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Resisting arrest charge is turning our country into a police state

2 comments

Posted by Gonzo Times on Jun 16, 2010 in Around The Web | 2 comments

The charge of “resisting arrest” is a funny thing. One may imagine that it was devised so that murderers, rapists or robbers who tried to escape from the clutches of the law are punished additionally for resisting against police officers.

In practice, the effects of this charge disturbingly fall on undeserving victims. Strangely, people can be charged with nothing else but resisting arrest – meaning that there only crime was resisting arrest. This makes little sense. In essence, there was no reason to arrest them, but since they resisted their wrongful arrest, they are now criminals.

The California Penal code (§148) defines Resisting/Delaying/Obstructing an Officer or Emergency Medical Technician as follows:

“Every person who willfully resists, delays or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician…in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment….”

This law is somewhat vague, and assumes that officers “in the discharge or attempt to discharge” their duty are always doing the right thing. Herein lies the problem. In fact, sometimes officers do harass people for absolutely no reason, and when people rightfully resist, the officers use the “resisting arrest” charge as a subjugation or punishment for resisting their authority.

Please Read the Full Article Here: Resisting arrest charge is turning our country into a police state | Cop Block.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=25704089 David Zemens Ⓐ

    Seems pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain, that if the only charge is "resisting arrest", that there ought be no charges at all. I.e., if the only charge they can muster is "resisting arrest" I would suggest that is prima facie evidence of an attempt at false imprisonment.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=25704089 David Zemens Ⓐ

    Seems pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain, that if the only charge is “resisting arrest”, that there ought be no charges at all. I.e., if the only charge they can muster is “resisting arrest” I would suggest that is prima facie evidence of an attempt at false imprisonment.