- Reposted from my girlfriend's blog, Radioactive Quill:
So apparently you can be arrested for not appreciating it when a police officer shows up at your house and demands proof that you live there.
Provided you're a Black man, of course. I rather suspect that very few police officers would have the stones to do this to a white man.
Here is the statement by Professor Gates' lawyer. I'm really not sure why he didn't include a threat along the lines of, "I'm going to sue the city for $100 million." I would.
- Reposted from a friend's facebook page, a UF law student:
It's truly amazing that the erosion of racial and sexual bigotry is being accompanied by a revival of religious bigotry. Do people have an innate need to exclude and suppress the "other" that isn't being met now that racism and sexism have become fringe?
If we're discussing founders' intent, why did we include guarantees of religious equality in the First Amendment, while we didn't get around to race until the Fourteenth, or sex until the Nineteenth?
If we're discussing founders' intent, why did we include guarantees of religious equality in the First Amendment, while we didn't get around to race until the Fourteenth, or sex until the Nineteenth?
- A congressman from a district not far from where I live is a crazy birther.
- Good news: Obama is turning up the heat on obstructionist Democrats.
- Molecular developmental biology!
Posts
1. In any event involving two people there are three sides: two opinions and the truth. Having thrice being on the receiving end of police questioning and once detention, the secret to not finding yourself arrested is to be exceptionally polite even when they are in the wrong and your are in the right.
ReplyDeleteLike any normal sane person, Dr. Gates probably was insulted by being questioned in his own home and probably also became indignant, vocally. In an argument with a member of law engforcement, you will most likely lose: the law is written to be on their side.
2. Aside from the situation with the current sitting president, why wouldn't proof of natural citizenship be normal. Last I checked only a natural born US citizen was eligible to be president. Article 2, Sec 1, clause 5, US Constitution. And yes, am a birther.
3. No US president should "summon" any US citizen. My employee asks politely.
3a. It is a sovereign right of any citizen to question the goals, plans, actions, or ideas of any elected official regardless of eithers position. While you may think the plan is wonderful, not everyone does.
4. new molec-bio discoveries are cool.
D.
It is probably true that Prof. Gates would not have been arrested if he had been unfailingly polite. However, if your response to this situation is to simply point this out you are missing a lot of very important issues - actually, all the important issues.
ReplyDeleteFirst, it's not a crime to be rude to a police officer. It's not a crime to get upset over something, particularly police questioning that has gone beyond the point of common sense. The fact that the Cambridge police department dropped the charges so quickly only goes to show how much of a farce the arrest was. The question is not, what should Gates have done differently. The question is how many other people who do not have his sort of influence and resources have been arrested and faced much stiffer penalties simply because the cop didn't like how they were spoken to. The law and the Constitution are supposed to protect citizens against illegal search and seizure, not protect cops' rights to abuse citizens.
The birther movement is racist on its face. Nobody asked George Bush for his birth certificate because he CLAIMED to be born in Conneticut with is close to CANADA. Also if you think about it a US birth certificate cannot be a requirement for holding the office of the president or else George Washington could not have taken the oath.
Also Barack Obama has provided proof that he is a natural born citizen.
"No US president should 'summon' any US citizen. My employee asks politely." Wait, what? He's the President! If you're a congressman you show up when he asks unless you want to have to explain it to your constituents and the rest of your party. This isn't like a court summons where you can get arrested if you ignore it.
Re 1: It's better to suck up, but that's only because many police officers are under the (mis)impression that "contempt of cop" is a crime. It's not. If you are in the position, as I think Professor Gates probably is (highly educated, high profile job, probably upper-middle class), to *not* get pushed around by what is consistently shown to be an overtly racist justice system, I say go for it. And as Obama said, "The Cambridge Police Department acted stupidly." Why should Gates have to bow and scrape?
ReplyDeleteRe 2: I'm not clear on what is wrong with the ten or so pieces of proof that are already available. That the birthers don't care about the governor of Hawaii (who is a Republican) or the health department of Hawaii, the local newspaper reports, the birth certificate in Chicago and the certificate of live birth available online -- not to mention every school or employer who has ever accepted Obama's papers up until this point in his life -- just goes to show how crazy this all is.
Re 3: It's the whole "you might not respect the man, but you respect the office" thing. If the president asks you to do something that is perfectly reasonable (say, drop by while you're in town, since you work on the other end of frakkin' Pennsylvania Ave), it is blatantly disrespectful of the office to ignore it. Why is that suddenly so hard to remember now that a Black man is the president?
I'm watching the Gates situation closely. I think it will turn out to be a net negative for equal rights proponents.
ReplyDeleteAs the evidence stands now, Crowley does not seem to be a racist individual. I get the impression he would have reacted the same way regardless of Gates's race. Anyone who condemns Crowley's actions as racist simply because the police force in general is racist reveals their own level of prejudice.
I get irked every time someone complains that police officers are bullying or abusive. While there are certainly officers that routinely abuse their power, I think most officers' behavior is for their own defense. A police officer has no idea if the individual in front of them is an upstanding citizen who's angry about getting a ticket or an armed criminal about to attack.
Raising your voice and advancing towards an officer are aggressive behaviors. You may not intend them as such, but they are. You are acting in a manner similar to those who intend violence. You should not be surprised if you are treated accordingly. When confronted by an officer, I do what I'm told and speak politely. I don't do this because I consider cops' authority to be absolute; I do it out of respect for the officer's safety. I value his safety more than my right to exhibit aggressive behavior freely. If I feel the officer is overstepping his authority, I'll deal with it in the legal system, not in the street.
Shyft,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that raising your voice to a police officer is not a good idea, and I would even say that Skip Gates showed poor judgment in this case. I agree that you should speak politely to cops and of course I do the same whenever I have occasion to interact with them.
That said, Prof. Gates's behavior didn't fall outside the bounds of lawful conduct. Racial profiling or not, the cop should have just walked away as soon as it was established that Gates was in his legal residence. My understanding is that Gates stepped on to his front porch in order to continue his tirade: 'advancing towards' is probably not the best description.
A lot of the discussion I've heard about this has centered around two points:
1) Gates is black.
2) He was loud and angry.
Which, while true, I think misses the most important point:
3) He didn't break the law.
Actually, my understanding is that Gates only stepped onto the porch because Sgt. Crowley was indicating that if Gates wanted to see Crowley's badge, the former would have to follow the latter outside. According to the Gawker timeline I read, this seems to be a detail everyone agrees upon. Without trying to imply entrapment (which some have), it seems irresponsible of Crowley to not provide his badge number before that point in the encounter.
ReplyDeleteI agree @ post #5: The important point is that Gates didn't break the law and yet was arrested. That is abuse of police authority, period. After all, the charges were dropped, were they not?