No grounds for suit
So now we have a mother, whose son died after being Tasered by the police, intending to sue the city of Lafayette for $22 million (“Mother plans to sue,” Briefing, Feb. 5). The son was breaking the law, so what grounds are there for the lawsuit?
While I was growing up, my understanding — from my parents — was if a cop says to stop, you stop! Time for the judge to throw this out of court and threaten the mother with a lawsuit for her son breaking the law.
Joseph G. Martinez, Brighton
The reason for the lawsuit is, the lawyer that represents her is bellying up to the cash cow for some more of our money.
It doesn't have any thing to do with what is right or wrong.
Don Evans
Posted by Don Evans on February 15, 2007 04:51 AMTheir is a grown generation and the one growing up behind them that are being taught ,no matter what you do or what happens to you it's always someone else's fault.
Parents stopped parenting in the 70's on up till now. Our country is in alot of trouble.
In the 60's John F. Kennedy said, " Ask not what your country can do for you , ask what you can do for your country."
Now we have a couple of generations that hate their country,can find fault with anything,thinks all government is bad,thinks they should be allowed to do anything they want without being held back by laws, legalize drugs,sue everytime they do something wrong and they get arrested,have no morals to help decide what is right and what is wrong,hate the government but expect a check when they have baby after baby out of wedlock,the list can go on and on.
We have a large part of our society that wants anarchy.
Though the U.S. has problems and has made mistakes,we are not perfect.We are still the greatest place to live . We are still a noble nation and still have people who care about and understand what it is to be American.
Posted by on February 15, 2007 07:19 AMI'm a good liberal, but even I understand that it's a simple equation:
If you run from the cops, bad things are likely to happen to you. Period.
It's really that simple. If you run, what do you EXPECT to happen? Quite honetly, tasering is one of the lesser things I'd expect to happen to me if I ran from the police.
Posted by Tim on February 15, 2007 09:13 AMjust a question...if it were your son, could you and would you just let it go? what do you think your reaction would be?
Posted by MER on February 15, 2007 11:40 AMMER- To answer your question, I love my son dearly, but I teach him to be responsible for his actions. If he chooses to knowingly break the law, then while he's in middle of actually doing it, something bad happens, what do you expect? For example, if my son was breaking in a house, I wouldn't be surprised if the homeowner is there, pulls a gun, shoot and killed him. I would be grief-stricken, but I wouldn't blame the homeowner- I would put the blame where it belongs, my son.
Whether you agree with the severity or not, running from police is a crime. In this case, there isn't a question of unnecessary force, shooting, or even beating. Rather, they attempted to subdue with a taser which, despite the publicized cases, is a lot more "gentle" and less lethal than being shot. Would you rather they just shoot?
The fact remains the individual was resisting arrest. The results are regrettable, but were avoidable if the law had just been obeyed.
Posted by fiesty on February 15, 2007 12:00 PMIs this the young man who was running from police because of some pot plants? I don't know...If my son died over some pot plants...I'd probably sue too. Of course...no one new he would die from being tasered. I'm thinking tasering needs additional testing because I've read of a number of deaths resulting from it. No one should lose a child for growing pot.
Posted by Ann on February 15, 2007 12:00 PMWe are living in a society where crimminals and there famliy members think that they have a right to break the law and if things go wrong for them in the commission of a crime that they are the victims who deserve compensation from a law abiding society.
I think maybe the mother and her ambulance chasing attorney should both have some sense of right and wrong Tazered into them.
P.S. The lawyer should be Tazered twice for good measure!!
Ann this guy was not a child . He was a grown man,it's called being an adult. He also had previous run ins with the law . He was not a boy scout. You reep what you sow.
Posted by on February 15, 2007 02:22 PMAnn....It wasn't about the pot plants, it was because he ran from police instead acting like a man and taking his arrest for his misdeeds. Had he done what he was supposed to, he would be sentenced, and on probation by now. Despite the arguments to the contrary, people don't go to prision for marijuana.
Posted by TMR on February 15, 2007 03:09 PMNOT YET ANYWAY
Well, just because you have broken the law does not mean the police can kill you.
2:22....I think I called him a 'young man'..and just so you know this from now on....that young man was some womans child, maybe a grown child, maybe an adult child...but he was always her 'child'. I agree you shouldn't run from the police. My point was that the taser needs more testing if folks are dieing from something thats simply suppose to incapasitate.
Posted by Ann on February 15, 2007 09:40 PMIts called thinning out the herd!
run from the cops you are probably going to die!
Bluecarp, the cops intent wasn't to kill him. They didn't shoot him with a gun...they shot him with a taser. He had a bad heart...that killed him. If you have a bad heart, you probably shouldn't be running from the police in the first place.
Posted by on February 16, 2007 09:04 AM