A Stitch in Haste

Having solved all other problems, Atlanta police are now turning to the War on Subway Tokens:

Transit police handcuffed and cited a man who sold a $1.75 subway token to another rider who was having trouble with a token vending machine. He vows to fight the citation in court.

Transit authority spokeswoman Jocelyn Baker said Friday that the officer "acted within the law" after he spotted Donald Pirone, 42, selling the token Nov. 30 inside the West End subway station.
...
Baker acknowledged that Pirone sold the token at face value and did not make a profit. But the law is the law, she said.

Ah yes, "the law is the law." From gay marriage to suspicionless subway searches all the way down to selling subways tokens — at cost — to distressed fellow passengers. Too bad, so sad, "the law is the law" — just shut up and obey it.

Actually, "the law" says that any attempt to proscribe an activity must be reasonably related to a legitimate government interest. What possible government interest can there be to banning one person selling a subway token, at cost, to another person? To ensure "extra revenue" to the transit system? Isn't that what some people like to call "price gouging"?

And handcuffing someone over a $1.75 misdemeanor just for the heck of it? Does that also fall under the totalitarian safe harbor of "the law is the law"?

If the law supposes that, then the law is a ass.

More thoughts at The Phalanx.