Over the years, people have gotten into trouble for trying to bring all sorts of items across controversial invisible lines, that are guarded by individuals who task themselves with exerting the power of the state against its victims.

Trying to move about freely can be tricky business, especially when you are carrying money or goods with you.

You might get fined hundreds of dollars for something as innocent as an apple in your bag, if you are trying to enter the United States.

That happened to one woman who had been traveling, but as soon as her representative got involved in the matter, the fine was all of a sudden dropped. I guess, that's because it didn't take many people very long to deduce that this fine was nothing more than an unnecessary and fruitless exertion of power. And there have been many victims, because if you catch one of those invisible line patrolmen on a bad day, you are more than likely going to have a bad time.

For one man who was traveling to the United States from Jamaica, he had his life ruined after those patrolmen wrongfully violated his rights in jailing him for 82 days over his Jamaican honey.

The man, L. Haughton, had purchased several bottles of his favorite jars of honey from Jamaica when he was visiting family there during Christmas. While traveling back home though, customs agents confiscated that honey and arrested him claiming that it was liquid methamphetamine.

He spent almost 3 months in jail for their ignorance and mistake and as a result of that he lost both of his jobs.

Eventually, all of the bogus charges were dropped after various lab tests showed that there were no controlled substances in the honey.

It Happens All The Time

“They messed up my life,... I want the world to know that the system is not right. If I didn’t have strong people around me, they would probably leave me in jail. You’re lost in the system.” - L. Haughton

And he is right, there are many people who get lost in the system and forgotten about. Some of those who have had their charges dropped were lucky enough to have the public catch wind of the wrongdoing, media caught and shared their story, or they had quickly earned the attention of their local representative etc. Soon as we see these things happen, we can see how quickly corrupt charges dissolve.

Haughton might have been lucky, in that eventually he saw justice despite the temporary derailing to his life, but how many others won't be?

Drug tests that authorities have been using in various jurisdictions have been shown to be wildly ineffective, often falsely identifying items as contraband when they aren't.

Various innocent individuals have been jailed for months, while it should never be acceptable to have one innocent person spent even a second behind bars, it's usual circumstances to be found under the over-bloated and corrupt system that we live under today.

The folks at the airport and elsewhere might just be "following orders," but in doing so they are often ruining lives of innocent people. Hopefully, they can exercise a little more caution and consideration before seeking to inflict violence upon others, but I am doubtful that those types of personalities, which are able to exercise such wisdom and self-control, are attracted to such a position of employment or are the desired candidate that they are looking to hire.

When we catch the state making these sorts of various mistakes, notice that state agents are often reluctant to admit their wrongdoing, and in many cases they would rather (and have tried) to rush to cover it up, than employ a little humility or self-awareness.

Pics:
pixabay

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