Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. – Judges 20:1

Today's Scripture Reading (April 19, 2025): Judges 20

On July 1, 1949, Los Angeles County deputy sheriffs entered the home of Richard Rochin. They didn't have a search warrant, but they had a belief that there were illegal drugs on the premises. Rochin's bedroom was on the building's second floor, and they chased Rochin into that room. Deputies quickly noticed two capsules on the bedside table, but Rochin swallowed them before they could discover what the capsules were.

The deputies violently took hold of Richard Rochin and choked him. One deputy even shoved his fingers down the throat of Rochin, trying to retrieve the capsules, but they were unsuccessful. So, they arrested Rochin and transported him to the hospital. In the hospital emergency department, Rochin was strapped to a table and had tubes plunged down his throat into his stomach and fluid pumped in until Rochin vomited up the capsules. The capsules were then tested and were discovered to contain morphine. The capsules were a violation of the California Health and Safety Code. Rochin was charged with the unlawful possession of morphine. 

Maybe a reminder is essential here. The police did not obtain a search order to enter Richard Rochin's premises. Any casual observer of a television legal drama (any "Law and Order" fans out there) knows that not having a search warrant is a significant problem. Except that this was 1949. In the original trial against Richard Rochin, the defense tried to argue that the evidence had been illegally obtained because of the lack of that pesky search warrant. But the court decided that it didn't care how the evidence was obtained. The evidence was enough to prove Richard Rochin's guilt.

However, that decision was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reversed the decision, arguing that the lengths that the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department went to in obtaining the evidence "shocked the conscience" of the people. It might have been different if other drugs were found on the premises, even without the search warrant. After all, this was 1949. But the only drugs they discovered were the ones that Rochin had swallowed, and the police had violently assaulted Rochin to retrieve them. 

In the aftermath of the violence at Gibeah, it seems that the events had "shocked the conscience" of Israel. And all of Israel gathered to discuss what the next steps should be. It was an astonishing act of unity for the fledgling nation. Something had to be done about Gibeah; on this, the country agreed. There had to be an appropriate response because the rape and murder at Gibeah violated the law that Israel was supposed to be built around and everything that God had commanded his people to do. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Judges 21