You're absolutely right, Blackdog. They go whole-hog against drug dealers (except that I know it's only CERTAIN dealers- if there is a hint of political connection it is strictly hands-off!) They also go after crimes against businesses for the most part. (Crimes against people- well, you're supposed to have insurance to cover that- AS ONE PIG SAID TO ME WHEN A PRIZED RADIO WAS STOLEN FROM MY LOCKED TRUCK IN OUR DRIVEWAY years ago!)

They also really crunch down on anyone who gets rebellious. God help you if you even TRY to defend yourself against attack. (Oh, there are caveats to that too... but not for minorities or poor people).

They are, or were, masters of the throw-down. You know what I mean.

Oh, and open-and-shut cases down here aren't necessarily that. I was hit head-on by a woman driving on the wrong side of the road, the county didn't notify me of the hearing, and I took a total loss on our car (I didn't have comp and collision at the time because we were too poor). I could pretty much PROVE that I hadn't been notified- my wife even called the courthouse three times about the hearing (and was told each time we'd be notified). When I FINALLY found a lawyer who would take it- suddenly I got a strange reaction from the man and he dropped the case like a hot potato. Because of "Tort Reform" (and time limits they passed), I am out of a decent running (and air-conditioned) car, that didn't have over 250,000 miles on it!!!

The only other time I've heard of the strange reaction (in what he said and how he said it) was when Hillsborough County tried to confiscate a mobile home park and the owner resisted (and filed a lawsuit). A professor I know got a Civil Rights lawyer involved- and he said pretty much the same thing in the same way, and dropped the guy's defense like a hot potato. It was found out that someone "from on high" contacted him...

The guy who lost his mobile home park was railroaded; his defense didn't do a good job (and it should have been easy). He's dead now as I understand, but the county lost out- because of his lawsuit the land is locked up and they can't turn it into county parking (like they wanted).