# Sandra Bland video **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859 "2015-07-22T05:50:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 59
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1161 "2015-07-27T14:00:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > His actions may have violated policy. That’s the department’s decision to make, not yours or mine. > > In my experience, “common sense” is a meaningless platitude tossed around by people who can’t form a coherent argument for why everyone else should just shut up and agree with them. It’s certainly not something you can legislate. > > The officer did his job. It’s not his fault that Bland decided she wanted to go to jail that day. The officer didn’t do his job correctly because he didn’t stick to policy. That’s why he’s on administrative leave for now. And bullshit on your remarks about common sense. It’s not some contrived, meaninglessly moral idea. If someone sleeps too close to a campfire, and their sleeping bag catches on fire, you don’t just sit their and watch them burn because, “Hrrrm – Uhhh — Errrm – Well, if he didn’t want to catch on fire, he should have followed proper camping safety protocol 49.86-5 from the ‘Proper Guide On Recreational Camping Safety’ and slept at least 4.325 feet away from any campfire.” No, common sense kicks in, you wake the person up and/or help extinguish the fire. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1162 "2015-07-27T14:00:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > All those actions indicate either a desire to be arrested or a wanton disregard for one’s own fate. And no other thing is possibly indicated? There’re not some possibilities you have excluded? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1163 "2015-07-27T14:04:20Z")
“Blow smoke in his face”? Bit of a stretch. Assertion of a fact not in evidence. Making shit up. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1164 "2015-07-27T14:04:36Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > And no other thing is possibly indicated? > There’re not some possibilities you have excluded? None that don’t paint her in a worse light, no. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1165 "2015-07-27T14:10:55Z")
> [@camille](#): > > Not true. There is documented bruising on her back and wrists. Which is consistent with resisting arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1166 "2015-07-27T14:14:27Z")
[QUOTE=Terr] By the way, if you thought that Sandra Bland may not have had much experience with police during traffic stops and that may explain her uncooperation: [NBC 5 Chicago—Local News and Weather](http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigat)…#ixzz3geb6z8s6 And NBC5 Investigates has found that – at the time of her death last Friday – she still owed a total of $7,579.00 in court fines resulting from five traffic stops in various Chicago suburbs (including a DUI), and she had been cited several times for her failure to pay those fines. One of those stops was for, among other infractions (such as DUI), failing to signal when changing lanes. [/QUOTE] Maybe that was part of the problem in getting her familiy to bail her out. It wasn’t (possibly) just the $5K, it was the $7500 that she would also have to pay, eventually. If they didn’t have $500, I suspect they didn’t have $8000 either. Reminiscent of the results of the Ferguson investigation - people just ignored their fines and continued to drive, assuming it would all just go away. “I can’t afford to pay my fines and my insurance” sounds like a good enough excuse to some people. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1167 "2015-07-27T14:18:52Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > But is it really that far removed? Especially when it was, at first, basically a request? > No reason given, nothing that would reasonably lead her to believe she was being arrested. He repeatedly tells her it’s a lawful order. She could not claim she didn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1168 "2015-07-27T14:27:03Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Maybe that was part of the problem in getting her familiy to bail her out. It wasn’t (possibly) just the $5K, it was the $7500 that she would also have to pay, eventually. If they didn’t have $500, I suspect they didn’t have $8000 either. Maybe the family spent all of their money on hiring a Slip and Fall lawyer off the teevee. He advertises locally, in between commercials for Victory Auto Wreckers, and a “college” where you can learn either medical coding, or HVAC repair, I forget which one. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1169 "2015-07-27T14:40:45Z")
Its entirely possible that these are people who lost a family member because they didn’t have $500. And here you are, making snide remarks about their intelligence and character. Knowing next to nothing about them. Jesus wept. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1170 "2015-07-27T14:47:14Z")
I take it you throw up with despair every time the yearly Darwin awards come out too? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1171 "2015-07-27T14:49:07Z")
I don’t have to wait a year to be heartsick about people, I come here most every day. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1172 "2015-07-27T14:52:48Z")
The whole business of her not getting out on bail is a red herring. We know next to nothing about her family and speculation about what they should or shouldn’t have done is irrelevant to the fact that she committed suicide while in custody. Can we just leave the family out of this? Bottom line, we should not have a system where someone is permitted to kill herself while being held in custody for a minor offense. That’s what we need to concentrate on. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1173 "2015-07-27T14:56:26Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Bottom line, we should not have a system where someone is permitted to kill herself while being held in custody for a minor offense. That’s what we need to concentrate on. Agreed. She should not have been left alone and unmonitored for so long. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1174 "2015-07-27T14:57:35Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Its entirely possible that these are people who lost a family member because they didn’t have $500. Forgive me but I’m not buying the poor shtick. The median family income in Naperville, IL is $130K. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1175 "2015-07-27T14:58:44Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Forgive me but I’m not buying the poor shtick. The median family income in Naperville, IL is $130K. I don’t see how that’s relevant. It’s not her family’s fault that she hanged herself. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1176 "2015-07-27T15:00:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t see how that’s relevant. It’s not her family’s fault that she hanged herself. Period. Of course not. Neither is it the police officer’s. But when people start talking about the officer’s “moral culpability” for her death, then the family’s “moral culpability” for it comes into play. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1177 "2015-07-27T15:03:38Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t see how that’s relevant. It’s not her family’s fault that she hanged herself. Period. Agreed. It’s also not the fault of the officer, the judge, or the jail. Earlier in this thread, someone posted that Bland was murdered, which is simply untrue. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1178 "2015-07-27T15:05:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Bottom line, we should not have a system where someone is permitted to kill herself while being held in custody for a minor offense. That’s what we need to concentrate on. I’ll agree with that in that the biggest fuck up (and IMO the only important one of the whole deal) is that she was able to commit suicide under custody. Then again, how many people here KNEW they could hang themselves with a garbage bag? Did the local jail know? Just HOW far should you have to go to prevent someone from commiting suicide? And, ironically, if you go too far, you are probably mistreating them or violating their rights some other way. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1179 "2015-07-27T15:07:52Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I’ll agree with that in that the biggest fuck up (and IMO the only important one of the whole deal) is that she was able to commit suicide under custody. > > Then again, how many people here KNEW they could hang themselves with a garbage bag? > > Did the local jail know? I have seen interviews with some woman held in the cell next to Bland’s. They asked her all kinds of questions except the obvious one: did your cell have a garbage can? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859/1180 "2015-07-27T15:08:43Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > But when people start talking about the officer’s “moral culpability” for her death, then the family’s “moral culpability” for it comes into play. The only person who is “morally culpable” for a suicide is the person committing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sandra-bland-video/725859.md?page=60)