My question is, what would change if there were no field tests? Would she have been arrested anyway? In other words – would it be better if all the people who appeared to have suspicious substances had to wait in jail until the lab test came back? False positives (especially when there is no way to control humidity, temperature or atmospheric contaminants) are a problem with any QA chemistry test. I don’t know the law on this, but perhaps this was an effort to try to cut down on some of the unnecessary arrests?
This doesn’t address your issue of whether traces should be criminalized, etc. etc.
Finally, even where Ms. Albritton was concerned, some progress does appear to have been made:
“In the county where Albritton was arrested, this change has been made.
Last year, Devon Anderson, the current Harris County district attorney, prohibited plea deals in drug-possession cases before the lab has issued a report.”
I was actually happy to see the Board of the Chicago Appleseed organization – accomplished lawyers from well respected firms standing up for civic rights. Nice to know there are people who are paying attention.
