As usual, they don’t get you for what you did. They get you for what you write. While morally suspect, Officer Encinia didn’t do anything legally wrong legally when he stopped and arrested Sandra Bland in Texas. But what he wrote seemed a bit different from what he was seen doing on video. And now,…
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When Sandra Bland was asked by Officer Encinia if she, “was done,” she actually was. Officer Encinia could have issued a ticket or a warning and walked away. But he chose not to. That was a mistake. Not legally, mind you. But morally and tactically, it was stupid. “A roadside domestic,” is how my friend…
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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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