"Keith F. Lynch" <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
> Scott Dorsey <
klu...@panix.com> wrote:
> > Keith F. Lynch <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
> >> Scott Dorsey <
klu...@panix.com> wrote:
> >>> New York has had a dial-a-drug service at least since the
> >>> eighties. Call the number, give your credit card number and
> >>> address and what you want, and a messenger comes out with it
> >>> in short order after they have verified your credit is good.
>
> >> How do they verify that you're not a narc? I don't think Experian
> >> or Equifax provides that information.
>
> > I don't know, I imagine they expect to lose a runner now and then as
> > part of the cost of doing business.
>
> The police won't just lock up the runner; they will pressure him to
> name his suppliers, promising to drop all charges against him if he
> does so and to lock him up for a long time if he refuses.
>
> Of course this means anyone falsely charged with being a runner will
> serve a much more severe sentence than someone who is actually guilty.
> Unless the falsely accused person names someone at random, who is
> then arrested and pressured in turn. This can result in numerous
> completely innocent people being locked up as part of a wholly
> imaginary crime ring, as happened in Salem centuries ago, in Tulia
> and Wenatchee in recent years, and no doubt in numerous other places
> that never came to light.
who was caught up in it, and describes that pattern. He mentions one
association, and had a good memory. When pressed to name his fellow
even Stalin's secret police were willing to arrest all of them. They
wanted to know who were the leading conspirators. He replied that he was