She is of the Asian persuasion -- (see story below). My point is and was that if she had looked anything like an Arab, Homeland Security would have whisked her off to Gitmo without further ado. The issue was not so much that she might have been carrying drugs as that she might have been carrying bomb materials. But those hotsy-totsy princesses with the Mongolian eyefolds and expensive lawyers who go to Bryn Mawr get special treatment. I still say she should apologize and give back the money. "Stress bag" and "hall tea" my ass. December 29, 2005 A Philadelphia Story posted by Dave Hoffman
[image: airlinetoy6.jpg] This story <http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/13504147.htm>from the Philadelphia Inquirer caught my eye. (And gave me an opportunity to steal a picture from Dan's airline screening playset post.) Janet Lee, a Bryn Mawr student, was on her way home from the holidays. At the Philadelphia Int'l Airport, she was arrested because her checked bags contained condoms full of flour, which the police mistakenly identified in two field tests as cocaine and amphetamines. According to Lee, she and hall-mates had created the bags as stress balls as an exam-time gag. The system held Lee in jail for three weeks on $500,000 bail: Lee acted tough to protect herself. She did modern-dance moves to keep limber. Inmates saw this and gossiped: "Everyone thought I knew karate because I'm Asian." She certainly didn't discourage the stereotype. Inmates saw the high volume of visitors and figured she was important. Again, she did not discourage the notion. She did not tell her cell mates that the visitors were actually volunteers from Catholic churches in Philadelphia who had taken up her cause. The volunteers helped her hire [a lawyer, and former prosecutor, named David] Oh. "I believed her story because things just didn't add up," Oh said. For one thing, Oh said, the field tests were odd because they detected the presence of not one drug but three. "People don't mix drugs like that," Oh said. First, Oh contacted Bryn Mawr and confirmed that Lee's dorm mates had, in fact, made the condoms together during a pre-exam session they call a "hall tea." Then, Oh said, he called Assistant District Attorney Charles Ehrlich, who agreed to expedite laboratory tests. Ehrlich also agreed to help seek reduced bail, Oh said. A day after the new test came back and confirmed that the substance was flour, Lee was released. She flew home first class. There are a few notable things about this story. The draconian D.A.'s office (all considered) gave Lee a huge break because of her connections - a social capital that most defendants do not have. It is also surprising (and heartening) that Philadelphia Airport is screening luggage well enough to catch this (potential contraband). I also wonder about the remarkably high bail set for a college student who had no prior record that we know about, and the jail authorities apparent decision not to put her into protective custody. On the other hand, I'm not surprised at all at the error with the tests. I wonder if the police department has studied the false positive rate carefully. Needless to say, Lee has now filed a civil rights claim against the police (and probably a claim against the city for their poor drug-testing training). Given her story, the City should settle. But knowing the City Solicitor's inflexible litigation strategy, I doubt they will anytime soon. Posted by Dave Hoffman at December 29, 2005 11:20 AM Trackback Pings TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.concurringopinions.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/381 Comments Maybe she was held with such a high bail because her story is so stupid. I understand that I've been out of college for awhile, but I find it strange that college women would put flour in condoms to make "stress balls" and then be so enamored with them that they packed some to take home for the holidays. Would we be so sympathetic of a different defendant held for having a homemade non-bomb in his suitcase that looked a lot like a homemade bomb? Why do you think she should have been put in protective custoday? Because she's a college girl? If all defendants held in jail are presumed innocent, why would some be more presumed than others? *Posted by:* Christine <http://www.theconglomerate.org/> at December 29, 2005 01:11 PM http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2005/12/a_philadelphia.html On 1/9/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Well, that may well be true, but my point was we should proceed from facts, not assumptions. And please don't forget the really erroneous assumption was that made by the police. As you no doubt know very well, people make lots of stupid mistakes that trigger more stupid police mistakes, except the police are the ones with the badges, guns and cuffs. So the question is, even if someone makes a "stupid" mistake, do you go after her for being stupid (and doing nothing illegal), or the cops for making a bad bust (or worse)? If I had a choice between criticizing a civilian for being naive vs a police department and DA for getting the facts wrong, I wouldn't go after the civilian first. For all you know, she is Black and that is why they didn't believe her. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, 9 Jan 2007 2:47 PM Subject: RE: [UC] We're Paying This Loopy Bryn Mawr Student $180,000??? I think the point of the complexion remark was that had she been Black she would still be incarcerated and we would not have heard her story. And as far as income: if the cross section of gender and income are obvious, then it is obvious that it is something that you don't have to think about in your daily life. As a AFAM woman I would have never taken a chance like that, that my life might not have recovered and in addition have been rewarded for my own stupidity. Wendy -----Original Message----- *From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Sent:* Tuesday, January 09, 2007 2:22 PM *To:* [email protected] *Subject:* Fwd: [UC] We're Paying This Loopy Bryn Mawr Student $180,000??? At the risk of taking a Ross message seriously when it's not: 1. Your city's police lab erroneously thought flour was coke, and has yet to explain how they messed that up, which as I understand it is why she was held that long in custody. Maybe the police chemist was the one who was stealing drugs from the cops. 2. She's a Bryn Mawr student from California, which really tells you nothing about how privileged she is, at least in conventional usage. 3. How did you figure out her complexion? Paul -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [email protected] Sent: Tue, 9 Jan 2007 9:49 AM Subject: Re: [UC] We're Paying This Loopy Bryn Mawr Student $180,000??? On 1/8/07, *Frank* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Remember when you had to be smart to get into college? Well it's not just that. It's the idea of MY city paying money we desperately need to some overprivileged Main Line floozyette with an expensive lawyer who, had she been the wrong complexion, would now be spending time in Gitmo for pulling a trick like that. -- Ross Bender http://rossbender.org ------------------------------ *Check out the new AOL*<http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615326657x4311227241x4298082137/aol?redir=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaol%2Ecom%2Fnewaol>. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. ------------------------------ *Check out the new AOL*<http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615326657x4311227241x4298082137/aol?redir=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaol%2Ecom%2Fnewaol>. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.
-- Ross Bender http://rossbender.org
