Good Radley Balko piece on Gatesgate here . (Dek: “Put the race talk aside: the issue here is abuse of police power, and misplaced deference to authority.”)
By any account of what happened—Gates’, Crowleys’, or some version in between—Gates should never have been arrested. “Contempt of cop,” as it’s sometimes called, isn’t a crime. Or at least it shouldn’t be. It may be impolite, but mouthing off to police is protected speech, all the more so if your anger and insults are related to a perceived violation of your rights. The “disorderly conduct” charge for which Gates was arrested was intended to prevent riots, not to prevent cops from enduring insults.
“The Henry Louis Gates Teaching Moment” [Reason]
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mrmattspangler reblogged this from spiers and added:
I could care less about this debate, although I definitely fall...power’ side of this...
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