Here’s a very disturbing story I saw on Instapundit. A cop arrested a woman for the supposed crime of not getting off her own front porch. Apparently, the cop didn’t like the fact that she was observing – and perhaps even filming on her cell phone camera – a traffic stop. If there is any justification for what the cop did, it certainly is not apparent from the full story. What’s particularly disturbing is not just that the cop made a seemingly abusive arrest, but that a judge then convicted the woman. Libertarians instinctively will be skeptical of the government in this case, but I hope that viewed is widely share. Our Founding Fathers gave us a Constitution that limited the power of government, and there should be a clear and compelling reason before an individual is stepped on by the police power of the state. If you rob, rape, and murder, those are good reasons. Standing on your court and filming a traffic stop doesn’t pass that test.
The resisting-arrest conviction last week of Felicia Gibson has left a lot of people wondering. Can a person be charged with resisting arrest while observing a traffic stop from his or her own front porch? Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter thought so, and last week District Court Judge Beth Dixon agreed. Because Gibson did not at first comply when the officer told her and others to go inside, the judge found Gibson guilty of resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer. Gibson was not the only bystander watching the action on the street. She was the only one holding up a cell-phone video camera. But court testimony never indicated that Hunter told her to stop the camera; he just told her to go inside.
[…] And let’s not forget the examples of misbehavior I’ve cited in the past (examples here, here, here, here, here, and here). […]
[…] And it goes without saying that I want a range of reactions – from scorn to punishment – when individual police officers make dumb choices (examples here, here, here, here, here, and here). […]
[…] Some of that exists, of course, but I assume the vast majority of cops want to do a good job and treat people fairly (except when giving me traffic tickets). […]
@Pamela:
None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.
-Johann von Goethe
Do you ever hear what Ben Franklin said, Pamela?
“Anyone who trade a little freedom for a little safety, deserve neither, and will lose both.”
Jury nullification_little known constitutional right for the people on a jury in the United States to decide not just guilt or innocence, but also whether a law is a justifiable law and should be enforced on a particular individual.
Pamela, you HAVE lost your freedom. The only reasonable cause to send someone inside is for the citizens safety, like if there is a shootout. Other than that, the citizen should be able to sit anywhere on their property (or their landlords property) that they want. Now if you are a subject, they have no rights and the cops should win. I would have gone inside with the door open and continued to vidio the stop (if I was so inclined) Where was the ACLU. They defended my brother when he sat on a bench along main street Pottstown PA when they wanted to get rid of cruising. They were happy to do it.
so you just mindlessly obey the cops.if they told you strip for a public inspection would you obey.your are by your own stupid remarks NOT free at all
[…] Arresting a woman for standing on her own porch. […]
[…] sometimes criticize improper police behavior (particularly when I’m the victim), but we should remember that the vast majority of cops are […]
If a cop says “go inside” I think it’s the smarter thing to do. Unless you want to be detained. The better thing for this lady to have done was to go inside and open the drapery in her front room and continue to film.
I was arrested once {by a drunk cop}. I was let go/charges dropped/ but the cop went free.
It’s a cops world and I just obey. I keep my freedom that way.