When the US police officers who tasered seven-month pregnant Malaika Brooks three times won their right ‘not’ to be sued last October, you might have expected them to thank their lucky stars and creep away.
But no. Unhappy that the court highlighted their use of excessive force when they tasered a Seattle mother, stopped for driving 32 miles per hour in a school zone (the speed limit was 20) as she took her 11-year-old to school - the three Seattle police officers have asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal that will establish whether their actions were ‘constitutional’.
The New York Times states: While the ruling left the three officers in the clear, it did put them and their colleagues on notice that some future uses of Tasers would cross a constitutional line and amount to excessive force.
Although they have already avoided being sued - as the court decide the law on the question was not clear - the cops are still keen to protect with they call “a useful pain technique”.
According to jezelbel.com, in the cops' defence, they thought Brooks was not pregnant, but simply ‘fat’.
After Brooks refused to sign the notice issued by the cops, assuming wrongly that signing was an acknowledgment of guilt, she was arrested - but would not leave her car.
Happily, in the months that followed, Brooks gave birth to healthy baby girl.
Speaking to The New York Times, the mother's lawyer, Michael F. Williams, said: “The officers are trying to defend inexcusable conduct. They inflicted enormous pain on a woman who was especially vulnerable over what was essentially a traffic violation.”
The justices of the Supreme Court are due to make decision on whether to hear the appeal next week.
