Spending A $10 Bill While Black

[William Parcher]

A homeless black guy used a $10 Bill at Burger King in Boston in 2015. He got arrested and spent over 3 months in jail because they thought that the bill was counterfeit. It wasn't. Now he's suing and arguing that it never would have happened if he was white.

...This week, Emory Ellis, 37, sued Burger King and the store franchisee for nearly $1 million, saying he was discriminated against for being black and homeless. The lawsuit comes amid a resurgence in a national debate about the treatment of black people in businesses and public spaces. From the two men who left a Philadelphia Starbucks in handcuffs, to five women reported to the police for golfing too slowly, to the graduate student who fell asleep in her dorm’s common room, the stories have refocused public attention on the risks and daily struggles of simply living while black.

“I know that had I walked into the Burger King with the exact same $10 bill, nobody would have scrutinized it,” said Ellis’s attorney, Justin Drechsler. “I never would have been accused of anything. I certainly wouldn’t have had the police called on me, no matter what the series of events.”

Drechsler said he is the same age, to the day, as Ellis — but Drechsler is white. Given his appearance alone, Drechsler said he believes that had the Burger King employee doubted whether his cash was authentic, the employee would have politely asked whether Drechsler could pay with something else.

“That’s not what happened here,” Drechsler said. He said Ellis could not comment for this article because of ongoing litigation...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...0-bill-was-fake-he-was-arrested-now-hes-suing

 

[Diablo]

This doesn't make sense. The cops could determine within a few hours whether the bill was fake, so why keep him in jail for 3 months?

 

[bytewizard]

This doesn't make sense. The cops could determine within a few hours whether the bill was fake, so why keep him in jail for 3 months?

He was on probation, the arrest triggered a probation violation.

 

[The Big Dog]

Ungrateful homeless man given a home for three months, complains about it.

 

[dann]

Ungrateful homeless man given a home for three months, complains about it.

'Jail is just too good for a homeless black guy. Those guys never appreciate their good fortune.'
Really?!

 

[lobosrul5]

He was on probation, the arrest triggered a probation violation.

Yeah everyone knows you can't buy Burger King while under probation with a fake real ten dollar bill.

 

[Diablo]

He was on probation, the arrest triggered a probation violation.

That doesn't make sense either. Since the bill was real the arrest was in error and he should have been released.

 

[CaptainHowdy]

That doesn't make sense either. Since the bill was real the arrest was in error and he should have been released.

That's what I think would have happened. Unless the law is written so that even a false arrest is considered a parole violation. I wonder what it was about the bill that made the cashier AND the police believe it was counterfeit and why didn't any of those people have a counterfeit detection pen on hand?

 

[William Parcher]

This doesn't make sense. The cops could determine within a few hours whether the bill was fake, so why keep him in jail for 3 months?

It seems that the Secret Service (Federal agency tasked with investigating and enforcing counterfeiting laws) was required to determine the authenticity of the bill. From the OP...

Ellis was held until February 2016 after the Secret Service determined the $10 bill was real, according to the lawsuit.

The local police may have also thought it was fake just like the Burger King guy did. You could ask why it took so long for the Secret Service to determine exactly what it was.

 

[William Parcher]

a counterfeit detection pen

I have read that those are not really reliable. Sort of like a dowsing stick. I don't know what the science of those things is like.

 

[Wayward son]

I wonder what it was about the bill that made the cashier AND the police believe it was counterfeit

The person who was carrying it.

 

[Diablo]

It seems that the Secret Service (Federal agency tasked with investigating and enforcing counterfeiting laws) was required to determine the authenticity of the bill. From the OP...



The local police may have also thought it was fake just like the Burger King guy did. You could ask why it took so long for the Secret Service to determine exactly what it was.

The Secret Service is needed to verify fake bills?!? That's just crazy. Even so, why does it take 3 months? I hope this guy walks away with some $$$$$$$.

There was another thread recently where some guy was held without bail for months and then released without charge. Utterly disgraceful.

Is this part of a plan to increase the number of people in custody and hence boost the profits of the companies running the prisons?

 

[LTC8K6]

I have read that those are not really reliable. Sort of like a dowsing stick. I don't know what the science of those things is like.

They react to starch.

They are totally unreliable, yet fairly widely used. Good counterfeiters use starch-free paper.

I think Randi used to spray a good bill with starch and watch the reactions.

 

[William Parcher]

The Secret Service is needed to verify fake bills?!? That's just crazy. Even so, why does it take 3 months?

I don't know how it works but prosecutors might require the Secret Service to forensically examine any suspected counterfeit bill. They are the authority. The backlog for their lab might be 3 months. I don't know.

 

[Roboramma]

They react to starch.

They are totally unreliable, yet fairly widely used. Good counterfeiters use starch-free paper.

I think Randi used to spray a good bill with starch and watch the reactions.

Yep. It actually makes me wonder if one of those pens is what led to this situation: someone working at BK used a pen and it gave a false positive because someone had left the bill in a pocket and put starch in the wash (or something), and now the clerk says that the pen shows it's a counterfeit bill. The police come and yep, it reacts to the pen so it must be counterfeit, so they arrest the guy. Which is just wrong, and that's exactly the kind of situation that Randi was trying to educate people about.

Or not, maybe they had some other reason to think it's counterfeit, but clearly whatever reason they had was inaccurate. The fact that they let the guy sit in jail for 3 months is pretty inexcusable.

Whatever the situation was it really seems to me that they had no valid grounds to arrest him.

 

[Roboramma]

I don't know how it works but prosecutors might require the Secret Service to forensically examine any suspected counterfeit bill. They are the authority. The backlog for their lab might be 3 months. I don't know.

They might require them to verify that a bill is in fact counterfeit, they certainly don't require them to verify that it's not. If you see a bill and consider it to be authentic you don't need to send it to be examined to make sure.

 

[blutoski]

Yep. It actually makes me wonder if one of those pens is what led to this situation: someone working at BK used a pen and it gave a false positive because someone had left the bill in a pocket and put starch in the wash (or something), and now the clerk says that the pen shows it's a counterfeit bill. The police come and yep, it reacts to the pen so it must be counterfeit, so they arrest the guy. Which is just wrong, and that's exactly the kind of situation that Randi was trying to educate people about.

Or not, maybe they had some other reason to think it's counterfeit, but clearly whatever reason they had was inaccurate. The fact that they let the guy sit in jail for 3 months is pretty inexcusable.

Whatever the situation was it really seems to me that they had no valid grounds to arrest him.

That still sounds like there's a problem, though. I find it hard to believe the store's policy is to use an expensive forgery pen on all $10 bills.

What I would believe is "Check all $100 and $50s, and if the customer looks sketchy, check all his bills." Which brings us back to cashier could be biased.


The other thing is the police... if the grounds for the cashier calling in 'counterfeit' was these known-not-reliable pens, the police should have used their discretion, not cuff the guy and hold him at taxpayer's expense for a quarter of a year.

Officer: Why do you think it's counterfeit?
Cashier: Oh, officer, I used this dowsing rod / my spirit animal told me in a dream / known scam pen / other...
Officer: OK, cashier, I think this is an education opportunity, is your manager here?

 

[LTC8K6]

It's hard to get details since the arrest happened in 2015.

I'd love to know if one of those pens was the trigger.

 

[LTC8K6]

That still sounds like there's a problem, though. I find it hard to believe the store's policy is to use an expensive forgery pen on all $10 bills.

What I would believe is "Check all $100 and $50s, and if the customer looks sketchy, check all his bills." Which brings us back to cashier could be biased.


The other thing is the police... if the grounds for the cashier calling in 'counterfeit' was these known-not-reliable pens, the police should have used their discretion, not cuff the guy and hold him at taxpayer's expense for a quarter of a year.

Officer: Why do you think it's counterfeit?
Cashier: Oh, officer, I used this dowsing rod / my spirit animal told me in a dream / known scam pen / other...
Officer: OK, cashier, I think this is an education opportunity, is your manager here?

The pen is about $3.00

 

[William Parcher]

I'm a white guy and I've had bills wiped hundreds of times with those pens. Though they seem less common these days. I've been in stores where they do it for all $20 bills, but never seen it done on a $10.