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You Can Stop Saying Stupid Things About The Gates Arrest Now . . .

Jul 24, 2009
By .
Law

. . . . because someone has successfully made the most jaw-droppingly, ear-bleedingly stupid argument that could be made about it — that the neighbor who called the cops should be liable to Gates for damages:

But that's how I get to the Cabbed Caller's recklessness in calling the police in the first place. It's not intervening if you could reasonably foresee the actions that would result from your conduct. Could the Cabbed Caller have reasonably foreseen that calling the cops would lead to the arrest of whomever was in the house? I say yes. Where there are other actions that a reasonable person could have taken instead of bringing in the shock troops? I say yes.

Was it therefore reckless to call the cops in the first place? Well, for that I'd want to depose the witness. I'd want to know if she had any reason, at all, to believe that the cops would behave appropriately. And then I'd want to know if she had any reason, at all, to believe that the cops would behave appropriately when confronted by "two black men, with backpacks."

To David Lat's substantial credit, he demolishes Elie Mystal's ridiculous argument.

Nobody comes out of this clash of entitlements looking good. Not Gates, who comes off looking like a stereotype — not of a black man, but of an Ivy League prick. Not the cop, who arrested him for what amounts to the de-facto crime of contempt of cop. And certainly not President Obama, who put the hair on the cake of his health care presser by simultaneously admitting he lacked facts to judge and then judging.

Edit to add: OK, Obama gets points for calling the cop and owning his words.

Last 5 posts by Ken

11 Comments
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11 Comments

  1. Mike  •  Jul 24, 2009 @12:58 pm

    hair on the cake

    If that means pubic hair on the urinal cakes, then bravo, sir. Bravo!

  2. mojo  •  Jul 24, 2009 @2:48 pm

    You get a report of a break-in, talk to the witness who called 911, then go to the house. You ask the man inside for ID, since you have no way of knowing if he's a burglar or a resident.

    Seems pretty reasonable to me. Probable cause fully satisfied.

    Drag out that driver's license, pops, and don't make a big fuss.

  3. Ken  •  Jul 24, 2009 @3:10 pm

    Probable cause fully satisfied.

    Probable cause for what?

  4. mojo  •  Jul 24, 2009 @3:24 pm

    Asking for ID?

  5. Ken  •  Jul 24, 2009 @3:26 pm

    Okay. Accepting that for the moment, the cop didn't arrest him for refusing to give ID.

  6. PatrickKelley  •  Jul 24, 2009 @8:35 pm

    Well, is it all right for somebody to just come out and say that this Professor is an asshat who used his friendship with Obama to try to start a controversy? I know its assuming facts not in evidence, so I won't compound it with the suggestion that the neighbor might have helped him set the whole thing up. At least we will get some needed suggestions as to the need for a "national dialogue on race relations" out of it, so maybe it won't be a total loss.

  7. TomH  •  Jul 25, 2009 @4:39 am

    Yes, the call in may have been justified (black men or no, a good samaritan can call the cops when two guys are jacking open a door to a home).

    Yes, the cops should investigate to ensure no crime is happening.

    Yes, the homeowner can be in a pissy mood when he; a) gets locked out of his own damn house, after a long trip, has to go in through through a back door or window of somesuch, then the cops show up when he is just trying to freaking relax after crowbarring his own front door.

    But, no, the cops can not arrest you for just arguing with them. That sort of expectation, on the part of cops, that you just lie down and take it anytimne, anywhere is a bad attitude. And, BTW, I think the professor did eventually show them ID. When he did, no matter how angry he might have been, the whole thing should have been dropped.

    As I recall, correct me if I am wrong, he never physically initiated a physical confrontation.

  8. Reuven  •  Jul 25, 2009 @10:52 am

    Here's the lesson I've learned:

    If I every see or hear anything unusual at my African American neighbor's house, I will NOT call the police! I don't care if I see someone breaking in, the house on fire, or my neighbor collapsed on the front lawn, I will mind my own business.

    If that's what the African American community wants, that's what they'll get.

  9. Reuven  •  Jul 25, 2009 @10:56 am

    @mojo: The cop will ALWAYS ask the occupants to step outside the house if there was a burglary call.

    Several years ago, we had a false alarm at our house. The police came and asked us to step outside. Why do they do this? To protect me!

    If someone had broken in, they could be holding me hostage, and say "Answer the door and tell them to go away." That's why it's SOP for the cop to ask you to exit the house, where he then asks if there's anyone else in the house and explains the procedure.

    If this "Professor" was as smart as a Harvard professor should be, he would have realized the Policeman can't take any chances. Even if the cop did recognize him; a high profile person like Dr. Gates may be a kidnapping target, etc, and he would have to escort him outside the house in case there was a danger inside.

  10. Reuven  •  Jul 25, 2009 @11:29 am

    I think the woman who called the police should sue "Elie Mystal" for liable. He calls her an "idiot" in this article: http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/2009/07/22/gatesgate-racism-101/

    His argument:

    The potential crime took place in broad daylight. Do you know many (any) criminals that cruise around well-to-do Cambridge in the middle of the day looking for houses to rob? Even in that unlikely scenario, wouldn’t the would-be criminal be using some kind of lockpick device instead of just trying to break the door down with their bare hands?

    I spent TWO MINUTES googling on the FBI site. Granted, I'm not a Brilliant Scholar like Dr. Mystal is, but I found FBI CRIME STATISTICS that said:

    However, of the burglaries for which the time could be established, most (62.2 percent) residential burglaries occurred during the day, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
    Source: FBI.GOV (property crime)

    Of course, since the FBI's run by Evil White Men, they're probably making this up.

  11. David Schwartz  •  Jul 25, 2009 @5:12 pm

    Either the cop's actions were justified or they were unjustified. If they were justified, there cannot be a cause of action against the person who initiated them. If they were unjustified, you would have to argue that a person who calls the cops has to foresee that they will act unreasonably else he acts recklessly. The cops can *always* act unreasonably, so the net result is that it is always reckless to call the cops.