Re: [CH] California Agricultural rules
Eric Murray (ericm@lne.com)
Mon, 10 Sep 2001 21:31:22 -0700
On Mon, Sep 10, 2001 at 11:36:48PM -0400, Ed Johnson wrote:
> I'm wondering... In this day and age, What do the civil
> libertarians have to say about the SS snooping through their
> motorhome as they enter California? What if the fruit nazis
> spotted something illegal such as a baggie of pot or something
> politically incorrect such as a firearm or a pornographic picture
> of someone under 18?
The ag inspectors I knew would ignore anything
that wasn't ag related. But they were college students on
summer break, making some money for the next school year.
(ag inspection made pretty good money, as good as I made
fighting forest fires, but was a lot less exciting).
If you got an inspector who was a frustrated wanna-be cop
they might be a little more uptight.
> Or can the cops in California search any
> vehicle at any time for anything illegal?
They still need probable cause, but I expect that an ag
inspector spotting something illegal would probably be
considered probable cause. They aren't cops though, they
don't carry guns.
As a libertarian I'm opposed to searches in general, but
I know enough about farming to understand wanting to
keep bad insects out. And there's a lot worse abuses of
government power to worry about than ag inspectors.
Eric