ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
The problem is that the "pound of flesh" is usually not extracted from the individuals who were responsible, but the "deep pockets" (i.e. the taxpayers) instead.I hope he sues and wins.
Last edited:
The problem is that the "pound of flesh" is usually not extracted from the individuals who were responsible, but the "deep pockets" (i.e. the taxpayers) instead.I hope he sues and wins.
This is pretty scary to me. From the article...
"In this case, Albert Florence's nightmare began when the sport utility vehicle driven by his pregnant wife was pulled over for speeding. He was a passenger; his 4-year-old son was in the backseat.
Justice Anthony Kennedy said the circumstances of the arrest were of little importance. Instead, Kennedy said, Florence's entry into the general jail population gave guards the authorization to force him to strip naked and expose his mouth, nose, ears and genitals to a visual search in case he was hiding anything."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/story/2012-04-02/supreme-court-strip-search/53945028/1
The problem is that the "pound of flesh" is usually not extracted from the individuals who were responsible, but the "deep pockets" (i.e. the taxpayers) instead.
Agreed. Plus, the system might be in place to protect people like this. Imagine the next guy they bring in sneaks in a weapon, and uses it against the guy caught for speeding (and held because they thought he had other open violations). Then the news would be "innocent man killed by fellow prisoner while held in County jail, charges were false, leaves widow and child behind".
It seems like more and more suits are getting fast-tracked to the US Supreme Court. I think the lower courts should be doing more work on this. Seems everyone wants to dump on the Supreme Court. What about the state laws and their enforcement in issues like this? Easier to change a state law than to let the Supreme Court rule and that precedent becomes the law of the land forever.........
It seems like more and more suits are getting fast-tracked to the US Supreme Court. I think the lower courts should be doing more work on this. Seems everyone wants to dump on the Supreme Court. What about the state laws and their enforcement in issues like this? Easier to change a state law than to let the Supreme Court rule and that precedent becomes the law of the land forever.........
I do think that it is a decision that should be addressed by the SC since there is an amendment about unreasonable search and seizure...
Like others, I am a bit concerned that it took the system 6 days to get the guy out of jail...
I also am concerned that he was arrested in the first place... if his only 'crime' was a speeding ticket, then I do not think he should have been arrested in the first place... if he had multiple tickets outstanding, that is different, but one? To me this was a police officer who wanted to show power over the guy...
But I also agree that when you start to treat people different when putting them in jail it can lead to a disaster... or lead to a way that inmates can get drugs into a prison...
Even though I do not like the decision, I do think from a legal point of view it is correct... IOW, leave it to the state or local police to determine the correct way to handle this.... if it is not done appropriately, then the citizens can vote for change.... even though I know that most would not even know this happens or care one way or the other....
For the officer who did the arresting, he may need to be suspended/terminated/lose his pension..... Adn for the man who was needlessly arrested, he may need to be compensated via a civil suit ...
And there needs to be a way to check police officers (and the system in general) who go on these power trips and arrest people who need not be arrested. For the officer who did the arresting, he may need to be suspended/terminated/lose his pension. ....
We have to find the source of the problem. If a rank and file police officer was following SOP, and the bad policy was encouraged by superiors, then it is those superiors who are more responsible than the rank and file cop. But if the cop "went rogue" then it's all on him, provided superiors took appropriate action once notified of the situation.It sounds like the police report showed he had some open warrants or something, and it sounds like SOP to bring the guy in. The arresting officer would not have known if there was an error or not, it appears he was diligent in doing his job. For that he should lose his pension?!
From the linked article (empahsis mine):
"In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled against a New Jersey man who was strip searched in two county jails following his arrest on a warrant for an unpaid fine that he had, in reality, paid.
Florence, who is African-American, had been stopped several times before, and he carried a letter to the effect that the fine, for fleeing a traffic stop several years earlier, had been paid.
His protest was in vain, however, and the trooper handcuffed him and took him to jail."
As I mentioned before, the officer's failure to even attempt to verify the letter or the fact that he had already paid the fine to me is what makes im worthy of being punished, as the bogus arrest began the chain of events which led to his being falsely incarcerated and strip searched. One phone call would have straightened this out pretty quickly. Isn't the job of the police to not arrest people they can easily determine do not need to be arrested?
Florence needed to be given a speeding ticket and sent on his way, the same way anyone else who gets a speeding ticket is handled.
If so, I think I would have kept my maiden name.Egads, he wasn't even the driver! The surname is Florence, so could her name be Flo Florence?