Race Must Be Considered In Determining Legality Of Police Stops And Seizures, WA State Supreme Court Rules

GOPUSA ^ | Jun 11, 2022 | Seattle Times |

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The Washington state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person’s race, and law enforcement’s long history of discrimination against people of color, should be taken into account when determining the legality of police seizures.

The court also clarified state law to say that police has seized a person if an objective observer — who is aware that discrimination and biases “have resulted in disproportionate police contacts, investigative seizures, and uses of force against Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color” — would conclude that the person was not free to leave or refuse a request.

“Today, we formally recognize what has always been true: In interactions with law enforcement, race and ethnicity matter,” Justice Mary Yu wrote for the unanimous court. “Therefore, courts must consider the race and ethnicity of the allegedly seized person as part of the totality of the circumstances when deciding whether there was a seizure.”

The case concerns Palla Sum, a person of color, who was sleeping in his car in Tacoma, when police came upon him. An officer ran his plates and determined the car had not been reported stolen.

The officer knocked on the window, asked Sum questions and asked him for identification.

Sum gave a false name and the officer went back to his cruiser to check records. Sum then drove off, crashed into a front lawn and was caught as he attempted to run away.

He was subsequently charged with making a false statement, attempting to flee police and unlawful possession of a firearm, after a gun was found in his car.

But Sum argued his statements to police should be inadmissible, because he was “unlawfully seized” by police after the officer asked for his identification and said that had been car thefts in the area.

[GOPJ]

People living in the black community will die because of this latest 'white liberal elite' guilt virtue signaling'...

When cops stop pulling people over for speeding, drunk driving, safety issues etc, MORE INNOCENT CITIZENS LIVING IN BLACK COMMUNITIES WILL DIE.

The new deaths can blamed on nutty white liberal 'elites'. The people who live in these communities do NOT want lawlessness any more than they wanted to 'defund' the cops. That crap comes from white 'elites' and the black 'leaders' who are chosen by white elites and chosen by their butt boys in the press to 'speak the white elite' party line.

A polling group should go into the black community and ask citizens WHO ACTUALLY LIVE THERE - 'Do you feel cops should ignore signs of drunk driving if the driver is black'? Lots of us in the real world would like to see the answer....

[Glad2bnuts]

I saw no mention of Governor Ray in the article. WPPS was a scam from the start, like building fancy trains it was meant to be a money maker for politicians.

Governor Ray was much better than Slippery Slade, or even Dan Evans. In my lifetime in WA, I can’t remember a better governor than Dixie. I also remember the news showing her getting off of a flight, and kissing her boyfriend, who happened to be of dark melanin. That was meant to prejudice the voters, and it worked IMO. The libtards of WA, wanted no part of the chubby woman who was single and dating a neeear.