Police Abuse: Wiccans Beware--
Your Civil Rights are not guaranteed
By
Theresa Chaze

Police ignoring civil rights has become a harsh reality for not only Wiccans and Pagans, but also every other minority. No longer does the First Amendment provide freedom of religion, speech, to gather and engage in peaceful demonstration. No longer does the Fourth Amendment guarantee your home, car or business will not be searched without a warrant signed by a judge. Instead, there are a growing number of law enforcement officers who believe they are above the law; they see themselves not as public servants, but public masters who should not be questioned or criticized. Instead, they should be blindly and meekly obeyed. To do otherwise is to risk being harassed, physically attacked and jailed with little cause.
Under the banner of self-defense, police have used traffic stops to justify warrant less searches. Such was the case of a northern Michigan Wiccan Priestess. Returning home from work, she was stopped. The Deputy initially refused to disclose why she was pulled over. Instead, he ordered her from her vehicle and searched it without her consent. In the bottom of her purse, he found a small athame set--the largest knife was under three inches, but it had a double edged blade. He arrested her; however, he refused to notify her of the reason for the stop or the arrest until they reached the jail. At that time, she was informed she was stopped for swerving twice in the several miles he had followed her, but she arrested and charged for felony-concealed weapon for having daggers in her purse. She did not threaten him, nor was she given an opportunity to explain why she had the athames. Several attempts were made a paying her bond, however the deputies on duty misrepresented the facts and she was held for over fifteen hours. During such time, she was denied medication for her asthma and proper nutrition for her hypoglycemia. Instead, the wheels of justice rolled over her civil rights. Although she had a clean record and the officer had a history of alcohol abuse, lying on the stand and violence against women, her court appointed attorney informed her that she would not win in spite of the illegal search and her religious path. In Michigan, double edge knifes, no matter what size are illegal. The attorney’s stance was that nothing else was pertinent to the case. Eventually the case was settled and the charges dropped to much lesser charge. But justice was far from being served.
Physically an athame is usually a double edge blade of varying sized, frequently with a black handle and a dull blade. However, its magical definition is ritual knife that is use only for the direction of energy. It is used in ritual for creating protective circles and calling the elements. Using it for a mundane purpose would contaminate it and make it unsuitable for ritual work until it had been cleansed and reblessed. A Boline is used for cutting and all other ritual needs. Kitchen witches are an exception to this rule; they believe that by using their tools daily increases their connection to them. Whether an athame or Boline, neither are to be used as a physical weapon. To do so would destroy their positive spiritual quality and attract the negative aspects of the universe.
In the case of the northern Michigan Priestess, if it hadn’t been for the illegal search of her purse, the athames wouldn’t have been an issue. They could have not been produce or used to threaten the officer or anyone else without destroying their religious power. The District Attorney’s office was informed of their religious significance; initially they agreed she had a defense under the First Amendment, however their stance changed without reason, claiming the Priestess told the officer they were for self-defense. By sheer definition of her spiritual beliefs, it is obvious that statement was untrue and the officer lied. Yet, even though he violated her First and Fourth Amendment rights, his word would carry more weigh by the court even though he had a history of deceit and violence against women.
Every state has their own laws pertaining to the legalities of what is considered a weapon. Before carrying your religious tools make you know what the specific requirements of your state are. In some cases, it would be wise to obtain a concealed weapons permit if you will be traveling with your Athame and Boline. By going to http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/sta-law.htm you can find an abridge listing of knife laws by state. It is only a starting point and should not be considered definitive legal advice.

Woman Arrested for Not Watering Lawn
July 6th, 2007 @ 10:00pm
Sam Penrod Reporting

A widow and grandma spent the morning in jail, arrested for refusing to give a policeman her name when he tried writing her a ticket for failing to water her yard. The woman hasn't watered her lawn in more than a year, and the condition of her yard violates an Orem zoning ordinance.

Tonight, the woman says she is traumatized and shocked that she was hauled to jail, just because she says she can't afford to water her lawn.



Betty Perry says, "I never thought they would ever do anything like that to a person that is 70 years old. I've never bothered anybody, I've never hurt anybody."

She says the policeman who brought her home tonight was very courteous, even held open the door for her. But there were no gentlemen there when she was taken from her home this morning and booked into jail.

When Betty Perry heard a knock at her door and saw a police officer standing outside, she never imagined she would end up in jail. That's what happened, though, when the officer tried enforcing Orem's nuisance ordinance against neglected yards.



"I didn't want to tell him anything until I talked to a lawyer or my son. I wanted to see what he'd tell me to do. I've never had any experience before with the law, ever in my life," she said.

As the enforcement officer started writing her a ticket, she tried going back in her house. That's when the officer tried to handcuff her for refusing to give her name and resisting the ticket. She tripped on the steps, scraping up her nose and elbows, leaving blood on her door, her porch and her clothes. Perry was handcuffed, fingerprinted and put in a jail cell, where she sat for more than an hour.

"I laid down in there. I never seen the inside of a jail before. I didn't know how it looked, I was really scared," she says.

When police brass learned what happened, she was immediately released.

Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards said, "Every officer in his career has situations they find themselves getting into, at the end of it they scratch their head and say, ‘gosh, how did this happen?' Today, I think, was one of those days. Clearly there were some other options available."

After being arrested, Perry is now scared of the police. She says, "Don't ever say no when the police tell you do to something. You better do what they tell you no matter what, even if you don't have anybody to help you. You've got to do what they tell you or they will hurt you."

The officer was sent home for the day and placed on paid administrative leave. Police are not pressing any charges against Betty Perry for either neglecting her yard or resisting the ticket.


Ads by J Carter

Grand Traverse Sheriff Department Sexually Assaults Local Wiccan

I want to share my experience with you in hope you will help me receive justice and let others know that they are not alone. I have been doing research and have learned the police abusing their power have become increasingly frequent, yet they are not held responsible for their action. Although repeatedly telling my story has not been easy, it worth keeping the wound open in order to reach out to the others it has happened to and to help it from happening again. I have documentation, which not only substantiates my complaints against the Grand Traverse Sheriff Department and Phillips Settles, but the medical documentation proving the physical and emotional damage it has caused me.

On October 18, 2006, I was driving home from my job at a small factory. I was pulled over by a deputy sheriff, who refused to tell me why he stopped me or to tell me his name. He ordered me from my car and began searching it. He dug my purse out of the back seat of my car and went through it. In the bottom of the side pocket, he found my athame set. Athames are ritual daggers used for directing energy in the Wiccan and Pagan religions. Mine were two small decorative daggers; the largest was 2 1/2 inches, including the hilt. They didn’t have an edge and were the equivalent of a toy cap gun. Without telling me why, he arrested me. At the jail, he told me I was stopped because I was swerving and I was arrested for felony-concealed weapon. He led me inside and turned me over the deputies behind the desk. Even though there were female deputies on duty, I was searched by male deputy. He asked me questions until the other deputy went out of sight. He then insisted on searching me again. Only this time, he groped my breasts and groin. When the deputy behind the desk came back into view, he immediately stopped and stepped away from me.

I was placed in a hallway. The stress of the situation caused an asthma attack. When it first started, I asked for my inhaler, which was in the pocket of my purse. They denied me access. The attack became severe to the point I vomited and urinated on myself. They ignored my repeated requests for my medication. Eventually, they gave me access, but not before damage was done to my lungs. Later, I was photographed and fingerprinted by another male deputy, who also groped my breasts and called it a search. He only stopped when another deputy came into his line of sight.

My bond was set, but when my representative called to find out where to pay it, the deputy who answered the phone discouraged him from immediately paying, saying that I would be going before the judge at 2pm and it would be reduced. My paper work was never processed and I didn’t go before the judge until the next day. When my representative didn’t hear from me by 3 pm, he went to the courthouse and searched for the proper place to pay the bond. Still I was held until after 5:30. The next day at the courthouse, I sat next to a man who told me he heard the deputies bragging that they were teaching me a lesson. His name is Timothy Jon Smith; the phone number he gave me is 231-258-1493. Why they would want to teach me a lesson I don't know; I have never really and any contact with them on or off duty. The only thing I could think of was that about a month earlier I was at the Pagan Pride Day in Grand Rapids. There was a rumor that the officers on duty were writing down license plate numbers. The deputies involve were very good about keeping behind me and concealing their names. This was not the first time they had done this to someone. Nor was I able to learn the arresting officer's name until after I received a copy of the arrest report. It was then that I learned that it was Justin Revnell.

I asked for a court appointed lawyer. Phillip Settles of Acme was assigned. From the beginning, he refused to push the religious aspects of the case and the civil rights violations, nor did he want to hear about the assaults or the medical neglect. His position was that it didn’t matter the size or the reason I had athame. Instead, he did his best to make me fear for my safety. I wanted to file a complaint against the Sheriff Department immediately. Mr. Settles told me that not only wasn’t it safe, but it would do no good. That the Deputy was the nephew of the Sheriff and had a history of making witnesses against him disappear. He told me that in spite my clean record and the fact had I even thought of hurting anyone, if the case went to trial, I would be convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. During the preliminary hearing, he got Revnell to admit he didn’t have permission to search my purse. In addition, my athames were never produced in court, nor did Mr. Settles ask for them to be presented into evidence at the hearing. Both were just cause for the case to be dismissed, yet Mr. Settles said nothing. Mr. Settles filed two motions on my behalf; however, they weren't well researched and were very superficial. There are two recent cases he could have used; one was not only directly on point, but was a Michigan case. Eventually he persuaded me to accept a plea bargain of a misdemeanor. I don’t know if Mr. Settles was incompetent, lazy or working for the other side, but he wasn’t working on my behalf. One thing I found puzzling. The only people I mentioned suiting to was the deputies, yet on our first meeting Mr. Settles immediately told me that he couldn't represent me in a civil suit.

If you compare the arrest report with the transcript of the preliminary hearing, you will find many discrepancies. First and foremost, I didn’t volunteer the information about my athames. I honestly answered the deputy's question. Secondly, I didn’t give him permission to search my car or my purse. There was no reason for him to do so. I was being cooperative. In the report, he photocopied my athames without anything for scale or perspective, because he enlarged them. The images shown in the report wouldn’t have even fit in the pocket of my purse. I have signed statements from friends with their contact information, stating the actual appearance of my athames. Revnell also stated under oath that they were easily accessible and that I used them for self-defense. My athames were in the bottom of the pocket of my purse, which was buried beneath two jackets and a blanket on the floor of the back seat of my car. In order for me to use them for self-defense, I would have to ask the attacker to wait until I search not only for my purse but for my athames as well. In addition, the blade was so thin, it would have snapped off at impact.

On February 17, 2007, I finally got the courage to file a complaint. Instead of going to the office, I sent it certified return receipt to Sheriff Fewins and Alan Schnerder. I never heard from Mr. Schnerder and it wasn’t until the first week in March that I heard from the Sheriff’s department. Captain Dave Meachum called me and said they were going to investigate my complaint either in house or through another department. Two days later, I received a phone call from Detective Kevin Gay of the Traverse City Police Department; his badge number is 299. March 5, he and a member of the TC police departments Internal Affairs interviewed me. I answered all their questions to the best of my ability, yet nothing has been done. I have asked many questions, yet they refuse to give me any answers. The incident report number is 781-7281-07. Since then I’ve heard rumors of a couple of deputies bragging that the “witch deserved it” and that investigation was taken care of. May 18, Detective Gay called and told me he could find no basis for my complaints. Since I had waited to file the sexual assault complaint and I didn’t stress it, he didn’t believe it happened. Many women not only wait, but some never report at all. In November when I talked to the councilor at the Women’s Resource Center, I talked about the sexual elements of the search. I also told several friends who are experienced therapists. I didn’t stress the sexual assault because it stemmed from the civil rights violations and frankly, it’s easier to heal from being groped than from suffocating to death from an asthma attack. Detective Gay has closed the case and once again the Grand Traverse Sheriff Department is getting away it.

After doing research, I realized just how inadequate my defense was. I sent a letter of complaint to Mr. Settles. He responded by repeating many of the same statements he made before, but never addressed my core complaints. I have also filed a formal complaint with the Attorney Grievance Commission and the Attorney General Office, but they have done nothings as well.

I have been physically, emotionally and financially harmed. The asthma attack caused damage to my lunge that is still causing me pain when I breathe. In November, I was diagnosised with PTS. The panic attacks were made worse by the continuing harassment. On November 30, I was pulled over for illegal beeping. On other occasions, I was followed from my job. On March 5, a patrol car followed me a car length and half for miles on the icy roads. If I had to stop for any reason, he would have rear-ended me. The harassment made it difficult for me to leave my home for months afterwards and I nearly became a shut in. For months, I was unable to function on anything more than a basic level. The moment I in October changed so much of my life. For months, I simply couldn’t function. I stopped promoting my novels. Continuing absences because of panic attacks and being unable to breathe nearly cost me my job and my home.

I am asking you to help me receive justice for the harm done to me and the others who have been harassed by the Grand Traverse Sheriff Department. Help me bring the blue wall down so that we can get ethical officers working in our community.