Power in the hands of fools is always a dangerous thing. Almost unchecked power in the hands of fools who cannot think and are giddy about using power is even more dangerous. Add qualified immunity (government carte blanch protection) to the two scenarios, and you get American policing.
The most disgusting of all is that when they make stupid decisions because they have the power and protection to do whatever they want to citizens, they claim it is their policy.
Truthfully, it is government policy to have its agents do whatever they want to the average citizen, including death, so that it can retain [control].
This kind of unchecked power and unrestrained immunity is then unleashed against the poorest and most vulnerable Americans. This group is usually Black.
In the same breath, on the rare occasion that the robotic androids step out of line and do the same to a white woman, and her fragility is disturbed, the rules change.…..At least for the highest court.
One of the enduring inconsistencies in American legal thinking on policing is that younger people, particularly younger people of color, are undeserving of the same protections under the laws as older, frailer citizens. Every citizen is entitled to the constitutionally protected doctrine of innocent until found guilty. Therefore, police have no legal authority to summarily and arbitrarily determine someone’s innocence or guilt even before a traffic stop is completed based on how they look or the color of their skin.
But doing so is standard policing practice in America. It is time for qualified immunity to go.
(Editor)
Elise Brown was a little over five feet tall and weighed 117 pounds when she was ordered out of her blue Oldsmobile by police in California in 2019. She was also 83 years old. The officers who pulled Brown over thought the car she was driving had been stolen – mistakenly, it turns out – and, following their protocol, they drew their handguns, handcuffed Brown, and forced her to her knees. A federal appeals court this year ruled that Brown could sue the police for excessive force, waiving a legal doctrine known as qualified immunity that protects police from liability for civil rights violations in many circumstances. On Monday, the Supreme Court let that lower court ruling stand, keeping Brown’s lawsuit alive.
At a time when the nation is grappling with fatal police confrontations, the Supreme Court has mostly balked at lawsuits questioning the legal immunity extended to officers. Police organizations have long countered that officers need immunity in cases when they must defend themselves, and split-second decisions can lead to unforeseen tragedy. The Chino Police Department officers argue they were following protocols: traffic stops for potentially stolen vehicles are “high-risk” under city and state standards, they said. Brown was required to kneel for no more than twenty seconds and was in handcuffs for approximately three minutes, they said.
The officers “deployed firearms in states of readiness consistent with their responsibilities on the scene of a high-risk stop,” the police told the Supreme Court. Brown, police said, appeared to “be in her 50s or early 60s” and “appeared not to need any accommodation due to health or frailty.” Brown sued in 2020, claiming the police used excessive force and unreasonably detained her. “Ms. Brown was terrified, humiliated, and emotionally traumatized,” her lawyer told the Supreme Court. “That conduct was not reasonable; it was extraordinarily dangerous and flatly inconsistent with the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive force.”