More Stories of Police Stupidity

This is an incomprehensible story of police brutality. What makes it special is that the judicial system backs the police. Here's a bit from the story on Wired:

A federal appeals court says three Seattle police officers did not employ excessive force when they repeatedly tasered a visibly pregnant woman for refusing to sign a speeding ticket.

The lawyer representing Malaika Brooks said Monday that the court’s 2-1 decision sanctioned “pain compliance” tactics through a modern-day version of the cattle prod.

“To inflict pain on a person if that person is not doing what the police want that person to do is simply outrageous,” said Eric Zubel, the woman’s attorney. “I cannot say that loud enough.”

Zubel said he would ask the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear Friday’s 2-1 decision that drew a sharp dissent from Judge Marsha Berzon:

“Refusing to sign a speeding ticket was at the time a nonarrestable misdemeanor; now, in Washington, it is not even that. Brooks had no weapons and had not harmed or threatened to harm a soul,” (.pdf) Berzon wrote. “Although she had told the officers she was seven months pregnant, they proceeded to use a Taser on her, not once but three times, causing her to scream with pain and leaving burn marks and permanent scars.”

Why do I find this so egregious? Because of the senseless, stupid, cruel murder of Robert Dziekanski by RCMP using tasers at the Vancouver airport. Here's a video that shows the cruel indifference of the police as they taser a guy who is no danger to anyone simply because he didn't jump when they said "jump" (he spoke only Polish so "jump" was meaningless to him, but why would the police bother with that petty fact?)...