Note to self: Put the ACLU's number on speed dial

Just in case I run into any police doing random bag searches, and they want to confiscate a book.

Last night, on a whim, I looked up the NJ and NY phone numbers for the ACLU and put them in my phone.

This morning, they're doing bag searches again to get on the ferry. And the guy doing the searches pulls me aside and says, "Sir, I feel that I need to confiscate this book."

I pause and say, in that tone of voice that most people would recognize as meaning, "have you lost your grip completely, chuckles?": "You need to confiscate... a book."

"Yes. I feel it's inappropriate for the other people on the ferry to be exposed to it."

This is absolutely ridiculous. First off, why the hell do police have the right to go through our belongings on a whim? Secondly, why are they confiscating books? Are they afraid of people actually learning and, god forbid, using their creativity? What's next, a mandate that we all shut up and watch Fox News?

I can't believe I have to read about this shit happening in my own country, where we supposedly have all these freedoms to live how we please.