Posted on 10/19/2014 10:41:39 PM PDT by Morgana
A federal judge in Maryland ruled Thursday that a wrongful-death lawsuit against three Frederick County sheriff’s deputies can move forward over claims of gross negligence for forcibly removing a young man with Down syndrome from a movie theater.
Robert Ethan Saylor died, which generated outrage among parents of children with Down syndrome and advocacy groups across the country.
U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson was just as scathing, writing in his 54-page ruling that “a man died over the cost of a movie ticket.”
The Saylor family’s claims that Maryland authorities failed to adequately train the deputies to handle people with disabilities can remain a part of the suit, Nickerson ruled. The judge said Regal Cinemas was not liable and dismissed claims against the company.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It should move forward. People with Downs are very passive and will comply, once they understand what the order was
Tasering him was not a necessity.
prolife/Trisomy21, maryland, ping.
.....the article said he died of a fractured larynx.
That said, to me there too often is a dis-connect in some cops brains. If this kid had a 40 IQ, that surely was immediately recognizable by the cops. Accordingly, in my opinion, they should have backed off. Instead they employed force and now someone is dead. Clearly this brings “training” into question. The New York cops killed the big black guy (training ?) and now this kid. When are police departments going to “get” that a Police Force does not have to ALWAYS employ FORCE first and hire lawyers later. As the judge said, “this kid (mentally)died over the cost of a fn movie ticket”.
I’m not so sure the theater has clean hands either. Pretty stupid, in my opinion, to orchestrate events to where a downs kid got killed over a ten buck movie ticket. What about their training? What was their manager thinking?
“I’m not so sure the theater has clean hands either. Pretty stupid, in my opinion, to orchestrate events to where a downs kid got killed over a ten buck movie ticket. What about their training? What was their manager thinking?”
I’ll tell you what the manager was most likely thinking, and please FReepers with a loved one with Trisomy 21 try not to be offended, but we all know it’s true. The manager was thinking “get this retard out of here before he scares off other paying customers and I get complaints” he was probably thinking “this is stupid and embarrassing, and this retard does not belong here”.
Now mind you I have no proof that this is what the manager was thinking, I can’t read another person’s thoughts all the time but from the way Ethan was treated I’d venture to say, that’s close to it.
The coroner ruled cause of death was homicide. Why do cops get away with killing a developmentally disabled young adult? They are obviously a law unto themselves now. What a society. If they are not held accountable in at least some way for their cruel and excessive actions they might even just get worse.
FYI, any time one human kills another human, the coroner rules it a “homocide” on the death certificate. Doesn’t mean it is always murder. Homocide is often thought of synonymously with murder.
Because they're cops.
A lot of cops, way, way too many, are just itching for a chance to hurt someone. This could have been handled very differently, very easily.
“When are police departments going to “get” that a Police Force does not have to ALWAYS employ FORCE first and hire lawyers later.”
Cops (law enFORCEment) are all about enFORC(E)ing the law. I think it was Lysander Spooner who said that law is force. This includes up and to death. This means that whatever law you create you have to ask whether it is worth taking a human life over.
They were just doing their job from their perspective.
“Law, without force, is impotent.”
-Blaise Pascal
Sadly, you're probably right.
He'd already sat through one showing of the movie. Any evidence that he was distruptive during that or that the other patrons complained about him or were scared off?
Well said and most likely correct.
I agree with spooner but with a BIGGGGG BUT!
Namely, said FORCE must be applied judiciously.
Thanks for your reasoned comment.
“He’d already sat through one showing of the movie. Any evidence that he was distruptive during that or that the other patrons complained about him or were scared off? “
None that I was aware of. The trouble started when the movie ended from what I read. He stood up and clapped. Then wanted to see it again. Then refused to leave because he wanted to see it again. People with Trisomy 21 can be very stubborn. What I would have done is left him there, gone and bought two more tickets, as I was doing this explained to the person selling the tickets why I was doing it and the problem would have been solved, I hope.
So we not sure if the theater manager just wanted him gone because of behavior or because he didn't have a ticket for the second showing. I agree that the proper response would have been to request the caregiver buy two more tickets or let him/her talk the young man into leaving. Escalating it to security was probably not necessary and the response of the guards was completely inappropriate. We should be talking about criminal charges against the police in question and not a civil suit against the department. But since they're cops they managed to kill the guy and walk away scott free.
Not always. My daughter has been a caretaker for these people for a decade, and they are by no means always passive. Given the right situation, they can become quite violent, and amazingly strong.
Clearly this brings “training” into question.
I think recruiting may be the problem.
You are correct.
FMCDH(BITS)
” When are police
departments going to “get” that a Police
Force does not have to ALWAYS employ
FORCE first and hire lawyers later.”
http://www.theagitator.com/2012/07/05/two-videos-two-cities-two-attitudes/
Part of the answer right there. The other part is how sheltered cops are from mistakes, especially criminally. Cops don’t fear screwing up, but enjoy power. That is a great combination.
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