Cops can stop a driver for any violation of any traffic rule. And there are a lot of traffic rules. Whren v. United States (1996) is a good illustration of how much discretion the Supreme Court has given police officers. It doesn’t even matter what the officers’ motive are. (Except for equal protection issues raised…
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Fifteen years ago I published my very first op-ed. Sniff. You never forget your first, even though it was kind of a forgettable op-ed. (I’ve published close to 30 op-eds since then… jeeze.) Atwater was a Texas case, no less, in which a woman (Gail Atwater) was arrested for a seat belt violation. Now a…
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Last month I composed this haiku: don’t be so certain if you say “I know my rights!” you probably don’t That was cute and all, before Sandra Bland died after being arrested in what was so close to being a warning for a minor traffic violation. Three(?) times Sandra Bland asserted her “rights.” Three times…
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Is there any place in the US that so does more bad policing per capita? This Georgia county has a population of 43,000. Why oh why do I even know you exist, Habersham County? Oh, because of this. And this. And this. Well, related to drug raids gone bad, we now have this. A sheriff’s…
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Why was Sandra Bland kept in jail for 3 days after her arrest?
From the Baltimore City Paperby Edward Ericson Jr. A quote from an officer: I can recall Commissioner Batts addressing the officers at headquarters prior to going out on the street. He pretty much patted himself on the back making statements like. “I have been in five riots and I will assure you that this is…
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That’s the motto of Camden, New Jersey. It’s from a Walt Whitman poem. A comment to a previous post made me think more about Camden. I’ve been through there a few times. Caught the River Line. Looked down from the PATCO Speedline. And I know a lot of my old 78s are from Camden. That’s…
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A good step in the right direction from Acting Commissioner Kevin Davis.
Apparently — and I didn’t know this — Baltimore is actually a role model for other cities in how to control civil unrest. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake didn’t exactly jump the shark right here. She jumped the shark a long time ago. But this is becoming insane. She actual said this: And while you say…
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Al Baker in the Times: Nineteen New York City police officers assigned to a station house in the Bronx face disciplinary action after being charged on Friday by department lawyers with wrongdoing, including incorrectly classifying crimes and downgrading criminal complaints, the police said. The administrative charges against the officers, from the 40th Precinct, follow an…
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