Here’s a slippery slope if ever there was one…
Griffin Spicer
WAYNE CO.—The arrest of a Wayne County man over the weekend has lead to charges that few of us have ever even heard of, let alone seen implemented.
Griffin Spicer, 27, of Fairfield, was busted Saturday when, through whatever method (snitch, surveillance, mad ex), authorities obtained a warrant and searched his home on West Douglas Street. Fairfield police found and seized 17 pot plants and more than 30 grams of pot in the bust.
However, they not only charged him with marijuana production; he was also charged with Criminal Fortification of a Residence. This law, 720 ILCS 5/19-5 (from Ch. 38, par. 19-5), reads like this:
Sec. 19-5. Criminal fortification of a residence or building. (a) A person commits the offense of criminal fortification of a residence or building when, with the intent to prevent the lawful entry of a law enforcement officer or another, he maintains a residence or building in a fortified condition, knowing that such residence or building is used for the manufacture, storage, delivery, or trafficking of cannabis or controlled substances as defined in the Cannabis Control Act or Illinois Controlled Substances Act.
(b) “Fortified condition” means preventing or impeding entry through the use of steel doors, wooden planking, crossbars, alarm systems, dogs, or other similar means.
(c) Sentence. Criminal fortification of a residence or building is a Class 3 felony.
Now, granted, this law does specify that the place has to be basically a drug house. However, note that that’s not the (a) portion of the language, the “key,” if you will, to the whole thing. That “key” is the “intent to prevent the lawful entry of a law enforcement officer” and “maintains a residence or building in a fortified condition.” As with most laws in our country, it has a specific intent. But as with many laws in the country, the ‘intent’ can become blurred in the future, and some of the language, taken out of context, can criminalize a whole section of the populace that is doing nothing more than protecting their homes from criminals…and law enforcement officers attempting to make ‘entry’ on other than ‘lawful’ grounds, such as what happens a lot in Crawford County, as an example.
Is it at this point okay for our legislators to say “Ah….we need more laws, this was a good one in part, let’s parse it and enact it so that we get MORE people on the fines and fees merry-go-round”?
Let’s see: Perhaps you don’t have enough money to afford Broadview security, but you’re pretty handy with tools and building materials, so you “fortify” your old-ass back door from break-ins you’ve reported and the cops have done nothing about (we here at Disclosure are all to familiar with THAT). Then that works out so well that you ‘fortify’ your other doors the same way. And then local law enforcement, mistakenly acting on a “tip,” can’t bust down your door if they believe there’s cause for a search. Whoops! You fortified. Didn’t matter what you did or didn’t have in there; you prevented the local gestapo from breaking down your door effectively….and in order for you to avoid prison time, you’re going to pay heavily.
Don’t think it can’t happen….remember, our legislators, when enacting our ignorant ‘seat belt laws,’ said they were only going to be ancillary to a primary traffic stop, not the reason for the stop. THAT changed about 12 or so years ago, didn’t it.
Just something to think about. Mr. Spicer, dufus-looking character that he is, is in a world of trouble in Wayne. We’ll follow this story in the next print version, on stands 09.13.10!
Perhaps.
Short URL: http://www.disclosurenewsonline.com/?p=4383
Posted by Chris Beavers
on Aug 30 2010. Filed under Wayne.
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how long before there is a charge of this nature pursued in saline county….i give them ten days tops lol
This reminds me of when I was in Narcotics in Galveston and we were doing a search warrant on a drug house. We were using a battering ram because we wanted to make a quick entrance so they couldn’t flush the cocaine down the toilet.
We hit the door with the battering ram and it bounced back like a spring, then we rammed it again, no results, then again. Then from inside the house we hear someone shout “C’mon in!” The Sgt shouts “Well unlock the door then” We hear noises and then the door opens, the dope dealer was looking out with wide eyes and said “Oh, it’s you guys. I thought the biggest S.O.B. in the world was knocking on my door”
We had a hard time keeping from laughing but we couldn’t because we knew we had just wasted the search warrant as everything had probably been flushed. As it turned out, he still had enough dope laying around to get him prosecuted anyway.
The door that we couldn’t bust down was a metal door with angle-iron anchored to the block wall and 2X4s bracing slid down into the angle-iron. It would have taken a bulldozer to get in there.
If someone breakes in my back door and steals my stuff and i fix it were they cant get in anymore,Then someone breaks in my front door and steals my stuff and i fix it were they cant get in again but then they break a window and steal my stuff and i put bars that lock on the inside so they cant get in and so i know ill be safe at night,Im breaking the law because if the law wants in and cant.
SAD!My 38 says they dont want in and ill use it no matter what,If its the law all they have to do is knock!
LOL. If the law is breaking down your door, you probably have bigger problems anyway. I’d say if you use your 38 then you won’t be alive to worry about people breaking in your house and your problem is solved.
*uck the police….
It’s sad that you will want to follow this story, what about the kids. Doesn’t the wife and kids deserve to be left alone. Small town gossip is bad enough but to print gossip as the truth only hurts the family not the guy in jail. Respect the kids.There are charges yes but the family is being ridiculed. They did nothing wrong.
Now see, gentle readers? THIS is why it’s such a joke to try and follow serious news in Wayne County…because “the wife and kids deserve to be left alone” (!!!!!) Do you readers see any mention of “wife and kids” in this post? No. Why? Because it’s not ABOUT the friggin “wife and kids,” it’s about the accused…who is…ACCUSED…and charges aren’t “gossip.” But apparently, in Wayne County, which is suffering a dearth of media because there’s relatively little online there, they ARE.
How can the “family be ridiculed” if we didn’t even know there’s a family and no one is even mentioned in the post except the ACCUSED? You Wayne County people need to get your head out of your asses and your hearts off your sleeves. Stop feeling so “hurt” when your loved one is charged with violating the law. Start being proactive by getting a job or getting out of there if there aren’t any, and stop doing things that are, oh, I dunno…BREAKING THE LAW. Because then, and only then, are you going to not be in the news…and that’s what this is about, the NEWS aspect, not “gossip.” I challenge you to tell me what’s “gossip” in this post, Mrs. Moore, please do. When you tell me what YOU think is “gossip,” I’ll give you some legal definitions and set your confused ass straight. Until then, stop whining.
…and this is the “Land of the Free”? Give me a break….PLEASE. You secure your property so nobody can gain entrance, hoping to get a good night’s sleep without someone coming in and doing a number on you…but you can’t do it to the point the cops can’t get inside and they call it Criminal Fortification of a Building? I’d really like to know what dumb-ass introduced that particular law. He/She needs to be exposed, whoever it was.