrant
shouldn't be required. I think that's already covered by current law though.

On the other hand, the court is supposed to provide oversight, and clearly
failed in this example. The warrant was overly broad, and may have been issued
on bad information (we don't know what the cop told the judge to get the
warrant). Either the court is not really keeping an eye on these cops, or the
court itself needs supervision to stop it from issuing overbroad warrants.

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arjn
This is so outrageous that for a second I thought the article may be an Onion-
type hoax. I hope that man sues the county and the police force. They need to
be taken to task.

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jayt92
How can appearing to clench one's buttocks constitute probable cause for a
search warrant?

~~~
jlgreco
When we allow fear to consume us, when we _embrace and encourage_ fear instead
of being ashamed of cowardice, then this is the sort of thing that becomes
justifiable. The shear magnitude of the irrational fear of drugs is
dumfounding, and creates a climate that nurtures shit like this.

~~~
hga
" _The shear magnitude of the irrational fear of drugs is dumfounding_ "

Who says it has anything to do with that at this point?

The police-judicial system have a good thing going, now that real violent
crime rates have overall precipitously dropped. Without pulling this sort of
shit, if you'll pardon the topical expression, there would have to be layoffs
in many police departments and courthouses, and that wouldn't do.

(For more on this theme, about how the police-judicial system (my words of
art) need a steady diet of "the clueless", read _Arrest-Proof Yourself: An Ex-
Cop Reveals How Easy It Is for Anyone to Get Arrested, How Even a Single
Arrest Could Ruin Your Life, and What to Do If the Police Get in Your Face_
([http://www.amazon.com/Arrest-Proof-Yourself-Ex-Cop-
Reveals-A...](http://www.amazon.com/Arrest-Proof-Yourself-Ex-Cop-Reveals-
Arrested/dp/1556526377/))

~~~
jlgreco
The People have traditionally accepted/embraced police state tactics and
brutality to fight "the war on drugs" because they fear drugs. Without that
embrace of irrational fear, we would have never given the police the tools and
leeway they have today.

~~~
hga
Which doesn't address my point at all. E.g. if you'd said "create[ _d_ ] a
climate that nurtures shit like this." we'd be in closer alignment.

I've seen that totally irrational fear in well educated, nominally rational
parents, where I get them to accept that The War on Drugs is creating a police
state for their children to live in, and they still prefer it.

But I believe we're _way_ past that point, and if I'm right, if it's now
institutionalized in a way where such fear has become irrelevant to its
perpetuation, then you might want to listen to me if you're searching for
solutions.

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whiddershins
After a routine traffic stop.

~~~
jlgreco
Because he _" appeared to be clenching his buttocks"_.

There should be criminal charges for everyone involved in doing this to this
man, including the doctors at the _second_ hospital they went to. The doctors
at the first hospital rightly refused to participate, demonstrating that the
doctors at the second could have as well. Instead they repeatedly raped him
_after_ an x-ray showed that there were no drugs.

~~~
alternize
_and_ they try to collect the money for the procedures from the victim.

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x86_64Ubuntu
The cops and medical professionals should be quickly shown the location of the
unemployment line. When you read the things that were done, at least two
digital anal examinations and three enemas, you can tell this was just to
harass the victim. I don't think any rational person in society thinks such
procedures should be made available to beat cops because someone clenched
their butt cheeks.

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memracom
In America "peace officers" are now responsible for disturbing the peace, not
for keeping it.

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consonants
If anyone is going to go down, it will be the doctors. The cops that went out
of their way to anally violate a suspect will walk away, and absurd search
warrants will continue to be issued on a flimsy notions.

The same search warrants that end up with your dog getting shot and possibly
anyone else who might raise the slightest suspicion of being a threat to them
in their midnight raid of your home.

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sp332
I don't think a colonoscopy counts as surgery. As bad as this is, we don't
need hyperbole.

~~~
whiddershins
I thought it counted as a "surgical procedure" if not surgery. It involves
sedation/anesthetic and invasion of the body by medical equipment. I don't
know, I am happy to change the title if you like.

~~~
hga
Note that in a normal cancer screening one, the probe is used to snip off
suspect pre- or cancerous polyps.

I'd keep surgery in the title.

