Mecum Case Dismissed...updated

Judge Keegan has dismissed the Mecum case with prejudice.  We'll see if the Republic uses the dismissal as an excuse to run his mugshot one last time. 

Excessive speed cases are routinely dismissed.  It appears that DPS attempts to punish the offenders by humiliating them with a high-profile warrantless arrest at the alleged violator's place of employment.  

Nothing like dragging someone out of his office in handcuffs and running his mugshot on B1 to keep people in line.

Frankly, I'm hoping for just one intelligent comment from someone who was critical of the Bush Administration's "warrantless" wire taps.  Can't one of you just concede that arresting someone without a warrant--at work for a misdemeanor--based on a photograph taken by a machine and then running their picture on B1 for a violation that is routinely dismissed is troubling. 

Can one of you admit that? 

Update:  Wow, the post has been up for a full day and not one civil libertarian from the right or the left has expressed concern that Mecum was arrested without a warrant.   That's an interesting lesson.

Comments

[onehorsetown]

Hey Greg, Remember: Goddard said 'what Obama did on the Federal level, we can do here in just a few months' It's already happening.

[North Valley Republican]

As a life-long Republican and a precinct committee man, I am ashamed that one my party leaders lack the courage to resign in light of the danger to which he exposed me and my family, along with hundreds of other Arizona citizens.

Frankly, this is not a matter of over-reaching DPS politics. It's a matter of Mecum speeding at reckless abandon on our highways. It's just unacceptable.

He wasn't driving 76 in a 65 mph zone. He was driving 109 mph. Endangerment run amuck.

Where is his honor?

[Carl Hay]

Espresso Pundit did a good job covering this slimy abuse of the legal process.

[VWgal]

I just want to see the Mecum Capt'n America pictures again... the mug shot?!?!?! Not nearly as much fun!

Oh and is this the same "Justice Keegan" That used to be republican Peoria Mayor Keegan? Married to Republican Politician and former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan?

Just throwing that out there...

[AzRep]

Amen, North Valley Republican. He was 44 miles over the speed limit, after midnight, on a dangerous stretch of freeway, with cars around him. He puts out an asinine press release spouting conspiracy theories and threatens to sue the state. His Twitter photo was taken at the wheel of his car. He suffers no lasting consequences and will now claim vindication, while this blog can barely contain its outrage at DPS. If a law and order conservative is a liberal who has been mugged, then a civil libertarian is a conservative who has been caught (Fife Symington comes to mind).

[Mike]

No, alas Greg they can't admit that.

[Too Fast to Live]

That Mustang is the fastest production car ever made by Ford/w a 500HP 5.4L engine. Mecum was clearly showing restraint by only driving 109MPH.

[Essepreeessooo can't stand the heat!]

Deleting posts is bad form for somebody who wants to be a *real* blogger.

Can't stand the heat?

You should just allow real republicans vetted by yourself to provide an echo chamber.

When the last RINOs are gone, you guys can meet in a small hearing room while the adults make real decisions elsewhere.

[ZoomZoomZoom]

Bbbbbbbut, IOKIYAR! Speeding laws are man's law. IOKIYAR is God's law!

[todd]

"Can't one of you just concede that arresting someone without a warrant--at work for a misdemeanor--based on a photograph taken by a machine and then running their picture on B1 for a violation that is routinely dismissed is troubling"

I find it troubling and the heavy handed tactics by law enforcement wrong. What I don't find is that this makes it a politically motivated arrest since it seems that this has occurred in other cases. I also don't find it a conspiracy that "they" want to persecute Mecum Greg seems to put forward by conflating the arrest by DPS and the running of the mugshot by the Republic.

[Name:]

Man, these guys sit there all day busting drunks and speeders and never get a chance to parade one around and get some media attention. Until now.

The cops are doing their job to prevent crime by demonstrating exactly what the law demands they do, and allows them to do. you may disagree if it happens to you, but it's quite educational to the rest of us.

[X-Ray]

The police may have been wrong. They may owe Brett Mecum an apology. Whoever made the call to arrest Brett Mecum without a warrant should probably be fired.

But one simple fact remains. Brett Mecum is still a complete idiot who is running the state GOP even further into the ground. Driving 109 is just the latest example of his ineptitude.

[Craig]

Greg - Where is your concern for civil liberties when non-politically-well-connected non-white guys are arrested without a warrant?

Is there a section of the constitution (US or AZ) that reserves basic civil rights only to GOP operatives?

Just curious...

Bottom line: Mecum broke the law in a way that endangered himself (OK, that's his problem) and also endangered those around him (he was driving 40mph over the limit - there's a reason that is classified as "reckless driving") and he got away with it.

Time to quit whining about the "embarrassment"; we should all be grateful that nobody died as a result of his offense.

I'm not a huge fan of photo radar, but cases like Mecum's are the best justification in support of their continued presence on AZ's roadways.

They enhance safety. Period.

[Aaron]

It was not right for him to be arrested at work and to be in the paper and it is also not right that his civil charge has been dismissed. It's one thing to pop people who are 5-10 miles over the limit and another to ignore someone driving on a busy stretch of freeway over 100 miles an hour. He is an embarrassing part of the state party, but thankfully for his sake is by far not the most embarrassing one in the group. A couple others have that one covered.

[109 & Feelin' Fine]

What you seem to forget Mr. Patterson is that Mecum IGNORED the original ticket he received in the mail. I guess it is now LEGAL to drive 109 MPH on the 101! What an embarassment to the State Republican Party!

[todd]

Way to race bait there, Craig.

[Jerry]

The case was dismissed in part because the defendant's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss and the county attorney's office did not respond.

[Brian]

109 & Feeling Fine,

Please enlighten me and the others who read Mr. Patterson's blog which Arizona statute compels someone to respond to a letter received in the mail? That statute does not exist.

Ok, so you argue that failure to waive the right to personal service makes it legal to drive 109mph on the 101? Is that correct?

Your logic is deeply flawed and you have exposed yourself as a partisan hack and a fool.

Thank you for playing.

[North Valley Republican]

If it's true that part of the reason for dismissal of the charges was due to the County Attorney Office failing to respond to the defendant's motion to dismiss, then we have a much bigger problem than just a Republican leader too stupid to drive a reasonable speed.

[todd]

Just FYI - "todd" above responding to Craig is not me (Most likely "Scorekeeper" who likes to masquerade as me as he/she has some personal vendetta). I agree with Craig's point about the civil liberties on people without powerful friends and allies.

[todd]

People are arrested all the time without warrants. This is expressly allowed under Arizona law. However, civil libertarians have in fact sought to fight arrests without warrants in traffic cases. A case like this was heard by the SCOTUS and with defendant having backing from both ACLU and Cato institute - Atwater v. Lago Vista. They argued that arresting someone without a warrant for an fine-only misdemeanor offense violated the 4th amendment. Unfortunately the court disagreed. The ruling was 5-4 with Souter, Rehnquist, Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas in the majority and O'Connor, Stevens, GInsberg and Breyer in the minority.

[Tim S]

109 is incorrect when he claims that Mecum ignored the original ticket in the mail. It is on the record that Mecum never received any ticket. Frankly, I'm surprised at the number of folks who are speaking out on this issue as a cover/excuse to take a shot at Pullen, Mecum, and the AZGOP. I guess its good to know that there are plenty of folks with the integrity needed to do Bart Graves' job for him when the time comes for Bart to retire.

I agree with you Greg. What was done was improper and unethical. It was a political hit and it is supported by all of these folks who agree on the target and therefore excuse the method.

[Gayle Rightwoman]

Various blogs are all flustered over this. Some I write for are allowing the back and forth because there is a desire to allow free discourse. I can respect that.

IMHO, Brett is not the issue. I ask one question for simple debate: If the Executive Director had been say a 40 year old mom, and caught under the exact same turn of events, what would we all say?

Can you see a single mom going 109, in an office of high profile skating by? What if she did this late at night with her sleeping baby in the back seat?

I see this as a Bill Clinton moment. If Bill had been found not with Monica but a man--same exact acts and events- he'd have been cornered into resignation. If Bill had been a woman, caught sexually with a man, I suspect the same resignation result.

I think it was here or at SA, a commenter said something about boys being boys, or one is a normal hetero man... just as they said about Clinton.

I cannot speak for all republican women. I can say this, I do not agree with how Brett was taken in. I also do not think it's acceptable to have rules for some, and standards that waiver based on one's age, sex, background or circle of friends. Women have seen this in every corporate world where there is a double standard, and men nor women get a pass because they live life in the 'fast lane'.

Maybe the new answer is that people in public positions and the staff that support them all have a morality clause about public behavior and social interactions.

[Steve F.]

"Brett Mecum is still a complete idiot who is running the state GOP even further into the ground."

Considering the Democratic losses this last election, that's an awfully effective way to run an organization into the ground, especially during an election where the national democratic ticket ruled.

[interested]

Greg- I hate photo radar. But an "equal protection" violation?? Come on. How about giving us your analysis on the Judge's conclusion that photo radar violates equal protection.