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George "geohot" Hotz Arrested In Texas For Posession of Marijuana
n1ywb writes "Goerge 'geohot' Hotz, famous for being the first to jailbreak an iPhone and for his spat with Sony over PS3 jailbreaking, was busted for possession of a small amount of marijuana at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas on his way to SXSW. The shakedown goes like this: drug dogs are run around vehicles; when they signal, DHS searches the car and finds the contraband; DHS then turns evidence and suspects over to the local sheriff. Willie Nelson, actor Armie Hammer (who played the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network), and Snoop Dogg have all gotten in trouble at the same checkpoint under similar circumstances."
"Willie Nelson, actor Armie Hammer (who played the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network), and Snoop Dogg have all gotten in trouble at the same checkpoint under similar circumstances."
And people say that pot doesn't make you stupid.
Why would you go through a border checkpoint with marijuana unless you wanted to get caught?
Don't share a car with Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg.
and Fuck Texas.
Get up!
How exactly these things (armed BP checkpoint charlies) are legal under the 4th Amendment.....they certainly shouldn't be. :(
Is he going to post bail to get out of jail legally, or just jailbreak?
Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
It is very key that the poster used the word "when" when referring to the drug dogs, rather than saying "if they signal". Multiple studies have shown that drug dogs are essentially a fraudulent way to get around probable cause during a vehicle stop.
engineers and technical masterminds throughout the country would give their right arm for.
Not me.
I always questioned why the hell they hired him in the first place. I'm no fan of GeoHot .. but I recognize he has some serious skills. Why the hell would he want to crank out web apps for a living. He's an intelligent guy and all, but what the heck would he have done for them where his true skills would be of any real use (his actual code is pretty meh..).
As for the story itself.. my god.. who cares. It's what.. a misdemeanour offense? He probably pleads guilty, pays a fine and goes home. He might not even see a jail cell in between.
These checkpoints are not for those who cross the border. They are unconstitutional search and seizure checkpoints within the US. The pretense is that they are close to borders.
If the borders are so well protected, why do they need these checkpoints? There is no warrant.
Even if you grant them mandatory illegal alien checkpoints, how is it possible for them to subject you to a search for something unrelated to border enforcement and prosecute you for it?
I know we're largely flushing the entire constitution down the toilet these days, but this seems really egregious.
I've been through the checks outside of Sierra Vista & Tombstone, AZ, and they were more or less roll to a stop, yes we are citizens, have a nice day. No dogs run around the car, no bullshit, although there were dogs at the checkpoints.
If he had read Slashdot, he'd have known about that checkpoint and avoided it!
Otherwise, the article is (welcome to new media) incredibly snide, especially with the comments about Sony "letting him off with a slap on the wrist" and the Facebook job. There's one site I wouldn't mind seeing DDoSed.
If you try to take drugs through a border checkpoint, you're going to get caught. Should this surprise anyone?
It should if the people in question are driving from one part of the US to another part of the US. Why the FUCK do we have "border checkpoints" on roads that don't CROSS THE BORDER?
He should have waited until he got to SxSW to buy some weed. The US border between Texas and Mexico is coming to resemble that between North and South Korea.
I would not be surprised to find out, because there are many of them, that this "border" checkpoint was nowhere near a border. Most people not aware of its location would not be expecting a border checkpoint since there is no border in the vicinity. Surprise!
Please don't read my sig.
...don't drive on roads known to be used by drug smugglers with drugs in your car.
He posted bail, but if he ends getting sent to the big house, he could always jailbreak himself out. He hasn't gotten into too much trouble for any of his other jailbreaks.
by Cyphase ( 907627 )
Austin is proud of its local businesses- 'Keep Austin Weird" is an advertising slogan of the Austin Business Alliance- Surely, he could have supported one of our local entrepreneurs and looked for a local source.
Willie Nelson smokes pot? I thought he was a clean-cut, all-American C&W singer.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Or possibly another one similar in design. The cops claimed the dog signaled the presence of drugs. The pastor knew that was a lie, and refused to exit the video, so the cops smashed-in the windows, drug the pastor out, and started beating him (the video is on youtube).
Later in court it was discovered via testimony that the dog had NOT signaled and the cops were lying. They were/are just using the dogs to perform searches without cause. So the charges were dropped, and now the pastor is suing the police for damages to his car and person.
According to several SCOTUS rulings, these checkpoints are legal but ONLY for the purpose of idenitfying illegals, or escaped criminals, but nothing else. And any contraband must be thrown out, since a judge-issued warrant was not obtained, and the search is unconstitutional. The cops are ignoring the justices rulings and arresting people anyway.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
You must not be an American. In this corner of the world, we setup "border checkpoints" up to 100 miles away from the nearest border.
Taking marijuana away George Hotz is only one of many important steps our government makes every day in order to keep us free.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
Who let the dogs out?
Okay -- I wasn't aware that this was one of those internal "border patrol" checkpoints. Should have RTFA.
I have never understood that myself. A few years ago, I drove through one of those internal checkpoints in northern New York. I'm Canadian, live in Canada, and have a Quebec-registered car. They didn't even want to talk to me. Though my evidence is anecdotal, It seems that these checkpoints have nothing to do with border security.
If you try to take drugs through a border checkpoint, you're going to get caught. Should this surprise anyone?
It should if the people in question are driving from one part of the US to another part of the US. Why the FUCK do we have "border checkpoints" on roads that don't CROSS THE BORDER?
Because 2/3rds of the populous lives within 100 miles of any border or airport, which is considered the "Constitution Free Zone".
Yeah, but the way I hear it, they don't go through the checkpoints like good little citizens.
It's amazing at what you can get away with if you have a GPS mapper, 4 wheel drive, and a spotter with a cell phone driving a few miles ahead of you.
If you try to take drugs through a border checkpoint, you're going to get caught. Should this surprise anyone?
It should if the people in question are driving from one part of the US to another part of the US. Why the FUCK do we have "border checkpoints" on roads that don't CROSS THE BORDER?
That is so mind-numbingly idiotic, thugish, and clearly unconstitutional I hadn't considered it as possibility. I was wondering why he was going to Austin by way of Mexico.
There is also the possibility there was nothing illegal in the vehicle, and the brown shirts on duty at the time just had a quota to fill.
But if he was carrying, dude it's Austin. You can pick up when you get there. Or, you know, just not toke up for a couple days. (Not anti-drug, but anti-PMITA prison.)
After Border Patrol launches all dogs and get signal, I guess their main screen turn on. Then C.A.T.S. appears and throws you in jail.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
If you try to take drugs through a border checkpoint, you're going to get caught.
Exactly. It is common knowledge that border checkpoints stop 100% of illegal contraband trying to get into the country. That is why there are no illegal drugs inside the US borders, right?
"But this one goes to 11!"
So geohot is in the top 10 programmers/hackers in the world...
...
or the top 100..
or top 1000
or top 10000
or top 10 000 000
or whatever.
lets forget the the multitude of "legitiate" uses of marihuana for a bit, and just wonder what exact detrimental effect the narcotic use thereof is supposedly having on its users that the government and its agents should be protecting us from.
I know the the english word "assasin" is supposedly derived from the arabic for hashish, but I seriously want to know where the harm is when its not interfering with high-level functionality.
I got stopped and searched at one of these checkpoints in 1988, 24 years ago. We were nowhere near the border, about 30 miles away, somewhere in Arizona. There weren't any dogs, just some guys in uniforms and mirrored Cool Hand Luke sunglasses. We had to get out of the car while they searched it. So, this isn't new, and it isn't near the border. And they don't stop doing it b/c it works. Probably shouldn't call it "border" patrol though, more like "rape your rights' patrol.
Everyone knows about that patrol after Willie and Snoop were tagged by it. Only a complete and utter fool would try to get through that checkpoint with cannabis, medical or otherwise.
So seeing as George seems to be a pretty bright guy, I have to presume he did it as a protest to highlight the insanity of the "drug" war (which is 90% a war on cannabis, against the wishes of the people.)
Welcome to the battle, George. Good luck in court.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
The real news about this and the summary fails to explain is that they can't search your car, vehicle or tour bus without a warrant. What they are doing in these cases is bringing a judge or official with the sheriffs department that can issue warrants on site, and they grant every warrant that the inspectors request. See this previous article about no-refusal DUI checkpoints for an example of how they are skirting due process: http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/12/31/2357217/no-refusal-dui-checkpoints-coming-to-florida
Careful - you're not supposed to point that out when not in a Free Speech Zone...
Check your premises.
The reasoning is probably that large shipments are being smuggled in nearby, avoiding the actual border checkpoint, and then shipped on the interstate. By checking for shipments further along the highway they're probably more likely to catch stuff. As a side effect, they'll find lots of misdemeanors because of the dogs.
Just my two cents.
This is a guy not under the influence being hassled at a checkpoint for the equivalent of carrying a small bottle of alcohol.
1) How many people lost time/money due to the checkpoint?
2) How many lives were saved due to the confiscation of a small amount of marijuana?
3) How much did tax payers spend for all of this nonsense?
It's effective at promoting stigma for the recreational use of a drug that is literally less dangerous than ibuprofen. It's effective at wasting taxpayer dollars for no benefit to society at large. It's effective at being ineffective, wasteful, and pointless.
Go arrest some real criminals, and stop wasting time, money, and lives.
"He quit a job that engineers and technical masterminds throughout the country would give their right arm for. So now, there's another black spot on his record,..."
Most hackers I know don't get their jollies sitting in a cube writing TPS reports. Sure, it pays well but I don't think Facebook would have much need for someone who's used to staring at de-compiled code or messing with JTAG cables . Don't diss him for not following the crowd; the most interesting hackers never do.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
Thank god this dangerous criminal is off the streets! Who knows what shenanighans he might have been up to -- jazz dancing, making moves on white women, going on violent murder sprees!
Brian Fundakowski Feldman
Austin is pretty cool. Very good bookstore, WholeFoods, and restaurants.
Last week, I saw a car marked "Border Patrol" in the I-75 median half way between Tampa and Ocala. I could not for the life of me figure out what border the officer could possibly be patrolling. Obviously it was the border of insanity and he was on the other side.
"The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
POT! Small amount of Pot!
You're going down, dirtbag!
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
geohot's cooler than I thought he was.
One weekend, in my younger days, I was driving along minding my own business with a twelve pack of Budweiser in the back seat, a flaming bong on the console, and a car load of friends. Needless to say, we were already high and drunk as shit, but we deemed it necessary to bring along supplies. I don't know what I was doing, I think we were hungry. But anyway, much to my chagrin I spotted what looked like a gauntlet of police cars on the road up ahead--all with their lights on. Cops were standing everywhere with flashlights, lo-and-behold it was a random DUI checkpoint--a big one. Finally, it was my turn, the bong had been stashed, beer hidden, and cigarettes ordered lit and in everyone's mouth. They were puffing like mad in a frantic attempt to fill the car with cigarette smoke. Shew!! It worked! I rolled the window down, they peered in with the flash-lite and waved me on. The cigarettes even covered the smell of the urine I was sitting in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDLlEh0x2XA
I suspect you're correct... and it's because there isn't a surfeit of Canadians overstaying (or lacking) their permitted time in the US. Anyway, upstate is crawling with you guys. The system would grind to a halt if the BP started giving all of you the treatment.
Luke, help me take this mask off
These checkpoints represent the epitome of the slippery slope.
I travel on this section of I-10 quite frequently driving from Scottsdale, Arizona to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There are two permanent checkpoints on this stretch of I-10: just west of Las Cruces, New Mexico and east of El Paso (about 100 miles east). The U.S. Supreme Court held in U.S. v. Martinez-Fuerte that these permanent checkpoints were constitutionally reasonable seizures because they were minimal in scope and time. When stopped, the border patrol agent will ask if everyone in the car is a U.S. citizen.
Then the slippery slope began and the border patrol started deploying drug detection dogs at the checkpoints. The dogs aren't generally used to do a walk-around of each vehicle. Instead, the handler and the dog are stationed down-wind of the vehicle. If the dog alerts while the occupants of the car are being asked about their citizenship then the handler and the dog will approach the car and attempt to do a more thorough check and/or search.
Checkpoints to check for illegal drugs have already been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This type of hybrid check has not been challenged at that level yet.
This is a classic example of a slippery slope where the government justifies an action for one reason and then starts piggybacking on top of that action.
If any of the Supreme Court justices had actually driven through one of these checkpoints they would probably not have concluded that the stop was minimally invasive.
It is outrageous to me that anyone driving down the highway in this country can be stopped, interrogated and searched.
A side note: On my last drive through the checkpoint near Sierra Blanca, Texas on I-10 the car in front of me was released after answering the citizenship question. The drug dog and handler were next to my car, about 30 feet behind the car being checked, and the dog alerted. The border patrol called to the car to stop and the handler and dog approached the car. The dog immediately took a left turn and stuck his nose up the tailpipe of a border patrol pickup truck and either refused or couldn't extricate his nose. We had to wait a few minutes while they got the dog free from the pickup truck.
Something tells me that after a while of bewilderment something will eventually blow up. Seems to be the nature of things if one looks to recent history. All it takes is someone angry enough with nothing else to lose. A situation, I imagine, easily discovered by pure submission to the idiocy currently forced.
Last time I checked none of the candidates who even stood a change of getting a single vote were pro-cannabis or even just anti-drug war. So who are these people with their wishes and why don't they show up as voters?
If it REALLY was against the will of the people, the people could create a new party and vote for that party and get their wishes granted. Either weed makes you a a lazy bitch or unable to count.
Democratie is the dictatorship of the majority, you can call it unfair all you want but you look pretty damn stupid claiming all people are pro-drugs when only anti-drugs people are voted for.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
WTF is a "drug war" mate?
there used to be a tactic (not sure if it is still applied) where DEA would put a sign up saying drug enforcement checkpoint 2 miles. This would be about a half a mile before an exit. The checkpoint didnt exist, but there would be plenty of DEA at the top of the next exit, waiting for any suspicious looking types that may be attempting to dodge a checkpoint.
Ironically, crossing the border is the very thing that DID NOT HAPPEN.
Stupid, enabling, you. You've just wasted everyone's tax dollars. (I assume you don't actually pay them or too stupid to understand the consequences).
Then I guess you've never been to Oklahoma. They don't even have the weird of Austin. Ever hear of the term "buckle of the bible belt"?
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
Nixon called it that mainly to get drugs out of the military. If he were alive now, he would think things have gone a touch too much.
Is the Internet within 100 miles of any border or airport? Or is it within 100 miles of every border and airport?
Well it all goes back to drinking and driving. MADD got sobriety check points put up anywhere they decide to check pretty much. Join DAMM "drunks against mad mothers" if you want to get that changed.
Tells you something about the state of the government when people say Nixon would think "things have gone a touch too much".
Next step, McCarthy would think that...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
commenting to undo an accidential moderation
Only way to avoid them finding it in your car is carrying it in your blood...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
While I too dislike the idea of "border" checkponts, I have to wonder ... why the hell would Geohot, let alone anyone, be carrying drugs? It seems tremendously foolish.
I take it you are doing better than those people, because they are stupid and you are not?
For at least one day, he is in fact doing much better than any of them were on the other respective days they stupidly tried to cross with drugs.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I am totally for legalizing pot, but I also realize the current reality is that any amount is illegal. It's not like "a small bottle of alcohol" because that is not illegal. Any time you are carrying any drugs that are deemed illegal you must realize the risk of arrest if discovered, even if in reality the chances of that are very low as things are.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Isn't an american citizen free to travel through the USA without being held at checkpoints by some part of the USA constitution? I'm not a citizen, nor do I live in the USA, but this is something that I understand is (or at least should be) in the USA constitution. Having to travel through a checkpoint every day does violate that.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Q. Tarantino. Now *that* would be a road trip, though I doubt you'd need a road.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This checkpoint is on I-10 just east of an area where I-10 paralells within sight of the Mexican border for around 40 miles.
That's because we like you Canadians. Spend some time around the southern border checkpoints... I know a few white people that spend as much time going through checkpoints as I do, and they seem to have good luck not ever being screened. Get yourself some skin within a couple shades of brown like me and I tell you what...your odds shoot through the roof.
These are very common in Arizona and So-Cal. On each of the 5 and 15 freeways between San Diego and the LA-area, there is a permanent checkpoints in periodic use by the Border Patrol almost precisely 70 miles away from the border. I wonder if there is something special about the 70 mile mark.
News story here, video here.
sysadmins and parents of newborns get the same amount of sleep.
I'm down with marijuana but driving while intoxicated is, simply put, an asshole move.
Only time ever... Jerry Garcia had just died, I was moving, and I didn't have any acid.
The Admin and the Engineer
Do NOT carry anything illegal into the country you are going into.
Chances are you will be caught, and you do NOT want to get caught.
Be seeing you...
That is where the government decides that a weed that plagues the Potomac river (which runs through our Capital), and is useful for making rope is declared illegal. At that point, newspapermen get to write fictional, but sensational stories to sell newspapers, and policemen get to assault blacks, mexicans, poor southerners, and anyone else they decide they don't like. In return, the federal government collects vast sums of money and uses it to buy military type gear for the yahoo commando wannabees...er...I mean the "local police task force". The privatized jails are then filled to overflowing with "criminals", who were caught relaxing with a joint. Money flows all around, the sheeple feel "safe", and the politicians take credit for saving the world from itself.
You should really get your countrymen to give it a go. It's great fun really.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Yes, because no drugs are grown/manufactured in the united states.
Sorry, I agree with your point, tons of drugs get shipped in to the united states. Just had to play devils advocate.
Today, Budweiser advertisements can occupy an entire subway car on the New York MTA while the NYPD ensures >85% of those arrested for simple possession in both 2010 and 2011 are black or brown. What wasted resources! What an undue burden on citizens!
We must end the prohibition of cannabis. We must return justice to our courts. We must turn a black market into a taxed market. We must embrace research demonstrating controlled apoptosis in various cancers. You must join me. Prohibition harms everyone.
Further reading:
Exactly.
...As well as many other weighty objects. Georgie is a tool who may have found an interesting weakness or two, but did so on the backs of the Twiizers team who put in the vast majority of the blood, sweat, tears and solder that went into hacking the PS3, then crowed loudly to any media sites who would listen that HE was the one who hacked the PS3, definitely not those other jokers!
Then, after vehemently proclaiming that he would fight the charges against him tooth-and-nail when he was sued by Sony for what amounted to his tremendous lack of foresight and hubris, once it started looking like he might actually face real consequences in the real world for his real actions, he buckled like a belt and settled.
Seriously fuck geohot.
Marijuana is about the only drug you could claim is 100% grown/manufacturered in the US. We don't grow coca leaves or poppies in the US. And since they passed laws limiting the purchase of pseudoephedrine, it is now cheaper and easier to make meth in Mexico and smuggle it in rather than make in the US anymore. Most synthetic hallucinogens and party drugs are made in Europe or Southeast Asia and brought to the US. The only real market we have for drug manufacturers anymore in the US are the legal pharmeceutical companies.
"But this one goes to 11!"
Tells you something about the state of the government when people say Nixon would think "things have gone a touch too much".
Putting things in perspective a little, it was I-actually-am-a-crook Nixon who decided that the Vietnam War had gone a touch too far and ended it.
So that says something about the state of the US Government even in the 1970s.
You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
How can idiots rule this country if all of us can vote?
For idiots to rule in a democracy, that would have to mean that most voters are idiots. That contradicts "liberty, equality and fraternity" to say that.
Are you opposed to democracy itself?