[TChris]

Speed traps are designed specifically to catch drivers with unexpected drops in speed limits.

OK... What's your point?

I see no indication that Mr. Massey was caught in a speed trap. Even if we imagine that he was, his belligerent attitude certainly didn't help matters.

Aren't we regularly bemoaning the fact that children and youth have little or no respect for authority? How can we expect anything else with examples like this for them to follow?

Yes, the Taser was excessive, IMO. But it never would have happened if the guy would have just accepted his citation.

You fight the charges in court, not on the side of the road.

[Wallace T.]

The issue is not the behavior of the motorist or the actions of the trooper. It is the sudden, unexpected drop in a speed limit on a rural highway or an urban street. That is a speed trap, and the motorist was caught in one, plain and simple. There is effectively little redress for someone who is technically in violation of an unjust law. The choices are to shut up and pay the fine within the prescribed time, lose a day's work to go to court, plus the cost of an attorney, or get in the face of a cop who can inflict pain and humiliation, plus send you to a short stay at the local jail, more or less at whim. Even if you choose to fight the citation, the local magistrate is in on the racket and will dismiss your complaint in most cases, especially if you are not a local.

Politicians at the Federal level, and in most states and many localities, have become overly enamored of their "authoriteh" and it is difficult, if not impossible, to seek redress of grievances under the current system. There has always been a "Boss Hog" mentality in local governments, but with the increase in laws and regulations and the element of greed, abuse of power is far greater than it was 50 or 100 years ago.