Brickbats

Lookalike drugs, breached Social Security numbers, and fiendish fruit vendors

Charles Oliver from the May 2008 issue

One morning in January, in Medford, Massachusetts, an automated telephone system made some 2,100 calls telling parents, inaccurately, that their children were not in school.

Surveillance video shows Shreveport police officer Ryan Robinson looking around to make sure other officers aren’t watching before walking up behind Carnado Brown, who is talking on a cell phone outside a night club. Robinson then tases Brown. Robinson was suspended for 45 days, but there are no plans for a criminal investigation.

Two students at Pennsylvania’s Waynesburg Central High School were suspended for 10 days after they made an anti-drug commercial for a TV workshop. The students crushed candy and used it to represent cocaine. That violated a school policy that bans not only drugs but things that look like drugs. At least one student also was told to undergo drug counseling.

For the third time in 13 months, the state of Wisconsin has sent out letters in which the recipients’ Social Security numbers were visible from the outside of the envelope. In the latest incident, the state sent 1099-G tax forms to people who received a state income tax refund or other payment in 2007. Because of the way the forms were folded, Social Security numbers were visible in the windows of some of the envelopes. The state has offered to pay for one year of credit monitoring for all of the recipients.

European Union officials insist it’s not a criminal offense to sell goods in pounds and ounces. They should tell that to the people prosecuting 63-year-old Janet Devers, who runs a fruit and vegetable stand in East London. Police seized nonmetric scales from her stand in September, and just before Christmas, authorities informed her they were charging her with 13 counts of violating laws requiring British merchants to sell in metric units. She faces a fine of up to £5,000 on each charge.

Malaysian authorities have seized copies of Christian children’s books. Officials say the books contain depictions of prophets such as Abraham and Moses, and that such illustrations violate Islamic law.

The Ocoee, Florida, police department was supposed to take Anthony Johnson’s driver’s license. Instead, they took the license of Andrew Johnson. The two men not only have different first names but have different skin colors. Officials say Andrew Johnson will have to prove he isn’t Anthony before he can get his license back.

Boston attorney Simon Glik used his cell phone to record police in the Boston Common arresting a 16-year-old boy on drug charges. Police claim he distracted them, allowing the boy to temporarily escape. A charge against Glik of aiding the escape of a criminal suspect was dismissed, but he still faces charges of wiretapping and disturbing the peace.