I just read this story about Sierra Blanca TX. It is the home of a federal checkpoint on Interstate 10 East bound, although I do not know if it is near the border. I have been through it at least 15 times and its mate going west, in Las Cruces. They are looking for drugs and immigrants. When I first encountered checkpoints in the 70s they were a 3 man operation. Today they are manned by at least a dozen officers, some with rifles, and always a dog and several vehicles. None of them would be complete without a pair of dark sunglasses, and I mean that seriously. Wackenhut sends its private buses by to pick up the illegal immigrants which have been seized at the checkpoint. Sierra Blanca like many checkpoints is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest city is about El Paso TX. 88 miles away. Interstate 10 is a major artery going East and West from LA. to Jacksonville FL. I find this article on drug busts in Sierra Blanca for a few reasons, one of which is you could never afford to defend a case there. Travel, access and housing are obstacles no one could afford to overcome.

This war on drug users benefits no one. Not the government, not its citizens, not the perpetrators, not the children nor the environment. It is similar to the wars we are waging against peoples worldwide. kIlling in the name of freedom. Dead people cannot enjoy freedom. We are using military might to export a way of life from a country which imprisons more of its citizens than any other country. Either we are the most criminal country and shouldn’t be looking down on anyone, or we are the most penal country.

My dad punished me regularly. Based on a frequency scale I was one of the baddest kids in my area. But the reality is that I was just another kid who couldn’t stay out of trouble because the definition of trouble included “being a kid”.

Here is a link to the story that caught my attention. I think it funny that the sheriff finds the cases a burden. If that don’t beat all. Try being the defendant!