Glenn Reynolds blogged the arrested-for-photographing-the-cops story too. Of course, he did it earlier.
In his commentary, he offers this terrific idea:
I think we need civil rights legislation making this kind of arrest illegal. Treble damages, plus the right to civil forfeiture of any police property or equipment used in the arrest. Oh, and respondeat superior liability against supervisors.
I don’t even know what that last thing is, but civil forfeiture of police property is a great idea.
Think about it. Police departments all over the country have been earning a sizable income by seizing the assets of criminals. There’s clear evidence that police make choices about which criminals to go after based on how much stuff they can take. This is why you get a lot of silly small-time pot busts: Ordinary citizens own valuable stuff, whereas drug dealers are careful to hide their assets with friends or family members.
Isn’t it only fair that these same police departments should themselves be subject to asset seizure when they break the law? Maybe it would give some of them cause for thought when they’re planning a raid if violating peoples’ rights meant the police could lose the battering ram they used to break down the door, the communications gear used to coordinate the raid, and the police cars they drove to get to the raid site.
“I don’t even know what that last thing is…”
I think it means that if a police officer violates your rights, then under Professor Reynolds’ proposal, the supervisory officers up the chain of command of the officer who violated your rights would be on the hook, too.