Could Tasers Soon Be Outlawed? Supreme Court May Hear Case on Preserving This 'Useful Pain Technique

A traffic violation and refusal to sign a ticket resulted in a pregnant Seattle woman getting tased in 2004. The woman sued the officers and ended up losing the case. According to the New York Times, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit acknowledged the officers used excessive force and said should they use the device in such a manner again, it would "cross a constitutional line," but they were within their rights according to the law at the time.

Now, the officers are hoping the Supreme Court will hear their appeal over what they fear could be the loss of their ability to use a "useful pain technique." The Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether or not it will hear the case next week.

(Related: Diabetic college student tased by police while in a state of shock now suing) 

The New York Times reports Malaika Brooks, seven months pregnant, was pulled over for speeding when driving her son to school in 2004. At the time, she said she would accept the ticket that was being issued to her, but would not sign it as it would acknowledge guilt for a violation Brooks didn't believe she had committed. Not signing the ticket was a crime and officers were instructed by their sergeant to arrest her, but she would not get out of the car. The New York Times has more on what transpired from there:

The situation plainly called for bold action, and Officer Juan M. Ornelas met the challenge by brandishing a Taser and asking Ms. Brooks if she knew what it was.

She did not, but she told Officer Ornelas what she did know. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said. “I am pregnant. I’m less than 60 days from having my baby.”

The three men assessed the situation and conferred. “Well, don’t do it in her stomach,” one said. “Do it in her thigh.”

Officer Ornelas twisted Ms. Brooks’s arm behind her back. A colleague, Officer Donald M. Jones, applied the Taser to Ms. Brooks’s left thigh, causing her to cry out and honk the car’s horn. A half-minute later, Officer Jones applied the Taser again, now to Ms. Brooks’s left arm. He waited six seconds before pressing it into her neck.

Ms. Brooks fell over, and the officers dragged her into the street, laying her face down and cuffing her hands behind her back.

Brooks, whose baby girl was born perfectly healthy, was convicted of a misdemeanor but she sued the officers for brutality.

(Related: Aerial 'Shadowhawk' police drones can now deploy tasers and tear gas)

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski is reported as defending the officer's actions, and Judge Barry G. Silverman also said he considered “tasing was a humane way to force Brooks out of her car.”

The Times states the officers are now bringing the case to the Supreme Court to clear their names and preserve their use of the tasers. Several other groups including the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs’ Association have also asked for the case to be heard, believing the Ninth Circuit’s ruling “damages the rule of law:"

“It won’t be long,” their brief said, “before the word spreads throughout society’s criminal underground that the Ninth Circuit hasn’t simply given them a ‘get out of jail free’ card, but a ‘never have to go to jail in the first place’ card.”

The Times reports Brooks' lawyer maintaining that the use of a taser on the pregnant woman was inappropriate and "inexcusable conduct."

[H/T Gizmodo]