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Only In Washington
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| Halcyon+On+On |
http://abovethelaw.com/2012/05/how-...-supreme-court/
| quote: | How Many Times Can You Tase a Pregnant Woman Before Your Case Winds Up Before the Supreme Court?
By Staci Zaretsky
How would you define excessive force? There doesn’t seem to be a precise definition, if only because it’s a matter of legalese. Generally speaking, the police shouldn’t be using force beyond what is called for under the circumstances, which is a somewhat subjective test.
We’ll lob you a softball so you can decide the answers to these important questions. Can you use a Taser on a pregnant woman? How many times can you do it? Once? Twice? Three times?
Now, if your initial reaction was something like, “Holy sh*t! Who does that?,” you must be thinking that the police would be crazy to tase a pregnant woman — especially a pregnant woman who’s two months away from her due date. She’d have to have done something egregious to warrant the use of such force.
But that’s not what happened to a pregnant woman in Washington who received the punishment for a mere traffic violation. And the police officers who inflicted her pain want to take the case to the United States Supreme Court….
Next week, the members of the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear an appeal from the Ninth Circuit on the issue of excessive force. In the Ninth Circuit, a majority of the en banc court concluded that excessive force was used by the police in this case. The New York Times has the details:
The case involves Malaika Brooks, who was seven months pregnant and driving her 11-year-old son to school in Seattle when she was pulled over for speeding. The police say she was going 32 miles per hour in a school zone; the speed limit was 20.
Ms. Brooks said she would accept a ticket but drew the line at signing it, which state law required at the time. Ms. Brooks thought, wrongly, that signing was an acknowledgment of guilt.
Refusing to sign was a crime, and the two officers on the scene summoned a sergeant, who instructed them to arrest Ms. Brooks. She would not get out of her car.
When Brooks refused to get out of the car, Officer Juan M. Ornelas displayed his Taser and asked Brooks if she knew what it was. Brooks claimed she did not; instead, she told Officer Ornelas the following: “I am pregnant. I’m less than 60 days from having my baby.”
But according to their petition for certiorari, the police didn’t buy Brooks’s story — they just thought she was fat. And apparently it’s a-okay to tase overweight women, whether or not they’re pregnant:
But Brooks didn’t need to go on a diet. She needed to pop out a baby. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the police from tasing her three times — once in the thigh, once in the arm, and once in the neck. The Ninth Circuit ruled that while the police had used excessive force, they had immunity from Brooks’s claims.
So why are the police appealing to the Supreme Court? After all, they ultimately won the case. According to the ABA Journal, they argue in their cert petition that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling on the excessive force issue “effectively strips officers of the authority to use any pain compliance technique to control an actively resisting arrestee.”
That’s a really broad reading of the ruling. The “resisting arrestee” here was a pregnant woman — a woman who was “especially vulnerable,” according to Michael F. Williams, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, which represents Brooks. Are the police asking for permission to tase pregnant women for minor infractions? Because really, how often do pregnant women commit crimes that warrant the use of a Taser?
In all honesty, it sounds like the police are overly eager to create a situation where a pregnant woman is forced to scream, “Don’t tase my baby, bro!” And that’s just sad. |
What a piece of state! |
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| Joss Weatherby |
| No thats just SPD, who have really become an issue with excessive force. That is why the city is hiring a ghost police chief who reports directly to a federal judge. |
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| ChemEnhanced |
| equal rights bitch |
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| TheTrinity |
what a piece of world where people who cant even define the words
1. law , 2. justice, 3. moral behavior, are the ones who are supposed to provide
and protect these human rights.
you have to be an a complete idiot to justify anything that is going on in the conformity of society. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
obviously I don’t agree with tasing a pregnant woman, but stupid ing slut totally brought it on herself.
happening to have a trophy in the oven does not give you some special licence to get away with whatever you want (apart from free government money apparently). |
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| Sushipunk |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
a trophy in the oven |
:stongue: |
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| TheTrinity |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
obviously I don’t agree with tasing a pregnant woman, but stupid ing slut totally brought it on herself.
happening to have a trophy in the oven does not give you some special licence to get away with whatever you want (apart from free government money apparently). |
so if her baby dies, or gets born abnormally cause of the 3 times she was tazed, (because of a 100-150 dollar ticket)
---ps. that shock affected the baby in some way.---
that equates to justice?, and the police acted with high standards of morality...?
RIGHT. I get it. you and the police are both stupid when it comes to proper analysis of correct and just decisions.
some people cant even remember what they were supposed to learn before the age of 12.
ps. if someone is being difficult citizen, let them calm down, have someone else come and explain what she doesnt understand, might not understand about the law, the issue of the ticket and her rights.
violence should never be used by the police. they are supposed to restrain and/or arrest if they observe a serious danger, or crime. |
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| djhaziel |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
off hippy. |
:stongue: |
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| TheTrinity |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
off hippy. |
what is a hippy? |
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| Lilith |
Last time I went to Malaysia I bought a stun gun in the markets for about $15 disguised as a mobile phone. It wouldn't make it through customs so I couldn't take it home and I didn't get a chance to zap any of the locals in anger with it.
So I tried it out on HRH to see what would happen.
She wouldn't stop crying for about an hour after :o
Life's list of things to do
☑ Tazer someone
☐ Stop being terrible |
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| Sushipunk |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lilith
So I tried it out on HRH to see what would happen.
She wouldn't stop crying for about an hour after :o |
:wtf: :stongue: |
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