Tuesday, December 01, 2009

We're the Only Ones Unlawful Enough

Conviction for battery of police officer stands even if officer acted unlawfully [More]
What did you think "Only Ones" meant...?

[Via David Hamel]

4 comments:

AJ Kurp said...

I suppose I don't understand the John Bad Elk ruling well enough. As I understand this case, the ruling of 'guilty' is contrary to the John Bad Elk ruling.

Can someone in the legal profession enlighten me?

straightarrow said...

"If one must resist a cop, one might as well kill him for we will allow no defense against a cop who is unlawful in his actions"

The above seems to be the interpretation of the court's ruling. See? Even the courts are coming around to see it the way many of the public are.

Crotalus said...

I agree with SA. If you have to resist, fight to the death, for that's what you'll get now.

We just had four cops gunned down execution-style by a really demented criminal. The other cops turned around and shot him dead after they found him. How much of the bad guy's actions was pure criminality, and how much was vengeance against bad cops? How much of the cops' killing him was defense because he refused their orders, and how much was vengeance for their fellow officers. How mush was to see that he never made it to court, so he might be let out again?

If the powers that be take away justice, all we have left is a choice between slavery and vengeance.

straightarrow said...

it is to be expected that those among us who have traditionally had difficulty observing the tenets of civilized society would be the first to commit acts of violence that appear to be unwarranted and insupportable by the large majority of us who have always observed the tenets of civilized behavior.

However, incidents such as this which appear to have become more common and more vicious have caused me to wonder if perhaps this is a precursor to what can be expected when the traditionally peaceable become as convinced that law enforcement is our enemy as the criminal is so convinced.

In other words, is this possible trend among our less stable citizens due to their increased sensitivity to real or imagined predations by police or are those less stable citizens the forewarning of what will become commonplace when the truly peaceable realize they are being preyed upon also, without having been involved in criminal or aberrant behavior.

Criminals have much more experience and interface with policing bodies than the ordinary citizen. Could this be backlash for what they view as acts of simply another set of criminals, much like themselves only with immunity from the law?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that a great number of ordinary citizens are starting to view police in that light, and therefore I fear that violent backlash may become a fallback position when the average citizen decides he will give up no more.