Posted on 06/28/2011 1:39:35 PM PDT by Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears
The Rochester woman whose run in with the law with her iPhone and made national headlines, plans to file a lawsuit claiming Rochester police violated her civil rights.
Donald Thompson, attorney for Emily Good, told News 10NBC's Ray Levato Tuesday they may sue the individual police officer involved in her arrest, the Rochester Police Department, "any or all of the above and that's something to be discussed and considered."
Good was arrested in her bare feet and pajamas while standing in her own yard one night in May while taping a traffic stop that happened in front of her 19th Ward home. Good kept recording even after an officer asked her to stop and go inside. She was charged with obstructing government administration.
Monday, the District Attorney's office asked City Court Judge Jack Elliott to dismiss the charges because a review of the evidence showed there was no legal basis to prosecute.
Thompson says, "Her stated reason for video taping in the first place was that three white officers were stopping a young black male. And she's obviously attuned to social issues and concerns. There's nothing wrong with monitoring the course of those proceedings to make sure the correct procedures are being followed."
Thompson says says the lawsuit will claim a violation of Good's civil rights under the guarantees of the First Amendment. He said they will either file it in state or federal court.
"There was no crime that she committed here," says Thompson. "There was no basis to arrest her. There was no reason to forcibly take her from her property. It's a violation of her civil rights."
"It was pretty far over the line," says Thompson. "That's why it went national. "
(Excerpt) Read more at whec.com ...
I agree with this also. Those officer’s need to be able to demonstrably show they were also ticketing vehicles on other streets for the same infraction, and that they were not directed to engage in selective enforcement of that ordinance.
“...Whose the idiot?...
-
YOU!
LOL - wow! I give the evidence for what you claim you didn’t do, and I’m to blame. LOL.
...Twice he tried to flee his original statement...
-
Again, I ask you, where did I flee my original statement?
(and once again, you are an idiot)
If specifically directed against Ms. Good or the others present and no one else, and the unusual enforcement was contiguous with the unfortunate arrest of Ms. Good, then yes, that could be construed as retaliatory.
I’m not sure if I told you before or not,
so I am going to say it again now:
YOU (soldierdad) are an idiot!
>>I hope you can appreciate that cops are human and make errors in judgement, as much as we try to mitigate the opportunities for those occurrences.<<
Errors in judgment I can understand. Denying an American citizen for this is unaccceptable.
I don’t care how “polite” this jackass was while getting in the woman’s face and on her property, he incarcerated an American citizen and took away her liberty for no good reason.
Sorry, that’s a huge deal.
Harassing a woman who is videotaping you but is not impeding an investigation is a real problem for me and many Americans. We are not going to put up with it, pure and simple. Not in America.
And harassing ONLY the woman videotaping you, while giving out a bullshit line about how you feel “unsafe” while letting others stand just as close is absolute garbage.
And the pattern of cops, time after time after time, interfering with the public observing them and recording their actions (yes, that’s right, “interfering”) is unacceptable and unAmerican. We won’t stand for it.
I still have had NO ONE give an explanation as to why the cop singled out this one woman who had the videocamera.
It’s a crock.
No offense meant toward you in any way, or the other thousands of honorable officers. I am certain you are a good honest officer, who only wants to do what’s right.
Are you an alcoholic?
If conclusive video evidence comes to light that the DA's car was parked perfectly (I mean real evidence with a pink ruler) that would prove this was nothing but a setup by crafty liberal agitators.
They should throw the book at her. I don't feel safe with Emily Good on the loose.
I do appreciate that. Unfortunately, when those errors in judgment occur some citizen gets unjustly deprived of their life, liberty, or property. Because those are the stakes, many of us are especially vigilant when it comes to those that seem to be abusing their awesome, but not unlimited authority.
Thanks for your reasoned responses. I think you're one of the good guys.
LOL
*high five*
What is “appropriate” concerning her property, her yard and her person? It isn’t like she was up in the cops face. When you are on your own property, and a cop tells you to back up, then can tell you to keep backing up until they force you into your own house, this making them the boss of the property, and thus limiting the ability to videotape and keep cops accountable (as they are human) which she has a right to do.
Whether or not she did or did oknot back up when commanded to by Robocop, he has no authority to force her into the house. He does not own her or her property - her yard.
Free speech rights and property rights trump cops. Cops serve the law and the people, not the other way around. Thus, the court sided with her, finding that she did no wrong.
Very good. Emily Good is a money grubbing lefty agitator who has entranced many freepers.
I do not agree specifically or definitively that it was retaliatory. I will agree that has the appearances of such. I will not agree with your assessment that the officers depicted in the video were directly responsible for enforcement, absent supporting documentation.
This may reflect poorly on THIS police department. But there are over 17000 other agencies, and not all would agree or even disagree with how this situation was handled.
Why are you certain this will get swept under the rug? This makes national venue so a police adminstrator is pretty much forced to act. I don’t think the officer will get fired. Forced to go to some training, absolutely. But fired, no. Unless the political expediency gods step in, and in which case, the morale of that particular agency is going to suffer. Morale can be directly proportional to the number of citizen complaints that come in.
People should feel good when the police do their duty. They should be disappointed when officers fail to meet expectations.
Let’s not make “sweeping” generalizations about the state of the entire law enforcement community. It is over 900,000 men and women.
>>Lets not make sweeping generalizations about the state of the entire law enforcement community. It is over 900,000 men and women.<<
I did no such thing, and if you re-read my post, I went out of my way to point that out.
>>Morale can be directly proportional to the number of citizen complaints that come in.<<
And I would guess that the number of citizen complaints most likely have some correlation to whether or not the police abuse citizens.
But I am optimistic enough to hope most cops are honorable and moral, and have no reason to believe otherwise.
But there are FAR too many documented cases of cops abusing their authority for American citizens to cease being vigilant.
We value our freedom, and as Jefferson said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
And that includes citizens keeping an eye on the cops. That’s our responsibility.
Take care.
Oh, really? I guess the rest of the world missed the court trial!
Ken, Forgive my noncomittance, I am not going to suggest what should be done, that is their Chief’s bailiwick. Those things you mentioned are possibilities, if malfeasance is determined. Equally possible is lesser punishment or even f’em if they can’t take a joke. (I tend to think there will be some deep thought about how to handle this better, national exposure does stimulate some motivation to draw up policies and procedures that eliminate or at least mitigate the ugliness).
>>I do not agree specifically or definitively that it was retaliatory.<<
Well, it is POSSIBLE that the turtle climbed up on the fence post all by himself.
And about as likely. lol
Thanks, you as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.