# Yet another unjustified tasering by idiot cop **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 2, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-unjustified-tasering-by-idiot-cop/552359 "2010-09-02T07:33:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 215
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-unjustified-tasering-by-idiot-cop/552359/215 "2010-09-08T20:16:05Z")
Way way back in Post 112 I said > [@](#): > > So for the sake of furthering this discussion I will concede that, given the latitude of judgment provided to cops under the law, this situation was probably within its strict letter. And also, again for the sake of advancing the discussion, within any applicable departmental guidelines as well. and I’ll repeat it here. And having been there, done that, I’ll also agree with \*\*bdgr \*\*that resistance is foolish and counter-productive. I even \ agree with \*\*Bricker \*\*that effective recourse is available, and is a feature of the courts. But I must maintain once again that this isn’t the heart of the matter. Our laws are a reflection of (in part) our history, and some of the tradeoffs that have been made vis-a-vis freedom versus order. But our laws also to some degree reflect our vision of the way a society _should_ be governed. We all have a desire for intangibles like _fairness_ and _reasonableness_. We all desire a society that is righteous and honorable rather than the opposite. That after all is one reason our Legislatures still meet instead of permanently adjourning; so they can modify and improve our codified laws, as circumstances demonstrate the necessity. And so to an extent it is perfectly reasonable for this thread to discuss the ramifications and permutations of the incident under current legal standards. Knowing what the law actually holds is valuable and important to us citizens. But we (us, here, on the SDMB) have precious little direct influence on the laws of even our own state, and those laws and the administrative guidelines that derive from them clearly vary from state to state. So it also seems reasonable for us to expand the discussion beyond what is (arguably or not) actually legal. It seems appropriate to discuss the _fairness_ and _reasonableness_ of those laws and guidelines, based not upon their status as compliant with the letter of the law, but upon their effect in application. That’s why so many here, myself among them, find this incident so offensive. Not because it violates the letter of the law. Not even because it violates some undefined ‘spirit’ of the law. But because the actuality, the effect on real people in a real life situation, was lousy. I watched the long version and all I see is a pissed off guy, in pain, who made a silly statement. The kind of statement any one of us might make when some unfortunate accident befalls us. A variant of an old “I already have one broken leg, might as well double down” statement of fatalistic irony. Thereupon, due to (i) an excess of zeal and/or (ii) a hyper-inflated need to cover-my-ass and/or (iii) an inability to substitute a reasonable interpretation of the situation for a superficial pro-forma requirement for actions, the poor guy is subjected to further pain and indignity including multiple electrical shocks, handcuffing, being forced to lie back on his handcuffed arms, and additional restraints. Everybody is lucky he didn’t actually have a heart attack. I don’t think that anyone can reasonably maintain that this whole dog and pony show was any benefit to him. So my question remains: given the situation, and given the laws and the guidelines in place, and given these exact circumstances as they presented; How could our laws be modified so that the outcome for **this guy** would be better? And could that modification be made while ensuring that outcomes for other people who have been well served by the present laws and guidelines will not be negatively affected? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-unjustified-tasering-by-idiot-cop/552359)._