Court hammers Florida sheriff's office for SWAT-style raid to check for barber licenses

[We become a more violent nation as every day passes. Our future as a democracy respectful of people is becoming more and more endangered every week.. - Bozo]

Travis Gettys
18 Sep 2014                  
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An appeals court harshly rebuked the Orange County, Florida, Sheriff's Office over a SWAT-style raid to check for barber licenses, finding it was unreasonable to conduct such an investigation of a second-degree misdemeanor.
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The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that deputies had violated the civil rights of barbers at Strictly Skillz during a 2010 license inspection, reported the Sun-Sentinel.
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"It was a scene right out of a Hollywood movie," the court ruled.

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The lawsuit is related to a series of sweeps at minority-owned barbershops and salons pairing deputies with the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation to inspect the businesses.
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State officials said they targeted shops that had not cooperated during previous inspections or where crimes had been witnessed in the past.
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Deputies found illegal activity during the raids, but they arrested dozens for "barbering without an active license" - a little-used statute.
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No illegal or unlicensed activities were found at Strictly Skillz, where barbers said eight to 10 masked deputies wearing bulletproof vests raided the shop and cleared out customers during a busy weekend.
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