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Can you run from police? US courts apply a double standard
BALTIMORE — When police spotted Freddie Gray and he took off running through his Baltimore neighborhood, officers made a split-second decision to give chase, setting in motion his death in custody and rioting in the streets.
Fleeing from police is not, by itself, illegal in America, and the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that in safe neighborhoods, people not suspected of criminal activity can ignore a police officer who approaches them, even to the point of walking away.
But courts have set a different standard for places where street crime is common, ruling that police can chase, stop and frisk people if their location contributes to a suspicion of criminal activity.
This double standard is having a major impact as more black men die in
encounters with police around the country. Many have been shot or tackled while
trying to flee. The court rulings justifying police chases in high-crime areas
where many African-Americans live are contributing to a dangerous divide between
police and citizens, said Ezekiel Edwards, director of the Criminal Law Reform
Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Folks who are going to be the most intimidated or scared of the police are
the same people in places where the Supreme Court has said, 'if you run from
police, that's suspicion,'" he said.
Edwards is among the legal experts who say unprovoked flight, on its own,
shouldn't justify a chase: "If you can walk away, you can run away. It shouldn't
matter the speed at which you move away."
Ambiguous laws are nothing new. SYG is the most ambiguous one, IMO, yet no one has rewritten the statute.
Can you run from police? US courts apply a double standard .
This is the opinion of CURT ANDERSON and JULIET LINDERMAN who wrote the article that you clipped and pasted here. They are newspaper writers who get paid to write these stories. Furthermore they argue that both positions are valid.
Yeah he did. And, when they were picking him up off of the ground he moved his left leg forward to get it under him and he put weight on it (a paralyzed person cannot move, he could). He was seriously, if not severely injured, but he was not "paralyzed" before getting into the van. Also, why would they, later, bother putting leg restraints on someone who is paralyzed?
There can indeed be movement if someone has paralysis; it depends upon the injury at the time. If he had an incomplete break then is 'jarred' the injury could then become complete.
I have an incomplete break at T-12 and have some movement (uncontrolled) and know some quads with good movement of their arms (can actually use a manual wheelchair).
Freddy could have been paralyzed and then suffered from the rough treatment and unrestrained ride. It happens and could have been avoided or mitigated with proper handling.
BTW I was an Army MP as was my DH and we never treated those within our custody in such a manner; but then again we and our friends and Troops were actually professional and the majority of those we dealt with were trained Soldiers and dependents. There will always be "that guy" that thinks that he is above the law that he is supposed to uphold and those people are beneath contempt and belong in their own hand-irons.
Stories are starting to appear on the internet .. from dubious sources so far.. that are saying Freddy had spine surgery two weeks before his encounter .
Court records show he was trying for some kind of settlement of some type of injury
Pro Freddy people are saying no such thing occurred
If BPD did not belt him in they are on the hook... if they didn't get him medical attention they are on the hook
I wonder what the investigation will reveal... lets get it done
I suspect it won't be long before the police investigate the police and then the police will be sure to promptly let us know that the police have done nothing wrong.
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