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Police told to end their practice of arbitrary night club raids
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The security ministry got its hand slapped by the constitutional court in a decision announced Wednesday over the policy of raiding night clubs.

Operators of the Club Oh! brought the case before the Sala IV of the Corte Suprema de Justicia. The business caters to gays, and the proprietors claimed that police were involved in homophobia behavior when they raided the club last April.

However, what happened at this club was the same that happened at the Del Rey and the nearby Key Largo in the same weekend.

The Sala IV warned the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública not to repeat the actions that brought the appeal.

There were parallels between what happened at Club Oh! and at the Key Largo and Hotel Del Rey. Police entered, sealed off the exits and began checking identifications of those present. In the case of the Del Rey and the Key Largo, reported last April 16, officers were accompanied by volunteers of the Fundación Rahab, which provides training for former prostitutes. Women present in the two locations were required to submit to an interview and fill out a form with identification information.

There was no mention of the participation of Rahab volunteers in the summary of the Club Oh! appeal. However, the club
appeal claimed that it was only in its location that police behaved in this way, according to a summary.

Police harassment of customers in the Del Rey goes back years, and many persons can recount being locked in while police checked identifications. Other times, the police do not prevent persons from leaving if they have first had their identification checked.

In one case more than 100 police officers in all types of vehicles blocked the streets and descended on the Del Rey one Friday evening in time for the then-security minister, Janina del Veccio, to do a standup in front of the building for evening television news shows. Police managed to collar two foreign women who may have been in the country illegally.

According to the Club Oh! appeal, police left behind at that establishment a form saying that everything was in order.

Municipal police or other municipal officials sometimes accompany the Fuerza Pública in these night club raids.

The idea is to suggest that a main reason for the raid is to check and make sure the business is in compliance with municipal licensing. Of course, that data would be found easily at the municipal offices.

At the time of the raids at the Key Largo and the Del Rey, police officers said that they had taken the same action at other locations, but they did not specify which ones.

This particular practice may be curtailed but cops and more importantly, their political masters will find a way to do equivalent things using other means. The grandstanding by the security minister on a previous raid is particularly repugnant.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

In Costa Rica, no one screws with Sala IV. They have all the power. What they say, goes.

The problem is the article does not say what Sala IV specifically ruled. It is very possible that the ruling does not rule out raids by the immigration police looking for illegals or perhaps the ruling is so broad it does. Until more definitive information is made public it is hard to know what the police are permitted and what they are not when it comes to "raiding" establishments.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

The power of Sala IV (The constitutional court) again today. Keep in mind that ¢300.000 colones to a Tico is equivalent to approximately $2,000 to an American in purchasing power. I imagine a $2000 traffic ticket.
Below is article in today's newspaper

While legislators continue their wait for the Constitution Court review of the new Ley de Tránsito (traffic law) approved in first vote last month, the Court has struck down two more of the "high" fines of the old law.
Illegal parking goes back to only ¢5.000 colones.

The Court sided with the appellants who claimed the more than ¢300.000 colones fine for not respecting a sign prohibiting a right turn and parking in a prohibited zone, as disproportionate.

With the Court ruling the fines go back to the pre March 2010 fines of ¢5.000 colones for each of those two offences.

SALA IV has been striking down the fines in the Ley de Transito for various infractions as not commensurate with the severity of the infraction for many offenses for the past year. However they have not changed the points that are subtracted from the 50 you start with so while the fine is reduced the points remain deducted. The legislature is proposing that the fines be reduced from the present law but increased considerably from the former law.

While none of that is really relevant to the issue of the tread it does point out what I posted yesterday. Until the ruling is published for all to see, not the synopsis AM Costa Rica published, it is not possible to know exactly what they prohibited the authorities from doing regarding raiding local establishments. Notice SALA IV did not issue a broad order reducing all the fines in the Ley de Transito but has tackled them one by one which raises the question of how broad the ruling on the raids is.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

CR politics explained, that was beautiful Greengo.

I understand this was about CR but how much different is this than the U. S. Congress these days? Not offered or meant as a partisan political comment because all sides are equally frustrated.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I want to know what this post has to do with a restaurant location and review ?