18 December 2007

New Police State Rules for Evacuations

Texas to require background checks before evacuations.


According to the AP, Texans who board evacuation buses during hurricanes or other emergencies must now submit to criminal background checks first...to protect the children. How is it that anytime a politician gets a wild hair to "protect the children" large swaths of people lose their rights?

According to Jack Colley, Texas Emergency Management chief,

"The policy is an attempt to keep sex offenders and fugitives from boarding evacuation buses with children, the elderly and the disabled."
Maybe I don't keep up with the news, maybe I just missed the reports of sex offenders fondling children on evacuation buses. Seems to me that it would be more likely to happen at the fringes of the large crowds waiting to get on buses than in the view of other evacuees on the long evacuation bus ride.

Colley made certain to reassure everyone that,

"... sex offenders or other criminals will not be left behind, just evacuated on different buses." " "This will allow us to help them evacuate."
When questioned as to whether the background checks could be processed in an emergency environment, he responded,
"We'll be able to do it. We'll have procedures and we're not going to advertise what they are."
It's important that we not let the terrorists (I mean citizens) know how they will be processed.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

No comments: