Crime & Federalism

Five warriors against the war on drugs were recently sentenced to federal prison for violating the rights of a suspected drug dealer, Lester Eugene Siler.  How did they violate this suspect's rights?   They literally tortured him.

Of course, if the defendant had claimed that the officers had beat him, no one would have believed him.  At a suppression hearing (when Siler would have argued that the search was unconstitutional), the presiding judge would have said, "After listening to the officer's testimony, I find the defendant's contentions to be without merit."

Thankfully, Lester Siler did not have to rely on a judge's objective judgment.  Instead, his wife taped most of the torture. 

Yes, that's right: the police abuse was caught on audiotape.  After learning about the torture, federal prosecutors prosecuted the five savages.

You can listen to a tape-recording of the torture here.  To learn about the officers and their prison sentences, go here.  Jason Kuznick comments here.

UPDATE: It's worth noting that Campbell County Sheriff Ron McLellan may have a defense-lawyer streak in him, as he said:

"They're not bad people, these officers involved in this... I just hope people take this one aspect of their life and this incident and look beyond that."

Yeah, he's right: we can't infer that five people who brutally beat someone for two hours are bad men.  And, although this was the only time they were caught on audio, I'm sure it's the first time any of them beat up any suspects.  With sheriffs like these, who needs criminals?