Discussion for article #244037
NO! Just FUCK NO!!! All for a God Damned traffic stop??? Seriously???!!!? All so the county and state of Texas could share in the money-making gimmick that is known as our Police State!!
The Police State in America must be DISMANTLED and started anew. Seriously, people!
This whole story makes me cry – makes me very angry. I hope the people directly responsible for this meet the same fate as Sandra Bland – before the New Year!!
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It wasn’t for a traffic stop. The cop wasn’t even going to ticket her. It was for losing her cool and causing an outrageous scene. It was for sitting in jail for days after her “boyfriend” said that he would be right over to bail her out and never showed up. There is absolutely nothing here that you could charge the officers with. It’s possible that this incident could have had a different outcome, but not due to any criminal behavior on the part of the officers.
This woman died because she was pulled over (a traffic stop) and she showed some attitude. She was put in jail for showing some attitude. Seriously, a $500 bail for showing some attitude. Well, fuck me with a fork!
That said, I understand that the officers were not directly involved in her death – but the system the way it is WAS. The system needs to change. This woman’s boyfriend may very well be a flake, an asshole, whatever – but that has nothing to do with what happened here.
Edited for grammar. Thank you.
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I don’t know much about Melissa Hamilton the visiting law professor at University of Houston who commented that once a police officer tells you to get out of a vehicle you have to do it, but according to the introduction to this link, she’s “a former police and corrections officer.” She does seem to be against prison as the first resort and mandatory sentences, though.
She should have never been jailed in the first place. This is a case of I AM COP YOU ARE BLACK WOMAN NOT PAYING ME PROPER RESPECT, UHHG, NOW I JAIL YOU, UHHG! When the police use their power to settle petty scores because they feel like a citizen did not properly kiss their ass that is wrong and if not technically illegal, this obvious abuse of power should be. Regarding her hanging in the jail cell, it would be hard to believe it was a conspiracy murder if not for the vast historical record in the South of black prisoners winding up mysteriously dead. Being that she had a history of suicidal ideation it is probable that she did hang herself, but it leaves me with some serious questions. How did she get a garbage bag in the cell? Are there video cameras of the cells, where is that video, and if not why no cameras? Were other prisoners present in neighboring cells during her suicide? What is her time of death relative to a schedule for corrections officers to check on the prisoners? I would assume there are regularly scheduled rounds that the guards make, was that schedule adhered to in this case? If not why? The whole things stinks and to blame the victim of police misconduct in this and/or her boyfriend is pretty sad.
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BeatyCat. The “system” will have us all in the end. But I don’t disagree with you that change is a good thing. Police work tends to attract people with certain personality disorders, in the same way that the Catholic church attracts pedophiles. They aren’t all bad, but you have a lifetime guarantee that there are bad actors among them. The system needs to be changed so as to remove the bad actors as swiftly and efficiently as possible. Having said that, if you think the police are bad, the people they have to deal with on a daily basis are usually worse.
No, I do not believe the majority of police people are bad. I actually have a lot of respect for anyone who dons the uniform. I was raised to respect and listen to those who pledge to protect us all – and, by and large, I do. (Heavy sighs). Seriously, though, what we’re witnessing over and over and over and over again and again erodes the premise to automatically respect and listen to those in authority. Authority, like that bestowed to LEOs, is not to be taken lightly, misused in any way … or the system runs the risk of the general populace losing all faith that we will be treated fairly, respectfully and with due process.
I do understand that Ms. Bland absolutely should not have mouthed off to the officer – and, yes, by law, she should have stepped out of her vehicle just as he requested. Had she taken a deep breath and complied, she may very well never had to spend three nights in jail. It is maddening, though–simply maddening–that this happened as the result of a bad lane change. I also understand there likely isn’t much the grand jury could have sought in the way of charges. I don’t understand, though, how the jail seemingly gets away with so many unanswered questions: How did she get ahold of a plastic bag? Don’t they regularly check up on their inmates?–and what is that schedule? Camera/video footage? This needs to be answered to the fullest extent.
All that said, why is it okay to keep her there more than overnight, time to cool down? Keeping anyone there indefinitely on such flimsy-ass reasons is beyond my understanding. This is at the heart of the tone of my comments. How and why is that acceptable in a civilized society? Seriously, all she did was give the officer some undeserved lip. That does not warrant more than a time out – not indefinite jail time due to lack of funds. That is nothing but extortion.