Sandra Bland

Parent Cafe
81

I read an article discussing the legal aspects of the arrest and it’s a bit convoluted. Apparently you do not have to comply if a cop asks you to put out your cigarette while in your car. However the cop can order you out of the car and you have to comply. Once you’re out of the car, the cop can then order you to put out the cig and then it’s a legal request. Also you may not legally resist an illegal arrest. That is, no matter how bogus the reason for the arrest, legally you have to comply. Afterwards you can sue and file complaints and such but there are no legal grounds for resisting an arrest at the time.

Oddly enough, I believe the Supreme Court also recently ruled that cops are legally allowed to stop you for things which aren’t actually illegal, but which the cop thinks are illegal. So not much point arguing legalities with cops, as for them ignorance of the law is actually a defense where it isn’t for civilians…

82

Amazing, isn’t it? “Officers of the Law” don’t actually have to know the laws they are charged with upholding. They can make them up on the fly, and though *you]/i] may have a thorough knowledge of the law, and your civil rights, you have to allow them to abuse you and disregard those rights, lest you be the one charged with acting “unlawfully”. In what universe does it make sense that knowledge of the law is not prerequisite for someone whose job description is “law enforcement”? Your average citizen cannot plead ignorance of the law in order to avoid prosecution, but police officers are given so much unquestioned latitude in their actions that they can get away with cold blooded murder under the auspices of “duty”, as long as there’s no iron-clad evidence they violated the law (as was fortunately the case in that of the cop who shot the fleeing man in the back a few months ago). I find this incredibly scary.