EAST BAY EXPRESS– On a gloomy recent morning in West Oakland, tenants at the David Gray Building — or, Off-Ramp Studios, as everyone who lives there calls it — stood in the hallways outside their lofts. They gathered around their doors in nervous clusters and spoke in hushed tones, wondering aloud whether they should head to work or stay and observe while two Oakland police officers, two building services code enforcers, a fire inspector, and three property management representatives entered all of their units one by one.

Traditionally the entire procedure would have required a search warrant. But on this day, the group of cops and city officials were operating under a little-known Oakland city program, called “SMART” — Specialized Multi-Agency Response Team — that some legal experts say may be unconstitutional. That’s because they enter people’s homes without consent or a warrant.

At the Off-Ramp Studios, they also entered one loft when no one was home. It was Unit 103. They knocked on the locked door and got no response. After about a minute of waiting, the building manager, who was carrying a tray of keys, opened the door, and everyone entered.

Inside were the remnants of a large, multi-level grow operation, including what appeared to be psilocybin mushroom caps and potted marijuana plants that had been sawed off. There also was evidence of methamphetamine production, according to fire inspector Vincent Crudele, who called the unit a potential felony crime scene. The officers hauled away large Ziplock bags filled with evidence seized from the inspection, and Crudele ordered the unit to be completely cleaned out by property management within 48 hours.

A week prior to the search, Crudele showed up at the Off-Ramp for a preliminary check in response to complaints from one tenant about an open party being planned by another tenant, said Frank Flores, director of development for Madison Park, the building’s leasing agent. Crudele said he noticed the smell of marijuana emanating from one particular unit — 103 — and decided then to schedule the SMART inspection for one week later.

For Crudele, having police officers accompany city inspectors during a SMART inspection ensures security in potentially volatile situations. “It’s a safety issue for us,” he said. “We have limited policing capabilities. If part of the populace is doing something illegal — that creates a problem for me. They may not want to cooperate.”

However, Northern California ACLU staff attorney Michael Risher questioned the legality of searching people’s homes without a warrant or consent. He also argued that it’s not all that burdensome to go down to the courthouse, swear-out an affidavit, and get a legitimate search warrant to look for illegal drugs or real safety hazards.

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© EAST BAY EXPRESS, 2010

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ACLU– British Prime Minister David Cameron today announced an independent investigation into allegations that U.K. agents were complicit in the torture of detainees in United States custody, and said the U.K. government would compensate torture survivors if the allegations were found to be true. U.K. residents and American Civil Liberties Union clients Binyam Mohamed and Bisher Al Rawi have long claimed that U.K. officials were aware of their CIA-orchestrated rendition and torture.

Following Prime Minister Cameron’s announcement, the ACLU called on the Obama administration to broaden its own investigation into the Bush-era torture program to include top-level government officials who may have known about and authorized such abuse. Despite disavowing torture, the current administration continues to shield Bush administration officials from legal scrutiny or accountability for their role in the program. An ongoing Justice Department investigation of the torture program excludes top-level officials.

“An investigation into the role of government personnel in the abuse and torture of prisoners is exactly what the Obama administration should be initiating. And while we welcome Prime Minister Cameron’s commitment to ensuring that torture survivors are acknowledged and compensated, this announcement also serves as a reminder of how little has been done here in the United States to reckon with the abuses of the last nine years,” said Jameel Jaffer, ACLU Deputy Legal Director. “The Obama administration continues to suppress documents that would allow the public to understand the full scope of the Bush administration’s torture program. It continues to use the ‘state secrets’ privilege to extinguish civil litigation by torture victims. And thus far the only criminal investigation this administration has initiated is one that appears to be focused on interrogators, not on the senior officials who authorized torture.”

Mohamed and Al Rawi are plaintiffs in the ACLU’s lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan for its role in the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program, in which prisoners in U.S. custody were forcibly transferred to CIA “black sites” or prisons in countries known to torture. The United States government has asserted the “state secrets” privilege in an attempt to block the case from moving forward. In February, a British court ordered the U.K. government to turn over seven previously suppressed paragraphs from an earlier court ruling that summarize British government documents related to Mohamed’s rendition, detention and torture while under the control of U.S. authorities.

“Evidence of U.S. torture is widely known throughout the world. Yet, to date, no survivors of the United States’ rendition and torture program have had their day in a U.S. court,” said Steven Watt, staff attorney with the ACLU Human Rights Program. “The Obama administration should not only end its efforts to prevent accountability for torturers and justice for survivors, but follow Britain’s lead and broaden the investigation here in this country. It is time to reaffirm our commitment to human rights and the rule of law.”

More information about the ACLU’s lawsuit against Jeppesen DataPlan is available online HERE.