Slashdot Mirror
Baton Bob Receives $20,000 Settlement For Coerced Facebook Post
McGruber writes: After arresting him during a June 2013 street performance, Atlanta Police Officers forced costumed street performer "Baton Bob" to make a pro-police statement on his Facebook page before they would allow him to be released on bond. Social media coverage of the incident triggered a six-month internal police investigation into the arrest. Atlanta Police Officer H.J. Davis was given a one-day suspension, then resigned from the Atlanta Police department a few weeks later. Atlanta Police Lt. Jeffrey Cantin received a five-day suspension for "violating responsibilities of a supervisor".
Baton Bob also filed a federal lawsuit against the city, arguing that officers made a wrongful arrest that violated, well, nearly every constitutional right you can name. Those included Jamerson's "right to free speech, his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, his right to remain silent while in custody, his right to be free from compelled speech, his right to counsel, and his right to privacy." The City of Atlanta's legal department reviewed the case and determined that a $20,000 settlement would "be in the best interest of the city" rather than fighting the claims in court.
Baton Bob also filed a federal lawsuit against the city, arguing that officers made a wrongful arrest that violated, well, nearly every constitutional right you can name. Those included Jamerson's "right to free speech, his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, his right to remain silent while in custody, his right to be free from compelled speech, his right to counsel, and his right to privacy." The City of Atlanta's legal department reviewed the case and determined that a $20,000 settlement would "be in the best interest of the city" rather than fighting the claims in court.
Screw the Atlanta taxpayers while Davis and Cantin skate. Typical.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
make it higher, give the cops a reason to NOT do it again
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
My gut reaction is that our civil rights are going real cheap these days.
On the other hand, I could really use $20k. I need a new car by next month or I'm fucked.
I was formally involved with city government. The $20,000 settlement was less than going to court would have cost. Even a declaratory judgment was said to cost at least $20,000.
All the officers involved should be recorded being tazed over and over again and the video put on youtube.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
... use your smartphone to video cops like these.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
It's time police misdeeds settlement be paid for from Police pension funds, if they lose a case, I suggest 50% from the officer responsible, and the other 50% from his collegues to help incentivise them to police themselves.
People decry huge settlements and suggest that the victim doesn't "deserve" it.
It's not about deserve. It's about preventing something from happening again. If $20k was in the "best interest of the city", then it wasn't enough.
The cops who did this were fired. Good enough. Their supervisors were suspended...not quite good enough. The Police Chief and his staff, who are ultimately responsible for hiring these people need to be punished. The people who hired the Police Chief need to suffer some consequences to. and the only way you can do that is to piss off the voters. And how do you piss off voters? Take money out of their pockets.
The settlements should be high enough so that everyone's property tax goes up a significant amount for a few years. And on the statements, the reasons should be laid out directly....$150 surcharge to pay for settlement against the city for Police Misconduct.
Only then will you have politicians lose their jobs and the remaining ones decide that it's in the best interest of their careers to hire a chief, who will hire staff, who will correctly train the officers. This goes for all other parts of the government too, not just for police.
Punitive damages is to punish. And the way you punish government or large companies is to take money out of of their pockets.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Does he also have to move so that somebody doesn't find him shot dead under mysterious circumstances?
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
nearly every constitutional right you can name
I haven't seen any indication of them violating his second or third amendment rights.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Maybe in a couple of weeks your first grade teacher will tell you about the word "nearly" and how it isn't just a random jumble of letters with no meaning that we just throw randomly into sentences for fun.
Whining that some money might end up in the hands of lawyers, and out of the hands of abusers (or those who insure abusers), is simply dumbfuckery. Always has been, always will be.
I actually read the post, and this really doesn't read like a troll, but an actual point, albeit stated in the crudest possible language. (The whole TL;DR of which is that crude language is still free speech.)
You're welcome for the translation.
Oh stewardess, I speak racist. He said:
Such a group of people I despise. The powers that be want the people to view any incident not in terms of the individual, but rather that person's group, as it is easier to control by group or type rather than many separate and rational individuals.
Translation: Another loser blaming everyone else for his inadequacies.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Look, I know you're a bit special, but piss off.
... coming ... that prohibits coerced posts.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
He was one of the fixtures of Saint Louis after 9/11. Just seeing him marching down the street always brought a smile to my face.
He should have held out for $2 million. Are constitutional rights so cheap nowadays that police can cheerfully violate them by the gross, and pay nothing more in compensation than the price of a second-hand car?
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
Seriously. Both the incident itself and how it was subsequently 'dealt with' are of the kind of shit we only expect from actual police state wannabes like China, Russia and any number of fictitious dystopian states.
On behalf of the civilized world: get your fucking shit together.
I love how everyone is saying how "most" police officers are good and do their jobs properly and blah blah blah. Most police officers are clueless about the laws because they have practically no legal training. They can do whatever they want because they have all the power and it takes a 6 month legal nightmare with lawyers and courts and a 3 ring media circus to do anything about that.
All officers remotely involved should have been fired and charged with criminal charges for starters. Whoever approved the hiring of these officers in the first place should be fired because obviously they're an idiot too. Anyone who saw what was happening and didn't speak up to stop them should be fired because that's completely failing to do their job. Whoever made the investigation last 6 months instead of 6 hours should be fired because that's ridiculous.
Unfortunately none of that will happen, they'll keep hiring idiots and promoting idiots to ranks they don't deserve, and group violations of citizens' rights will still happen at that police department.
I actually read the post, and this really doesn't read like a troll, but an actual point, albeit stated in the crudest possible language. (The whole TL;DR of which is that crude language is still free speech.)
You're welcome for the translation.
The real point is that he is free to use crude racist language, and the police don't come knocking on his door.
Being down-modded on an internet forum (which he inevitably will be since his rant is both off-topic and inflammatory) is not censorship. If you want to go somewhere with no moderation, there are plenty of alternatives. Some of us just get tired of too much stupidity.
The right to free speech is not a right to force people to read what you say.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it