Pubdate: Sun, 02 Apr 2000 Source: New York Daily News (NY) Copyright: 2000 Daily News, L.P. Contact: 450 W. 33rd St., New York, N.Y. 10001 Website: http://www.nydailynews.com/ Forum: http://townhall.mostnewyork.com/mb/index.html Author: Michael O. Allen 24 HOURS IN THE JOINT FOR A JOINT On a winter afternoon, a 20-year-old college student visiting from California left the Museum of Modern Art with a friend and walked into Central Park, where they stopped at a gazebo near the corner of Central Park South and Sixth Ave. She began rolling a joint. She offered her friend some, but he passed. "Before I could even finish, I saw two men approaching us," said the student, who is back in college and didn't want her name used. Something about the deliberate way they walked up to her told her they were cops. "I figured I would surely get a ticket instead of a lecture and having me dump my goods," she said. Badges were produced and handcuffs were slapped on her wrists, beginning an ordeal that plunged her into the city's criminal justice system for more than 24 hours. She was subjected to full-cavity strip searches and forced to share cells stinking of vomit with addicts and other suspects. Eventually, she saw a lawyer, who explained that she would get an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal, which meant that the arrest would be taken off her record if she stayed out of trouble for a year. "Having been in custody for almost 24 hours, I felt it was an obscene waste of time and energy," she said. "I didn't think I was a threat to anyone." - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck