Former cop, now legal expert, gives awesome, informative write-up on the Bland arrest.

[Statistikhengst]

I will admit, I have barely followed the Bland arrest incident and, unfortunately, her resulting death while in jail.

Seth Stouton wrote a piece that should make all of us think, and I mean, ALL of us.

Here are his credentials, according to TPM:

Seth Stoughton is a law professor at the University of South Carolina, where he is affiliated with the Rule of Law Collaborative. He served as a police officer and investigator for more than seven years. Follow him on Twitter @PoliceLawProf.

He wrote a piece that TPM has titled:

Cop Expert: Why Sandra Bland's Arrest Was Legal But Not Good Policing


In this piece, he goes through everything, detail for detail, for how the incident was, according to Texas law, legal, but not good policing. I am referring to everything that the dashcam recorded. It should be noted that the entire incident was started because Ms. Bland changed lanes without a turn-signal. During the encounter, she explained to the cop that she changed lanes so fast because she saw his car behind hers and wanted to clear the way so that he could go by, she had the impression that he was in a hurry. So, her desire to do a cop a favor ended up ultimately costing her her life.

I also want to indicate that this write-up has nothing at all to do with Right/Left/Middle politics, the write-up doesn't even write one word that could even hint at politics or a political background for anything. It has only do with the technique and finesse of good policing and he focuses only on this case. And this write-up only really has an effect if you read all of it. Skimming and cherry-picking won't do the job in this case.

Here's the link:

Cop Expert Why Sandra Bland s Arrest Was Legal But Not Good Policing

Because I would really like to see people read ALL of it, without prejudice of any kind.

Then, I ask of you to quote stuff you think is relevant, bring the quote to this thread and discuss it.

Again, because some people just don't get it the first time at all, THIS IS NOT ABOUT POLITICS, THIS IS NOT ABOUT RACE, GENDER OR CLASS.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Pogo - I am thinking that, with your keen analytical mind, you may especially enjoy the write-up in the OP. Sonny Clark as well.

 

[Derideo_Te]

Given the evidence of the video there is clearly a case for a wrongful death lawsuit.

It was the officer's actions that resulted in her being arrested, imprisoned and her subsequent death. Even if she hadn't died there was a case for a wrongful arrest lawsuit too IMO.

The basis for this being wrongful is that the officer acted without cause. It was all in his head. She had done nothing wrong by sitting in her car and smoking. She wasn't obliged to comply with his request. She was clearly upset at that point.

As the officer on the scene it was his responsibility to ensure that it didn't escalate and yet he was the one that did the escalating for absolutely no sound reason whatsoever.

To put it in the most simple of terms it was an abuse of his powers that resulted in her demise. Just because you have the authority to do something doesn't mean that have the right to abuse the public with that authority.

The officer is not fit to serve IMO and I suspect that if he remains on the force he will be involved in a fatal encounter at some point in time that could have been avoided if he didn't have the wrong attitude that he has so clearly demonstrated.

Abuse of power is one of the problems that has become endemic. We give the police wide latitude with deadly force and I won't ever try to second guess what they do in an encounter where the other party is armed.

But this was a completely different scenario and yes, the officer abused his powers which ended up costing his victim her life. He might have had the authority to exercise those powers but he didn't have the right to abuse them and I sincerely hope that a lawsuit makes that clear distinction for all future encounters.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Given the evidence of the video there is clearly a case for a wrongful death lawsuit.

It was the officer's actions that resulted in her being arrested, imprisoned and her subsequent death. Even if she hadn't died there was a case for a wrongful arrest lawsuit too IMO.

The basis for this being wrongful is that the officer acted without cause. It was all in his head. She had done nothing wrong by sitting in her car and smoking. She wasn't obliged to comply with his request. She was clearly upset at that point.

As the officer on the scene it was his responsibility to ensure that it didn't escalate and yet he was the one that did the escalating for absolutely no sound reason whatsoever.

To put it in the most simple of terms it was an abuse of his powers that resulted in her demise. Just because you have the authority to do something doesn't mean that have the right to abuse the public with that authority.

The officer is not fit to serve IMO and I suspect that if he remains on the force he will be involved in a fatal encounter at some point in time that could have been avoided if he didn't have the wrong attitude that he has so clearly demonstrated.

Abuse of power is one of the problems that has become endemic. We give the police wide latitude with deadly force and I won't ever try to second guess what they do in an encounter where the other party is armed.

But this was a completely different scenario and yes, the officer abused his powers which ended up costing his victim her life. He might have had the authority to exercise those powers but he didn't have the right to abuse them and I sincerely hope that a lawsuit makes that clear distinction for all future encounters.

I believe that we give the police wide latitude with force because very often, it also saves lives, and so, when that happens, we are probably happy that they maybe strong-armed a truly bad guy in order to perhaps save a hostage or a kidnapping victim, as an example.

There is no way this officer could have known that she would have ended up dead in a cell, but his arrest of her set into motion a chain of event that should never have happened.

the police is now saying that they found massive quantities of Marijuana in her stomach. How, prey tell, could this have happened with her in a cell all by herself, after a body check and, if they get to the rules, a check-in once an hour? This new development stinks to high heaven and I suspect that when all the facts come out, it is not going to go well for that police department. But that is just a suspicion on my part, not a prediction.

Thanks for your well thought-out input.

 

[Derideo_Te]

the police is now saying that they found massive quantities of Marijuana in her stomach. How, prey tell, could this have happened with her in a cell all by herself, after a body check and, if they get to the rules, a check-in once an hour? This new development stinks to high heaven

I have never heard of a single instance of a "marijuana overdose" killing anyone or making them "suicidal".

Yes, that reeks of something and you are right that it reflects badly on the police dept if it was possible to get that through into the cell block.

 

[Statistikhengst]

the police is now saying that they found massive quantities of Marijuana in her stomach. How, prey tell, could this have happened with her in a cell all by herself, after a body check and, if they get to the rules, a check-in once an hour? This new development stinks to high heaven

I have never heard of a single instance of a "marijuana overdose" killing anyone or making them "suicidal".

Yes, that reeks of something and you are right that it reflects badly on the police dept if it was possible to get that through into the cell block.

My suspicion is that the police department is saying this to give the arresting cop cover, so that he can justify asking her to put out her cigarette, and, after the fact, claim that he was smelling cannabis in her car.

Who knows, maybe she did smoke some pot, is however, irrelevant.

And also for the cop, also irrelevant. For the law gives cops super wide latitude is deciding to tell someone to get out of a car, just as the law professor wrote. So, adding a story about pot use is actually quite "doppelt-gemoppelt".

Thanks for your input.