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Supreme Court rules in favor of police officers who fired to end high-speed car chase
WashingtonTimes ^ | 05/27/2014 | Kelly Riddell

Posted on 05/27/2014 9:31:07 AM PDT by BuckeyeTexan

The Arkansas police officers who fired 15 rounds into a fleeing vehicle, killing both the driver and passenger, were justified in doing so, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

In 2004, police officers in West Memphis ended a high-speed car chase by firing shots into the fleeing vehicle. The drivers of the car weren’t armed and were killed as a result of the firing, leading many to argue the use of force by the police squad was excessive. Not so, declared Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the decision for the court.

“Under the circumstances present in this case,” Mr. Alito said, “we hold that the Fourth Amendment did not prohibit petitioners from using the deadly force that they employed to terminate the dangerous car chase.” “If police officers are justified in firing at a suspect in order to end a severe threat to public safety,” the high court held, “the officers need not stop shooting until the threat has ended.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; police; scotus
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To: BuckeyeTexan

Just curiuos...who were the people in the car? No mention in the article. Maybe there was a reason why they were fleeing the police.


21 posted on 05/27/2014 9:57:55 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob (They are called "Liberals" because the word "parasite" was already taken.)
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To: driftdiver

driving a car and following high way rules is not turning the car into a deadly weapon.

Driving high speed through traffic when the cops are chasing you makes it deadly.

Silly illogical response.


22 posted on 05/27/2014 9:58:49 AM PDT by morphing libertarian ( On to impeachment and removal (IRS, Benghazi)!!!)
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To: fwdude

Sure there are cop haters on FR. More seem to show up every week.

Maybe its because people don’t like what the cops are doing. Shocking idea, I know, but its just possible that more and more people think the cops are out of control.


23 posted on 05/27/2014 9:59:43 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: fwdude

“deadly force that they employed to terminate the dangerous car chase”

If the cops had quit chasing the car, wouldn’t that ended the chase?


24 posted on 05/27/2014 9:59:44 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: morphing libertarian

We’re talking possession, not intent. If mere possession is sufficient cause then the cops can shoot anyone at any time.

But then they already do, so I guess it doesn’t matter.


25 posted on 05/27/2014 10:00:38 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: BuckeyeTexan

won’t be long and all new cars will be required to have a remote kill law enforcement can use to end the chase before it starts.


26 posted on 05/27/2014 10:01:10 AM PDT by cableguymn (It's time for a second political party.)
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To: The_Republic_Of_Maine

The two drivers in this case weren’t even armed.


27 posted on 05/27/2014 10:01:30 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: BuckeyeTexan

Our unelected rulers turn against us.


28 posted on 05/27/2014 10:02:01 AM PDT by DManA
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To: Rusty0604
If the cops had quit chasing the car, wouldn’t that ended the chase?

If cops are required to quit chasing cars, more criminals will run from the police, and thumb their noses as they do.

29 posted on 05/27/2014 10:02:40 AM PDT by fwdude ( You cannot compromise with that which you must defeat.)
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To: fwdude

The law (used) to say the police aren’t the judge, jury, and executioner. And never before has the law prescribed the death penalty for avoiding arrest.


30 posted on 05/27/2014 10:04:24 AM PDT by DManA
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To: Cowboy Bob

Years ago my 20 year old stepson was a passenger of a car driven by a friend of his. His friend decided to run when he saw cop lights because he had warrants for unpaid traffic tickets. They ran into a tree during the chase and my stepson was killed.


31 posted on 05/27/2014 10:06:03 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: fwdude

There are a lot of cases where the cops use excessive force, including deadly force. This just doesn’t happen to be one of them.


32 posted on 05/27/2014 10:06:32 AM PDT by SeaHawkFan
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To: BuckeyeTexan
Mr. Alito said, “we hold that the Fourth Amendment did not prohibit petitioners from using the deadly force that they employed to terminate the dangerous car chase.”

I'm sorry... I can't tell from the article.

Exactly what was the Fourth Amendment issue in this case?

How does shooting at a fleeing car involve unreasonable search and seizure, or warrants naming the thing and place to be searched?

Were they arguing that the person had a right to be secure in their car, and that the pursuing police didn't have a right to stop them?

-PJ

33 posted on 05/27/2014 10:06:42 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: fwdude

“If cops are required to quit chasing cars, more criminals will run from the police, and thumb their noses as they do.”

Numerous cities have established no chase or limited chase options and the world didn’t end.

Perhaps its the thumbing their nose part that you take issue with.


34 posted on 05/27/2014 10:07:40 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver

It wasn’t “mere” possession.

If you don’t consider context or situation important then we’re done. I have nothing more to say.


35 posted on 05/27/2014 10:07:53 AM PDT by morphing libertarian ( On to impeachment and removal (IRS, Benghazi)!!!)
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To: BuckeyeTexan

Bad ruling. If they could shoot to kill they could have shot to disable the vehicle. The issue is the discretion used - the lack of.


36 posted on 05/27/2014 10:08:17 AM PDT by Mechanicos (When did we amend the Constitution for a 2nd Federal Prohibition?)
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To: Cowboy Bob

Donald Rickard led police officers on a high-speed car chase that came to a temporary halt when Rickard spun out into a parking lot. Rickard resumed maneuvering his car, and as he continued to use the accelerator even though his bumper was flush against a patrol car, an officer fired three shots into Rickard’s car. Rickard managed to drive away, almost hitting an officer in the process. Officers fired 12 more shots as Rickard sped away, striking him and his passenger, both of whom died from some combination of gunshot wounds and injuries suffered when the car eventually crashed.


37 posted on 05/27/2014 10:08:50 AM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. ~Steve Earle)
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To: fwdude

Unless it’s a fleeing armed and dangerous murderer they could send the license plate number out and catch them.


38 posted on 05/27/2014 10:09:31 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: BuckeyeTexan

Interesting that the article doesn’t mention who was prosecuting the officers.


39 posted on 05/27/2014 10:09:51 AM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: BuckeyeTexan

Here is video of incident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTfGkVQz208

The incident in question began in July 2004, when police in West Memphis, Arkansas, questioned Donald Rickard at a gas station about a broken light on his white Honda.
Rickard refused to step out the car and then took off. With his girlfriend, Kelly Allen, in the passenger seat, Rickard crossed over the Mississippi River into Tennessee along Interstate 40.

After Rickard rammed a police car head-on and sideswiped another, police fired 15 shots into the vehicle, mounted cameras from police vehicles show. The car went airborne and slammed into a house in Memphis. Rickard and Allen, both 44, were killed.


40 posted on 05/27/2014 10:09:53 AM PDT by snowstorm12
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