Court Rules it is Perfectly Reasonable to Taser Pregnant Women

Well, folks, they are at again. Last week the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Seattle police were completely reasonable when they tasered a pregnant woman three times back in 2004.

Malaika Brooks was seven months pregnant when she was pulled over for going 32 mph in a 20 mph zone. Ms. Brooks denied that she was speeding and subsequently refused to sign the ticket because she thought it meant admitting guilt. The officer writing the ticket then took her keys and his partner threatened to arrest her if she didn't sign. Back-up was called. When a third officer then arrived on the scene, he ordered that Ms. Brooks be arrested.

The officers' first attempt to forcibly remove her from her car using what is called the "pain compliance hold" failed, so they did what any three rational, fully-grown men would do when faced with one stubborn, stressed-out, visibly pregnant woman: they tasered her. Three times. After the third time Ms. Brooks was tasered, the officers dragged her out of her vehicle and laid her face-down on the street, despite her pleas that she was pregnant and they were hurting her stomach.

You and I might find this series of actions to be appalling and vastly disproportionate to the crime of exceeding the speed limit by 12 mph. The Court disagrees with us. In a 2-1 ruling, the Court found that the Seattle officers behaved reasonably because Ms. Brooks might have managed to snatch her keys back and then drive off erratically. Seriously, that was their reasoning.

The dissenting judge saw things a little more clearly. Judge Marsha Berzon said, "I fail utterly to comprehend how my colleagues are able to conclude that it was objectively reasonable to use any force against Brooks, let alone three activations of a Taser, in response to such a trivial offense." You and me both, Your Honor. Berzon went on to make the point that the officers had no right to take Ms. Brooks into custody in the first place because refusing to sign a traffic ticket is not an arrestable offense. Details, details.

I have to say, being pregnant in America right now is a scary prospect. Your doctor can force you into hospital against your will, you can be arrested for thinking about abortion, and you can be tasered repeatedly for refusing to sign your name. And let's not even get started on the ongoing attack on a woman's right to choose. Apparently, the moment you get pregnant it is open season on your rights and bodily autonomy in this country.

Photo credit: hermanturnip