Privacy Collapses with the Maze

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Open up any Bay Area paper today, and you'll learn that the driver of the gas truck that caused the collapse of the Oakland Maze served time for heroin use -- in 1996. The San Francisco Chronicle is happy to tell us that "[t]he driver of the gasoline tanker truck that overturned and ignited a fire that brought down part of the MacArthur Maze has a criminal record, including a conviction for possession of heroin in 1996 that earned him a 32-month state prison sentence," while the Oakland Tribune notes that "James Mosqueda Sr. accumulated a criminal record stretching from 1974-1996 that includes a misdemeanor hit-and-run; a felony drug possession that garnered him two years in state prison; and a second degree burglary, according to court records for Sacramento and Yolo counties. Yet the 51-year-old Woodland resident was able to obtain a license to haul hazardous materials and pass a Transportation Security Administration background check."

What an outrage! A man last convicted of a minor crime in 1996 -- for heroin use of all things -- managed to acquire a security clearance to drive a truck. Stop the presses. But wait, there's more. Again the Chronicle:

"After being released from prison, Mosqueda worked with the Sacramento Valley chapter of Teen Challenge, an international Christian ministry that runs centers for people struggling with addiction, said a friend, the Rev. Oscar Escalante of Sacramento. He said Mosqueda "always wanted to drive trucks" and had started out driving tomato trucks before getting a job with Sabek Transportation in South San Francisco, hauling gasoline."

And we let this man on the streets?

There's more...