Mark Andrew Dwyer -- A NEED TO LEGALIZE SHOPLIFTING

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Originally published in the October 26, 2003 issue of the Alamance Independent

A NEED TO LEGALIZE SHOPLIFTING

Rep. Silope Says Mall-Wart Arrests 'Terrorizing' -- Fri Oct 24, 3:46 PM ET

OZ CITY (Peuters) - U.S. House Representative Fancy Silope said on Friday police raids on dozens of U.S. Mall-Wart liquor stores in the search for shoplifters this week amounted to "terrorizing" customers.

"It instills a great deal of uncertainty in people who are only trying to make a living or put drinks on the table for their family," Silope, a California's Rebellious Party leader, told reporters on a Congressional visit to Oz.

Hundreds of customers at Mall-Wart Stores Inc. locations across the United States were arrested on shoplifting charges on Thursday in an investigation into unchecked sales of alcoholic beverages and underage drinking.

"We think there might be a better way to go about this because the fact is that it is against the law for the liquor retailer to let the customer acquire a possession of an alcoholic beverage without verifying his/her age so there should be more focus on the retailer and less in these terrorizing raids," Silope said.

She was speaking after meeting Oz's President Fixente Vox for talks on drugs and alcohol sales and shoplifting security.

Silope said the Mall-Wart raids showed the need to legalize shoplifting in parts of the retail other than just the local convenience stores.

Several bills to grant legal status to shoplifters in U.S. convenience stores are before Congress, including the Carman-Ball bill which would let an estimated 500,000 underage shoplifters of alcoholic beverages earn a proof that they are 18 years old.

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