How to Curb Police Abuses - And How Not to
Much can and must be done to curb police brutality. The task is difficult, but far from hopeless. But riots and looting are both wrong in themselves, and likely to have counterproductive results.
Much can and must be done to curb police brutality. The task is difficult, but far from hopeless. But riots and looting are both wrong in themselves, and likely to have counterproductive results.
The answer hinges on Derek Chauvin's state of mind as he kneeled on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.
They still were a lot better-behaved than officers elsewhere.
Mayors are imposing curfews and governors are deploying the National Guard in response to anti-police-abuse protests.
The available evidence suggests that police unions are a major obstacle to holding rogue police officers accountable.
The Supreme Court could announce as early as Monday that it's revisiting qualified immunity, a doctrine that shields rotten cops from civil rights lawsuits.
Riots have raged in the city in response to Floyd's death.
Are we seeing a tipping point where police begin to grasp why the public is so outraged?
So much for the First Amendment.
Police departments exist to protect people's persons and property. The Minneapolis Police Department has failed to do either.
Indiana is still fighting to keep Tyson Timbs' SUV seven years after it first seized the car, but for now, it's back in Timbs' driveway.
Minneapolis police said George Floyd died after he "appeared to be suffering medical distress."
The announcement brings the total number of suspect cases initiated by Gerald Goines to 164 over 11 years.
But the high court may consider other cases that could overturn the outrageous legal doctrine.
The Delano Police Department cleared its officers of wrongdoing.
When will Americans learn?
At this point, police can hardly be surprised when they are mistaken for armed criminals.
This week the justices are considering 13 petitions involving the pernicious doctrine of qualified immunity.
The LAPD released body camera footage of Frank Hernandez's use-of-force incident.
A Reuters investigation reveals courts "growing tendency" to grant cops immunity from civil rights lawsuits.
Officer Frank A. Hernandez, who beat a suspect while his hands were behind his back, once shot an innocent bystander in the leg.
To the NYPD, everything still looks like a nail.
Considering Stormtroopers aren't known for their aim, the police had nothing to fear.
After seven years of litigation, a Kansas couple finally obtains some compensation for a comically inept drug raid.
The same weekend, the NYPD tweeted pictures of its officers peacefully handing out masks.
Like all of us, law enforcement will face a world of reduced public interactions, devastated economies, and changed ways of life.
Suspected low-level drug crimes don't "justify subjecting the plaintiffs to involuntary catheterization, a highly invasive—and in these cases—degrading medical procedure."
Some officials want to reevaluate enforcement of low-level, nonviolent offenses during the pandemic. For others, it's business as usual.
If only everybody weren’t stuck in their homes.
An innocent man was beaten up by a local police detective and an FBI agent. No one wants to take responsibility.
And he's far from the first prosecutor to be caught with his hand in the asset forfeiture cookie jar.
Lamonte McIntyre served 23 years in prison for murders that he did not commit.
Only 10 jurors sentenced Nathaniel Woods to death for the deaths of three police officers.
Defensive official reactions to corruption encourage the attitude that troubles the attorney general.
Man tackled, shot twice for crime of illegally shifting between train cars.
One of the officers was fired after arresting two 6-year-olds in one day.
The Institute for Justice calls on the Supreme Court to put a stop to it.
After declaring another man arrested by Gerald Goines "actually innocent," the Harris County district attorney says prosecutors are re-examining cases going back to 2008.
The incident is just the latest in a string of excessive force incidents involving school resource officers around the country.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced action against the department.
Dwain Barton says Officer Dean Vann illegally entered his home and used excessive force while arresting him without probable cause.
District Attorney George Brauchler: "Bottom line is if one of us had been in that car and not officer Nate Meier, you ask me if I think it would have been treated differently, I do."
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