The Morality Police
by Joseph C. Hinson
March 5, 2002

From the Chester News & Reporter comes this from staff writer Michelle Fulton: The Chester County Drug Enforcement Unit was busy last Tuesday. Seized were eight video poker machines while the CCDE was executing a search warrant at the Best Bet convenience store on Lancaster Street in Chester. Two cashiers at the store were arrested and charged with unlawful/gaming/betting. A thirty foot camper/trailer that served as housing for the poker machines was also impounded.

The most telling part of the article was this, a direct quote from Chester County Sheriff Robby Benson: "The Drug Enforcement Unit is handling more than just drugs. We’re cracking down on any and everything, because people are tired of the things that are going on. When we get information, we’re going to work hard on it.”

This is wonderful news. In other words, Mr. Benson is going to work hard to put his nose where it doesn't belong. They're "cracking down on any and everything." What constitutes as "any and everything"? I guess it's what people are tired of. Again, it comes down to morals. The state and some of the citizens inside do not want you to gamble. Therefore, it's illegal and if you decide to go ahead and gamble anyway, then you're arrested and you will go to jail.

The Best Bet in Chester might need a name change after this.

Wait a minute. That's not really right. If you want to gamble, you can, in fact, gamble in the great state of South Carolina. All you have to do is play the Education Lottery. What, you ask, is the Education Lottery? It's the official South Carolina lottery. Soon, we get the powerball. The Education Lottery is thus named because, allegedly, the proceeds from the lottery will go to the state education system, much like the Georgia system. Calling it the Education Lottery, I guess, is also meant to make it sound more appealing. It is better than, say, the Lose All Your Freaking Money Lottery.

What's next? The Education Beer? You won't be able to go to Food Lion and pick up a case of beer unless it's the officially sanctioned South Carolina Education Beer. Or maybe we could go for the jugular and come up with the Education Heroin. All proceeds from the sale of South Carolina sanctioned heroin will go to the state education system.

So I do think it's funny. The poker machines were taken out in South Carolina because the voters wanted them out. The voters were wrong, by the way, but that's beside the point. So what replaced them? More gambling. This would not be near as bad if we didn't have to listen to the propaganda about the poker machines. You can recite them off with me, I'm sure. Too many people lose their entire weeks paycheck in the video poker machines. Therefore, they must be illegal. Video poker machines are immoral. Therefore, they must be illegal.

Well, guess what, folks? You can't talk out of both sides of your mouth. Not even if you lie out of both sides. You can't be against video poker but be for the so-called Education Lottery.

Robby Benson's comments go straight in the face of what some well-known sheriffs have said about prosecuting consensual crimes. Bill Masters is perhaps the best known sheriff to come out in opposition to the War on Drugs. Masters has served as Sheriff of San Miguel County, Telluride, Colorado for 20 years. During a speech at the National Libertarian Convention in June 30, 2000, Masters said, "What kind of peace officer, what kind of society would allow a peace officer to use one minute of time, spend one dollar, or use any jail cell for a marijuana smoker, when vicious child murderers are on the loose?" The speech was carried on C-SPAN, which means that about seventeen people outside of the convention saw it.

But Masters is onto something. The police should not be weeding out the consensual "criminals." They should be catching the real criminals who keep getting away with real criminals. For instance, in Chester County, South Carolina this past weekend, a church burned to the ground. Investigators believe the fire was deliberately set. Perhaps Sheriff Bensons time could be better spent on this instead of catching people not gambling how the state wants them to gamble.

Further, the Chester P.D. just arrested a man they think may be responsible for a series of armed robberies in the county from September to December of last year. One wonders if this man might have been arrested sooner if our boys in blue weren't so concerned with catching people not harming the person or property of another.

"The Drug Enforcement Unit is handling more than just drugs. We’re cracking down on any and everything, because people are tired of the things that are going on." Well, sir, I'm tired of people getting thrown in jail for doing something that didn't hurt the person or property of another while the real bad guys keep committing real crimes. When are you going to do something about that?

Related Links:
The Education Lottery
Bill Masters: Liberty Bill

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