Guilt By Association in the News: Mexico, Oregon, and the U.S. (Guantanamo)

Guilt by Association, here (aka collective responsibility), and here (association fallacy) and here*.

1) “She’s spent two years in a Mexican prison — now they want 23 more,” by Margie Boule, Sunday, June 1, 2008.

“…More than two years ago Rebecca and a Canadian woman named Brenda Martin were arrested by Mexican authorities and thrown in an overcrowded prison. They were charged with organized crime and money laundering.

People who knew Rebecca and Brenda were incredulous.

The women had held low-level jobs in the employ of a Canadian man named Alyn Waage at the beginning of the decade, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Unbeknownst to both women, they claim, Waage was running one of the biggest Internet pyramid scams in history.

Brenda was Waage’s cook. Rebecca made travel arrangements for Waage’s family and employees, and stood in line to pay utility, tax and other bills for Waage’s nearby investment properties….” (full article)

2) STATE OF OREGON v. THOMAS PATRICK FRIES, (SC S055136)

“… The issue in this case is whether defendant possessed marijuana when he helped a friend move marijuana plants from one place to another. Defendant has argued that, because he was moving the plants at his friend’s direction, he did not possess them. The trial court held otherwise and entered a judgment of conviction for possessing marijuana. A divided en banc Court of Appeals affirmed. State v. Fries, 212 Or App 220, 158 P3d 10 (2007). We allowed defendant’s petition for review to consider the issue that divided the Court of Appeals and now affirm the Court of Appeals decision and the trial court’s judgment….” (full opinion)

3) Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

“Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s former chauffeur, was captured by Afghani forces and imprisoned by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court to challenge his detention. Before the district court ruled on the petition, he received a hearing from a military tribunal, which designated him an enemy combatant….” (from Oyez) (see also here and here and, still ongoing, here.)

* Note: See here for a post on JSTOR). This article also available via HeinOnline — JSTOR and HeinOnline databases are available to many Oregon public library cardholders – check with your public library.