Monday, May 24, 2010
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Our self-image is influenced not only by our genetic connection to our mothers, but by our emotional relationship to her as well. Observational studies suggest that our first moments of self-awareness are experienced through seeing ourselves in the mirror of our mother's eyes.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Horowitz: Obama Policies Threaten America
By: John Rossomando
Barack Obama’s radical policies and appointees endanger America’s standing in the world, says policy advocate and author David Horowitz.
Horowitz, founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, describes Obama as the “most inexperienced radical and divisive president in America’s history” in his pamphlet titled, “Obama’s Professor and America’s Cultural Crisis.”
He takes particular issue with several of Obama’s appointees, most notably Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court.
Kagan should be dropped from consideration because of her refusal to allow military recruiters at Harvard Law School and her opposition to the high court’s Citizens United decision against a ban on corporate political spending, Horowitz tells Newsmax.TV
Barack Obama’s radical policies and appointees endanger America’s standing in the world, says policy advocate and author David Horowitz.
Horowitz, founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, describes Obama as the “most inexperienced radical and divisive president in America’s history” in his pamphlet titled, “Obama’s Professor and America’s Cultural Crisis.”
He takes particular issue with several of Obama’s appointees, most notably Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court.
Kagan should be dropped from consideration because of her refusal to allow military recruiters at Harvard Law School and her opposition to the high court’s Citizens United decision against a ban on corporate political spending, Horowitz tells Newsmax.TV
Wyoming's last desert wildlands
We need your immediate help to save one of Wyoming's last desert wildlands -- also known as Adobe Town -- from the oil and gas industry.
Located in the Red Desert, Adobe Town is filled with breathtaking canyons and badlands. But its 200,000 acres of wilderness-quality lands are now targeted by the Bureau of Land Management for destructive oil and gas development.
Please tell the BLM to spare Adobe Town from oil and gas drilling. Time is short, because leasing and permitting of these lands to oil and gas companies is moving forward now.
As the crown jewel of Wyoming's high desert wildlands, Adobe Town is home to several wildlife migration corridors and one of North America's most intact sagebrush ecosystems.
Just as importantly, Adobe Town's cultural and historic qualities simply can't be replaced. The Cherokee Trail, once traveled by pioneers, runs through this desert landscape, and the real-life Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid used the area's stunning rock formations as a natural hideaway.
Despite the fact that Adobe Town is a Citizens Proposed Wilderness Area, the BLM wants to sell it to the highest bidder for oil and gas drilling. Opening these lands to development would destroy pristine wildlife habitat, increase air pollution, and ruin unparalleled recreational opportunities.
With industrial wells already dotting large swaths of the Red Desert, it would be a disaster to sacrifice yet another natural treasure to oil and gas companies.
NRDC is prepared to go to court to stop any drilling in Adobe Town, but we need you to make your opposition known to BLM officials right away. Tell the BLM you oppose any oil and gas leasing in the Red Desert's Adobe Town wilderness.
Thanks for taking action to protect Wyoming's last open spaces.
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council
Located in the Red Desert, Adobe Town is filled with breathtaking canyons and badlands. But its 200,000 acres of wilderness-quality lands are now targeted by the Bureau of Land Management for destructive oil and gas development.
Please tell the BLM to spare Adobe Town from oil and gas drilling. Time is short, because leasing and permitting of these lands to oil and gas companies is moving forward now.
As the crown jewel of Wyoming's high desert wildlands, Adobe Town is home to several wildlife migration corridors and one of North America's most intact sagebrush ecosystems.
Just as importantly, Adobe Town's cultural and historic qualities simply can't be replaced. The Cherokee Trail, once traveled by pioneers, runs through this desert landscape, and the real-life Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid used the area's stunning rock formations as a natural hideaway.
Despite the fact that Adobe Town is a Citizens Proposed Wilderness Area, the BLM wants to sell it to the highest bidder for oil and gas drilling. Opening these lands to development would destroy pristine wildlife habitat, increase air pollution, and ruin unparalleled recreational opportunities.
With industrial wells already dotting large swaths of the Red Desert, it would be a disaster to sacrifice yet another natural treasure to oil and gas companies.
NRDC is prepared to go to court to stop any drilling in Adobe Town, but we need you to make your opposition known to BLM officials right away. Tell the BLM you oppose any oil and gas leasing in the Red Desert's Adobe Town wilderness.
Thanks for taking action to protect Wyoming's last open spaces.
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council
Turn Your “Digestion Gene” Back On
Did you know that you could be eating all the right nutrients but not absorbing them?
In order to build muscle, strengthen your immune system, and get the energy you need throughout the day, the nutrients you eat have to get absorbed in your digestive tract. And that requires digestive enzymes.
There’s the rub. Because there’s something in our modern diet that may be stopping you from producing the digestive enzymes you need.
Let me explain…
In four weeks, a high-glucose diet was found to shut down the gene that creates digestive enzymes. Food wouldn’t move through the digestive tract, and it couldn’t be absorbed.1
Digestive enzymes turn what you eat into vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients so your body can absorb it.
Without digestive enzymes, you can’t take in the nutrients you need to feed your cells. Your cells can’t make the energy they need to stay healthy. When your cells run out of energy, your body breaks down, and you develop disease.
You probably already know what sugar does to you. It gives you cravings and makes you hungry all the time.2 You gain weight and become depressed.3 Sugar throws off your hormones and gives you diabetes.4 It feeds cancer cells and increases your chance of having a heart attack.5,6
Now, look at what happens if you stop producing digestive enzymes. Protease, amylase, and lipase are groups of enzymes that digest proteins, carbohydrates, and fats:
Protease digests proteins. But parasites, fungus, bacteria, and viruses are protein. Without protease, you have nothing to eat away at them. You lose your defense against intestinal bugs, candida, infections, or viruses.
Amylase digests carbohydrates. But amylase also digests things like pus, which is dead white blood cells. Without amylase, you can develop pus-filled infections like abscesses or other skin conditions. Or, you could develop a lung condition.
Lipase digests fats. Lipase digests fat and nutrients like vitamin E and fish oil. If you don’t have enough lipase to digest fat-soluble nutrients, you can develop high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease.
To make sure you have enough digestive enzymes, keep sugar out of your diet as much as you can:
In general, foods that are naturally sweet are okay to eat as they are. Just don’t take food that is not sweet naturally and make them sweet.
Choose fresh fruits like strawberries, blueberries, and pears for your sweet treat. These naturally sweet foods come with an added bonus: Fresh fruits increase digestive enzymes in your body.
Avoid flavored waters and drinks that contain added sugar. Make your own by adding fresh fruit or cucumber, limes, and lemons to water.
If you must sweeten any food or drink, do like we do in the office and just add a little good old-fashioned raw sugar or honey.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
In order to build muscle, strengthen your immune system, and get the energy you need throughout the day, the nutrients you eat have to get absorbed in your digestive tract. And that requires digestive enzymes.
There’s the rub. Because there’s something in our modern diet that may be stopping you from producing the digestive enzymes you need.
Let me explain…
In four weeks, a high-glucose diet was found to shut down the gene that creates digestive enzymes. Food wouldn’t move through the digestive tract, and it couldn’t be absorbed.1
Digestive enzymes turn what you eat into vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients so your body can absorb it.
Without digestive enzymes, you can’t take in the nutrients you need to feed your cells. Your cells can’t make the energy they need to stay healthy. When your cells run out of energy, your body breaks down, and you develop disease.
You probably already know what sugar does to you. It gives you cravings and makes you hungry all the time.2 You gain weight and become depressed.3 Sugar throws off your hormones and gives you diabetes.4 It feeds cancer cells and increases your chance of having a heart attack.5,6
Now, look at what happens if you stop producing digestive enzymes. Protease, amylase, and lipase are groups of enzymes that digest proteins, carbohydrates, and fats:
Protease digests proteins. But parasites, fungus, bacteria, and viruses are protein. Without protease, you have nothing to eat away at them. You lose your defense against intestinal bugs, candida, infections, or viruses.
Amylase digests carbohydrates. But amylase also digests things like pus, which is dead white blood cells. Without amylase, you can develop pus-filled infections like abscesses or other skin conditions. Or, you could develop a lung condition.
Lipase digests fats. Lipase digests fat and nutrients like vitamin E and fish oil. If you don’t have enough lipase to digest fat-soluble nutrients, you can develop high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease.
To make sure you have enough digestive enzymes, keep sugar out of your diet as much as you can:
In general, foods that are naturally sweet are okay to eat as they are. Just don’t take food that is not sweet naturally and make them sweet.
Choose fresh fruits like strawberries, blueberries, and pears for your sweet treat. These naturally sweet foods come with an added bonus: Fresh fruits increase digestive enzymes in your body.
Avoid flavored waters and drinks that contain added sugar. Make your own by adding fresh fruit or cucumber, limes, and lemons to water.
If you must sweeten any food or drink, do like we do in the office and just add a little good old-fashioned raw sugar or honey.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
Can a Flower Make You Smarter?
Doctors in Europe know about its miraculous IQ-boosting power and recommend it to millions. Yet in the U.S. it remains nothing more than a garden flower.
I’m talking about the periwinkle – otherwise known as Vinca minor. It’s more than a source of beautiful blue in your garden – it’s the source of a miraculous brain-booster called vinpocetine.
Vinpocetine is high-octane fuel for your brain. It’s so effective against fading mental powers that it’s widely used in nearly 50 countries, including Hungary, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Japan.1
Doctors in the Americas don’t seem to know much about it. That’s a shame, because it’s a safe, natural brain booster.
Vinpocetine is one of Nature’s most potent antidotes to the forgetfulness, brain fog, and confusion we normally associate with aging.* You won’t have to worry about losing the mental power you’ve enjoyed your whole life.
It unleashes your full powers of attention, concentration, and memory and puts you in back in control of your mental function.*
Vinpocetine Supplement: Stop Starving Your Brain
The beauty of vinpocetine is that your brain knows exactly what to do with it. Start taking it and it goes to work right away.
That’s because in your early years, your brain makes it on its own. Think of it as your body’s “brain food.”
Once you hit early adulthood, though, you don’t make as much. You make even less as the years go by.
Starved of this key nutrient, your mental abilities begin to fade.
Start feeding your brain again, and they come roaring back.
This isn’t just about staying sharp. Vinpocetine is a healing force for both your brain and your body. Here’s what it will do for you:
Help reduce senility and age-related dementia.2
Boost blood flow to your brain.3
Support nervous system health.4
Lower your risk of brain health problems.5
Keep your brain stocked with the “feel-good” compound dopamine, which helps you direct your thinking and behavior – and stay motivated.
To understand the key to vinpocetine’s power, you need to know just how much power your brain really needs.
Vinpocetine Supplement: Get Mental Energy Where It’s Needed Most
You already know that with each beat of your heart, blood pumps out through every vessel to all the organs of your body, delivering vital nutrients, fuel, and oxygen. This is the fire of living.
Believe it or not, your “gray matter” needs the most blood of any organ in your body, including your heart. Fully one seventh of the blood from every single heartbeat goes to the brain. It’s no wonder. As your body’s “command center,” it burns through a lot of energy.
Are you getting enough oxygen from blood flow alone to stay sharp, focused, and mentally agile? Chances are you’re not.
Depending on your age, diet, and overall health, you could be losing brain cells every minute.
Unlike most other types of tissue—for instance, your muscle cells, which can keep on going pretty well even without fresh oxygen—your brain cells are completely incapable of “anaerobic metabolism.” In plain English, they die when they don’t get enough air.
Even a brief lack of oxygen to brain tissue can cause immediate brain damage.
Of course, as you age, blood flows less efficiently to your brain. You can sidestep this problem and get your brain cells revved up again with vinpocetine.
Vinpocetine works in three remarkable ways:
It boosts blood circulation in your brain. It zeros in on your brain’s tiny blood vessels so they can deliver oxygen more efficiently. It even helps your brain use oxygen better.
Since it keeps your brain cells charged up with high oxygen levels, it increases the amount of time your brain can go without fresh oxygen. That means it can keep your brain cells from dying.*
It helps your body preserve its energy for a robust brain and power for healthy living.* It preserves something called “adenosine triphosphate” or ATP—the fuel every cell of your body needs to function.
Vinpocetine Supplement: In Repeated Studies It Turns “Brain Fog” into Brainpower!
Researchers split people with chronic “brain fog” into two groups. One took 10 mg of vinpocetine every day for a month, then 5 mg for another two months.6The other group took a sugar pill.
A separate three-month trial confirmed that vinpocetine actually speeds up the rate of blood flow in your brain—even when you’re just sitting there. Of two groups, the one on vinpocetine got smarter, tested better, and appeared more steady and calm.7
Another study published just last year in the prestigious Journal of Neurological Sciences found that in people suffering from limited stroke damage, it had an almost magical healing effect. It directed blood right to the affected areas.8
Thinking and overall brainpower got a significant boost from vinpocetine in another clinical trial involving a 12-week long oral treatment. “Psychometric” tests gauged levels of higher brain function, with additional monitoring of participants’ overall mental health. After three months, the increase of blood flow velocity while at rest was significantly higher in the vinpocetine group.
Vinpocetine Supplement: Start Ramping Up Your Brainpower Today
After years of research and testing, my vinpocetine formula has finally arrived in our offices. It took a while to find a source that met my standards for quality and purity.
Now you can have the same ironclad defense against fading mental powers that millions of people enjoy overseas… delivered right to your front door.
It meets my standards for quality and purity. And the advance reviews coming in from my patients have been outstanding.
They tell me they’re more productive in every area of their lives. They say they retain new information and knowledge more easily. Everyday tasks are a cinch. They remember things like stopping at the grocery store on the way home, calling a relative on their birthday. They even finish the Sunday crossword in record time.
As always, you get my NO-HASSLE, FULL PROTECTION Guarantee. That means you can try Vinpocetine with no risk or worries…
If it doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. Just let me know, and I’ll refund your credit card for the FULL amount. All it takes is a few “mouse clicks” at the computer.
You’ll even get back the money you paid for shipping and handling. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Now is the time to preserve and protect your mental power. To get started, just click on the links below.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
I’m talking about the periwinkle – otherwise known as Vinca minor. It’s more than a source of beautiful blue in your garden – it’s the source of a miraculous brain-booster called vinpocetine.
Vinpocetine is high-octane fuel for your brain. It’s so effective against fading mental powers that it’s widely used in nearly 50 countries, including Hungary, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Japan.1
Doctors in the Americas don’t seem to know much about it. That’s a shame, because it’s a safe, natural brain booster.
Vinpocetine is one of Nature’s most potent antidotes to the forgetfulness, brain fog, and confusion we normally associate with aging.* You won’t have to worry about losing the mental power you’ve enjoyed your whole life.
It unleashes your full powers of attention, concentration, and memory and puts you in back in control of your mental function.*
Vinpocetine Supplement: Stop Starving Your Brain
The beauty of vinpocetine is that your brain knows exactly what to do with it. Start taking it and it goes to work right away.
That’s because in your early years, your brain makes it on its own. Think of it as your body’s “brain food.”
Once you hit early adulthood, though, you don’t make as much. You make even less as the years go by.
Starved of this key nutrient, your mental abilities begin to fade.
Start feeding your brain again, and they come roaring back.
This isn’t just about staying sharp. Vinpocetine is a healing force for both your brain and your body. Here’s what it will do for you:
Help reduce senility and age-related dementia.2
Boost blood flow to your brain.3
Support nervous system health.4
Lower your risk of brain health problems.5
Keep your brain stocked with the “feel-good” compound dopamine, which helps you direct your thinking and behavior – and stay motivated.
To understand the key to vinpocetine’s power, you need to know just how much power your brain really needs.
Vinpocetine Supplement: Get Mental Energy Where It’s Needed Most
You already know that with each beat of your heart, blood pumps out through every vessel to all the organs of your body, delivering vital nutrients, fuel, and oxygen. This is the fire of living.
Believe it or not, your “gray matter” needs the most blood of any organ in your body, including your heart. Fully one seventh of the blood from every single heartbeat goes to the brain. It’s no wonder. As your body’s “command center,” it burns through a lot of energy.
Are you getting enough oxygen from blood flow alone to stay sharp, focused, and mentally agile? Chances are you’re not.
Depending on your age, diet, and overall health, you could be losing brain cells every minute.
Unlike most other types of tissue—for instance, your muscle cells, which can keep on going pretty well even without fresh oxygen—your brain cells are completely incapable of “anaerobic metabolism.” In plain English, they die when they don’t get enough air.
Even a brief lack of oxygen to brain tissue can cause immediate brain damage.
Of course, as you age, blood flows less efficiently to your brain. You can sidestep this problem and get your brain cells revved up again with vinpocetine.
Vinpocetine works in three remarkable ways:
It boosts blood circulation in your brain. It zeros in on your brain’s tiny blood vessels so they can deliver oxygen more efficiently. It even helps your brain use oxygen better.
Since it keeps your brain cells charged up with high oxygen levels, it increases the amount of time your brain can go without fresh oxygen. That means it can keep your brain cells from dying.*
It helps your body preserve its energy for a robust brain and power for healthy living.* It preserves something called “adenosine triphosphate” or ATP—the fuel every cell of your body needs to function.
Vinpocetine Supplement: In Repeated Studies It Turns “Brain Fog” into Brainpower!
Researchers split people with chronic “brain fog” into two groups. One took 10 mg of vinpocetine every day for a month, then 5 mg for another two months.6The other group took a sugar pill.
A separate three-month trial confirmed that vinpocetine actually speeds up the rate of blood flow in your brain—even when you’re just sitting there. Of two groups, the one on vinpocetine got smarter, tested better, and appeared more steady and calm.7
Another study published just last year in the prestigious Journal of Neurological Sciences found that in people suffering from limited stroke damage, it had an almost magical healing effect. It directed blood right to the affected areas.8
Thinking and overall brainpower got a significant boost from vinpocetine in another clinical trial involving a 12-week long oral treatment. “Psychometric” tests gauged levels of higher brain function, with additional monitoring of participants’ overall mental health. After three months, the increase of blood flow velocity while at rest was significantly higher in the vinpocetine group.
Vinpocetine Supplement: Start Ramping Up Your Brainpower Today
After years of research and testing, my vinpocetine formula has finally arrived in our offices. It took a while to find a source that met my standards for quality and purity.
Now you can have the same ironclad defense against fading mental powers that millions of people enjoy overseas… delivered right to your front door.
It meets my standards for quality and purity. And the advance reviews coming in from my patients have been outstanding.
They tell me they’re more productive in every area of their lives. They say they retain new information and knowledge more easily. Everyday tasks are a cinch. They remember things like stopping at the grocery store on the way home, calling a relative on their birthday. They even finish the Sunday crossword in record time.
As always, you get my NO-HASSLE, FULL PROTECTION Guarantee. That means you can try Vinpocetine with no risk or worries…
If it doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. Just let me know, and I’ll refund your credit card for the FULL amount. All it takes is a few “mouse clicks” at the computer.
You’ll even get back the money you paid for shipping and handling. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Now is the time to preserve and protect your mental power. To get started, just click on the links below.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Moms aren't just those gals that do the birthing—they are also the stepmothers, mentors, teachers, friends and people who do the nurturing and loving. I am talking about the women in our lives who teach, care, listen, act, hug, wipe away the tears, tell us everything is going to be all right, say no, say yes, guide us, who pray and have faith in us.
"These special women share the blessings of a mothering spirit as they touch lives and hearts forever. They mother because of their great capacity to love, and they give of their generous spirit without expectation.
"These special women share the blessings of a mothering spirit as they touch lives and hearts forever. They mother because of their great capacity to love, and they give of their generous spirit without expectation.
What to Do If You're Stopped by the Police
Think carefully about your words, movement, body language, and emotions. Don't get into an argument with the police.
Remember, anything you say or do can be used against you.
Keep your hands where the police can see them.
Don't run. Don't touch any police officer.
Don't resist even if you believe you are innocent.
Don't complain on the scene or tell the police they're wrong or that you're going to file a complaint.
Do not make any statements regarding the incident. Ask for a lawyer immediately upon your arrest.
Remember officers' badge and patrol car numbers.
Write down everything you remember ASAP.
Try to find witnesses and their names and phone numbers.
If you are injured, take photographs of the injuries as soon as possible, but make sure you seek medical attention first.
If you feel your rights have been violated, file a written complaint with police department's internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.
1. What you say to the police is always important. What you say can be used against you, and it can give the police an excuse to arrest you, especially if you bad-mouth a police officer.
2. You must show your driver's license and registration when stopped in a car. Otherwise, you don't have to answer any questions if you are detained or arrested, with one important exception. The police may ask for your name if you have been properly detained, and you can be arrested in some states for refusing to give it. If you reasonably fear that your name is incriminating, you can claim the right to remain silent, which may be a defense in case you are arrested anyway.
3. You don't have to consent to any search of yourself, your car or your house. If you DO consent to a search, it can affect your rights later in court. If the police say they have a search warrant, ASK TO SEE IT.
4. Do not interfere with, or obstruct the police -- you can be arrested for it.
IF YOU ARE STOPPED FOR QUESTIONING
1. It's not a crime to refuse to answer questions, but refusing to answer can make the police suspicious about you. If you are asked to identify yourself, see paragraph 2 above.
2. Police may "pat-down" your clothing if they suspect a concealed weapon. Don't physically resist, but make it clear that you don't consent to any further search.
3. Ask if you are under arrest. If you are, you have a right to know why.
4. Don't bad-mouth the police officer or run away, even if you believe what is happening is unreasonable. That could lead to your arrest.
IF YOU'RE STOPPED IN YOUR CAR
1. Upon request, show them your driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance. In certain cases, your car can be searched without a warrant as long as the police have probable cause. To protect yourself later, you should make it clear that you do not consent to a search. It is not lawful for police to arrest you simply for refusing to consent to a search.
2. If you're given a ticket, you should sign it; otherwise you can be arrested. You can always fight the case in court later. Godsplans4children suggest write ( all rights reserved) after signing your name on everything.
3. If you're suspected of drunk driving (DWI) and refuse to take a blood, urine or breath test, your driver's license may be suspended.
IF YOU'RE ARRESTED OR TAKEN TO A POLICE STATION
1. You have the right to remain silent and to talk to a lawyer before you talk to the police. Tell the police nothing except your name and address. Don't give any explanations, excuses or stories. You can make your defense later, in court, based on what you and your lawyer decide is best.
2. Ask to see a lawyer immediately. If you can't pay for a lawyer, you have a right to a free one, and should ask the police how the lawyer can be contacted. Don't say anything without a lawyer.
3. Within a reasonable time after your arrest, or booking, you have the right to make a local phone call: to a lawyer, bail bondsman, a relative or any other person. The police may not listen to the call to the lawyer.
4. Sometimes you can be released without bail, or have bail lowered. Have your lawyer ask the judge about this possibility. You must be taken before the judge on the next court day after arrest.
5. Do not make any decisions in your case until you have talked with a lawyer.
IN YOUR HOME
1. If the police knock and ask to enter your home, you don't have to admit them unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.
2. However, in some emergency situations (like when a person is screaming for help inside, or when the police are chasing someone) officers are allowed to enter and search your home without a warrant.
3. If you are arrested, the police can search you and the area close by. If you are in a building, "close by" usually means just the room you are in.
We all recognize the need for effective law enforcement, but we should also understand our own rights and responsibilities -- especially in our relationships with the police. Everyone, including minors, has the right to courteous and respectful police treatment.
If your rights are violated, don't try to deal with the situation at the scene. You can discuss the matter with an attorney afterwards, or file a complaint with the Internal Affairs or Civilian Complaint Board.
Produced by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Remember, anything you say or do can be used against you.
Keep your hands where the police can see them.
Don't run. Don't touch any police officer.
Don't resist even if you believe you are innocent.
Don't complain on the scene or tell the police they're wrong or that you're going to file a complaint.
Do not make any statements regarding the incident. Ask for a lawyer immediately upon your arrest.
Remember officers' badge and patrol car numbers.
Write down everything you remember ASAP.
Try to find witnesses and their names and phone numbers.
If you are injured, take photographs of the injuries as soon as possible, but make sure you seek medical attention first.
If you feel your rights have been violated, file a written complaint with police department's internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.
1. What you say to the police is always important. What you say can be used against you, and it can give the police an excuse to arrest you, especially if you bad-mouth a police officer.
2. You must show your driver's license and registration when stopped in a car. Otherwise, you don't have to answer any questions if you are detained or arrested, with one important exception. The police may ask for your name if you have been properly detained, and you can be arrested in some states for refusing to give it. If you reasonably fear that your name is incriminating, you can claim the right to remain silent, which may be a defense in case you are arrested anyway.
3. You don't have to consent to any search of yourself, your car or your house. If you DO consent to a search, it can affect your rights later in court. If the police say they have a search warrant, ASK TO SEE IT.
4. Do not interfere with, or obstruct the police -- you can be arrested for it.
IF YOU ARE STOPPED FOR QUESTIONING
1. It's not a crime to refuse to answer questions, but refusing to answer can make the police suspicious about you. If you are asked to identify yourself, see paragraph 2 above.
2. Police may "pat-down" your clothing if they suspect a concealed weapon. Don't physically resist, but make it clear that you don't consent to any further search.
3. Ask if you are under arrest. If you are, you have a right to know why.
4. Don't bad-mouth the police officer or run away, even if you believe what is happening is unreasonable. That could lead to your arrest.
IF YOU'RE STOPPED IN YOUR CAR
1. Upon request, show them your driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance. In certain cases, your car can be searched without a warrant as long as the police have probable cause. To protect yourself later, you should make it clear that you do not consent to a search. It is not lawful for police to arrest you simply for refusing to consent to a search.
2. If you're given a ticket, you should sign it; otherwise you can be arrested. You can always fight the case in court later. Godsplans4children suggest write ( all rights reserved) after signing your name on everything.
3. If you're suspected of drunk driving (DWI) and refuse to take a blood, urine or breath test, your driver's license may be suspended.
IF YOU'RE ARRESTED OR TAKEN TO A POLICE STATION
1. You have the right to remain silent and to talk to a lawyer before you talk to the police. Tell the police nothing except your name and address. Don't give any explanations, excuses or stories. You can make your defense later, in court, based on what you and your lawyer decide is best.
2. Ask to see a lawyer immediately. If you can't pay for a lawyer, you have a right to a free one, and should ask the police how the lawyer can be contacted. Don't say anything without a lawyer.
3. Within a reasonable time after your arrest, or booking, you have the right to make a local phone call: to a lawyer, bail bondsman, a relative or any other person. The police may not listen to the call to the lawyer.
4. Sometimes you can be released without bail, or have bail lowered. Have your lawyer ask the judge about this possibility. You must be taken before the judge on the next court day after arrest.
5. Do not make any decisions in your case until you have talked with a lawyer.
IN YOUR HOME
1. If the police knock and ask to enter your home, you don't have to admit them unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.
2. However, in some emergency situations (like when a person is screaming for help inside, or when the police are chasing someone) officers are allowed to enter and search your home without a warrant.
3. If you are arrested, the police can search you and the area close by. If you are in a building, "close by" usually means just the room you are in.
We all recognize the need for effective law enforcement, but we should also understand our own rights and responsibilities -- especially in our relationships with the police. Everyone, including minors, has the right to courteous and respectful police treatment.
If your rights are violated, don't try to deal with the situation at the scene. You can discuss the matter with an attorney afterwards, or file a complaint with the Internal Affairs or Civilian Complaint Board.
Produced by the American Civil Liberties Union.
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