Thursday, March 05, 2009

Justified Use of Force or Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

There has been a lot of talk about the video recording of a teenage girl being brutally attacked by prison guards in a King County jail. Keeping in mind that the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, were these guards using reasonable force or did they violate this young prisoner's rights by using excessive force? Read the article(s) which has a link to the video of the incident.

Teen in jail-cell video calls attack "horrible" Seattle Times Newspaper

From last Friday: Video released in deputy's alleged assault of girl

Some definitions you may find helpful that I found on the web:
EXCESSIVE FORCE - A law enforcement officer has the right to use such force as is reasonably necessary under the circumstances to make a lawful arrest. An unreasonable seizure occurs when a law enforcement officer uses excessive force in making a lawful arrest.
Whether force is reasonably necessary or excessive is measured by the force a reasonable and prudent law enforcement officer would use under the circumstances.
From a draft U.S. government document, the following was taken:
Inmates are protected from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth
Amendment of the United States Constitution. In order to prove a violation under
the Eighth Amendment, [plaintiff] must show that [defendant] unnecessarily and
wantonly inflicted pain on [him/her]. A use of force against a prison inmate
that was applied in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline is not
―unnecessary and wanton, but force applied maliciously or sadistically to cause
harm is unnecessary and wanton.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

After watching the video of the officers attacking the girl in the cell, I do believe that they violated the 8th amendment. It is obvious that the girl kicked her shoe off at the officer with the intent to anger the guard, while it is a shock to me the way that the officer reacted to the situation. I understand he thought he was doing his job, but he still violated the 8th amendment and the prisoner’s right of using excessive force against her. So I do agree that the officer was in the wrong.

Anonymous said...

while i watched the video i thought that she was getting what she deserved. but later after thinking about it i realized that no individual should be treated that way. i looked in the We the People Book that i have and looked up the 8th amendment, the officer clearly broke the 8th amendmennt and deserves punishment for his actions. i was astonished when i read the report about how all she did was kick a shoe off of her foot, and how it ended up flying towards the officer. i think that the officer was wrong and should reap what he has sown. and even though she is a prisoner, she has every right that any other individual does. he went beyond his job when he did what he did. it was very wrong.