This young mom lost her baby after she was Tased by police for struggling to remove her tongue ring

[Johnboy60]

Martini Smith was 20 years old and pregnant when she was taken to a county jail in Ohio on a misdemeanor charge that was later dismissed. Once in a jail cell, she was ordered to take off all her clothes and jewelry and put on an inmate uniform. At least one male officer was present as her clothes were taken away, and she was topless when the guards told her to take out her tongue piercing.

This young mom lost her baby after she was Tased by police for struggling to remove her tongue ring

 

[archer75]

The officers should be on trial for manslaughter at least, maybe murder.

 

[Another Lazarus]

That barbarian police officer need to be tased to taste it and put in jail for 10 years to repent.

 

[Far Side Of the Moon]

Man this is so scary ....almost makes me afraid to drive....

She was only 20.

I was stopped not too long ago and I was defintely afraid because I know that night I was stopped could have turned out completely different.

Thank God it didnt.

 

[JCFantasy23]

Very sad. I work at a child welfare agency, and recently one of our mothers gave birth in jail because the nurse refused to believe she was in labor, even though she was due and has had other children. The inmates helped her and the baby's bleeding, they both lost too much blood but fortunately survived. Not sure why the baby was bleeding, but it was a hard birth in the jail. How traumatic though to deliver that way. We really need more supervision and accountability with our jails, detention centers and prisons, especially when it comes to dignity and human health.

 

[JCFantasy23]

This is terrible. I have a stuck piercing in my ear I haven't been able to get out for weeks - I need to soak my ear in water or something, it's really fused on the back. I can totally believe her story about it being stuck since I have this happen to me sometimes. How terrifying for her.

 

[Hank77]

His objective was to humiliate her, what other reason would there be for having her remove jewelry in her mouth while she was standing there topless. All of the jailers involved in this should be fired and the male both jailed and personally sued.
Treating people like they are not human is unacceptable.

 

[archer75]

I wonder if these criminals call themselves pro-life.

 

[Goonie]

I wonder if these criminals call themselves pro-life.

Police officers so probably.

 

[dgiharris]

I will say this until I am blue in the face, these incidents though tragic are red herrings.

The real problem is the environment that emboldens these officers to do such terrible things to fellow human beings. These sorts of things don't happen "out of the blue". The real question is, "what is the environment and police procedures and atmosphere that enables this sort of thing"

Look at the following "initial" result

Smith was awarded a small settlement for what happened to her, and the county that managed the jail agreed to“expand staff training and adopt new policies barring Taser use on prisoners who pose no reasonable threat, are not forcefully resisting, or are ‘limp or prone.'” But that only happened after intervention from the Department of Justice; before the DOJ got involved, an internal sheriff’s office review of Smith’s ordeal somehow “found no wrongdoing by guards and said the Taser use did not constitute excessive force.”

Whenever something awful happens there is always an "internal review" and that "internal review" uses any and every conceivable excuse to side with the police officers. The amount of mental gymnastics and logical contortion required to find "someway" to side with these officers in these sorts of things is reprehensible.

SO here is my solution to these sorts of problems.

#1, no more internal investigations and interdepartmental investigations by the good ol' boys. We need 100% independent and autonomous oversight that is completely divorced from police culture. There is this argument that "only police understand what it is like and therefore they are the only ones who can judge these things." I call Bull Excrement on that. Rational and sane human beings with life experience dealing with people and an understanding of the Constitution is all that is required.

#2, officers that witness and allow these tragedies should be held to the exact same consequences as the officers who commit these atrocities. If my friend and I rob a liquor store and my friend decides to rape and kill the clerk I don't get charged with petty theft just because I didn't rape and kill. NO, my charges increase dramatically since I was an accomplice. We need the same thing to happen to police.

#3, officer need to be personally and financially liable for these sorts of things.

Anyways, the real problem is the environment the emboldens and enables these sorts of things. It doesn't just happen out-of-the-blue.

 

[dgiharris]

I wanted to add one more separate point that goes to the "root cause" of these sorts of things.

IN this country, there is this sentiment that if you have committed a crime, you are no longer a human being and you deserve "whatever" happens to you. If you are a criminal and get raped in prison you will hear people say smugly, "Well, shouldn't have committed the crime...". If you are a criminal and you run from police and the police apprehend you and during the course of that apprehension a cop uses excessive force damaging you extensively then again people smugly say, "Well, you shouldn't have run..."

I often here the above sentiments all the time in this forum by so-called "Christians". It is like we take pride and a sense of satisfaction from "evil doers" aka criminals getting punished. This mindset needs to change because this mindset helps society turn a blind eye to these atrocities.

If your morality "only" applies to "good" people then your morality is worthless. If your threshold for denying human rights is so easily exceed by the slightest infraction or mistake then your humanity is non existent.

If you honestly and truly value human life and believe in the "sanctity of life" then we as a society have got to stop excusing evil done by the authorities.

 

[Goonie]

I will say this until I am blue in the face, these incidents though tragic are red herrings.

The real problem is the environment that emboldens these officers to do such terrible things to fellow human beings. These sorts of things don't happen "out of the blue". The real question is, "what is the environment and police procedures and atmosphere that enables this sort of thing"

Look at the following "initial" result

Smith was awarded a small settlement for what happened to her, and the county that managed the jail agreed to“expand staff training and adopt new policies barring Taser use on prisoners who pose no reasonable threat, are not forcefully resisting, or are ‘limp or prone.'” But that only happened after intervention from the Department of Justice; before the DOJ got involved, an internal sheriff’s office review of Smith’s ordeal somehow “found no wrongdoing by guards and said the Taser use did not constitute excessive force.”

Whenever something awful happens there is always an "internal review" and that "internal review" uses any and every conceivable excuse to side with the police officers. The amount of mental gymnastics and logical contortion required to find "someway" to side with these officers in these sorts of things is reprehensible.

SO here is my solution to these sorts of problems.

#1, no more internal investigations and interdepartmental investigations by the good ol' boys. We need 100% independent and autonomous oversight that is completely divorced from police culture. There is this argument that "only police understand what it is like and therefore they are the only ones who can judge these things." I call Bull Excrement on that. Rational and sane human beings with life experience dealing with people and an understanding of the Constitution is all that is required.

#2, officers that witness and allow these tragedies should be held to the exact same consequences as the officers who commit these atrocities. If my friend and I rob a liquor store and my friend decides to rape and kill the clerk I don't get charged with petty theft just because I didn't rape and kill. NO, my charges increase dramatically since I was an accomplice. We need the same thing to happen to police.

#3, officer need to be personally and financially liable for these sorts of things.

Anyways, the real problem is the environment the emboldens and enables these sorts of things. It doesn't just happen out-of-the-blue.

Wow, those involved in the internal review should be charged with aiding and abetting(after the fact) in aiding criminal scum to avoid arrest.

 

[dgiharris]

Wow, those involved in the internal review should be charged with aiding and abetting(after the fact) in aiding criminal scum to avoid arrest.

Good point.

I will amend my future arguments.

I wonder if social media could help. The people who found this "acceptable" should be publicly shamed... We need to bring these things out of the darkness and into the light for all to see...

You think it is okay to taser a pregnant woman in this circumstance and in these conditions when she poses absolutely no threat whatsoever... then you should have no problem defending said action to your friends and family and community you live in...

 

[archer75]

I wanted to add one more separate point that goes to the "root cause" of these sorts of things.

IN this country, there is this sentiment that if you have committed a crime, you are no longer a human being and you deserve "whatever" happens to you. If you are a criminal and get raped in prison you will hear people say smugly, "Well, shouldn't have committed the crime...". If you are a criminal and you run from police and the police apprehend you and during the course of that apprehension a cop uses excessive force damaging you extensively then again people smugly say, "Well, you shouldn't have run..."

I often here the above sentiments all the time in this forum by so-called "Christians". It is like we take pride and a sense of satisfaction from "evil doers" aka criminals getting punished. This mindset needs to change because this mindset helps society turn a blind eye to these atrocities.

If your morality "only" applies to "good" people then your morality is worthless. If your threshold for denying human rights is so easily exceed by the slightest infraction or mistake then your humanity is non existent.

If you honestly and truly value human life and believe in the "sanctity of life" then we as a society have got to stop excusing evil done by the authorities.

It's crazy to think I have anything to add to this, but I will anyway: also note that people apply this "argument" regarding even those who haven't been convicted of anything! It's as if they're saying "if a police officer decides to hurt you and makes up that you rolled through a stop sign, that's sufficient excuse and you deserve to be [whatever]"

 

[JCFantasy23]

I often here the above sentiments all the time in this forum by so-called "Christians". It is like we take pride and a sense of satisfaction from "evil doers" aka criminals getting punished. This mindset needs to change because this mindset helps society turn a blind eye to these atrocities.

If your morality "only" applies to "good" people then your morality is worthless. If your threshold for denying human rights is so easily exceed by the slightest infraction or mistake then your humanity is non existent.

If you honestly and truly value human life and believe in the "sanctity of life" then we as a society have got to stop excusing evil done by the authorities.

I agree with you on this mindset. A lot of these women - including the woman in my story example - made the stupid mistake of trying a drug at one point in their life and getting hooked on it. It's hard to get off of, even with rehab, and then they get caught and in jail. Not saying that they shouldn't go to jail, but they are still human beings and it shouldn't be considered a legal way to bully and humiliate them. They aren't supposed to be considered or treated worse than how some animals are treated. Our society has always been a little bloodthirsty with how criminals are considered to me, though. I shudder to remember some of the public executions and punishments.

 

[Desk trauma]

Not saying that they shouldn't go to jail...

Why on earth should drug use or possession be crimes in the first place?

 

[Chesterton]

Police officers so probably.

 

[Hank77]

You think it is okay to taser a pregnant woman in this circumstance

Did they know she was pregnant?

 

[Hank77]

Why on earth should drug use or possession be crimes in the first place?

This would be an interesting discussion to have. Personally I am undecided on this issue. I'll keep my eyes open in case you start a thread about it.

 

[Nithavela]

You guys just can't make up your minds. If the police shoot unarmed people, you say they should have tased them. Now they tase them and you complain about that too?