I think you’re right that the work is to make the legal system operate better, and I never meant to suggest that poor/minority people have no interest in forming a better legal system. My point is that the system we have is not moral or just, and those groups know this better than most. I guess my reason for belittling such questions in this forum is that its not the place such questions will be decided. What can be decided here is how we feel about such things. I find technical questions serve to diminish anger and change the question from what we want to what we have. It has the feel of “I despise X but …”. And everything before the “but” is forgotten.
In this particular case I reacted strongly because to me warrant or not, violating a person’s body is always wrong. In fact, this incident reminds me of nothing if not torture. Is the discovery of some classes of drugs that some people in society have decided are “illegal” (there’s that word again) more vital than protecting human rights and dignity? And how would a warrant protect those same interests and people? Do judges really have such wisdom? Maybe some do, but given they are almost uniquely drawn from a particular class of people, and are deeply invested in the system itself, I don’t have much hope of it.
