LA Times: '84 Alito Memo Backed Police Who Shot Unarmed Suspect

sonicx

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Sat Dec-03-05 03:58 AM
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LA Times: '84 Alito Memo Backed Police Who Shot Unarmed Suspect

Edited on Sat Dec-03-05 04:01 AM by sonicx

WASHINGTON � Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s views on abortion caused a stir this week, but another memo that surfaced from his years as a Reagan administration lawyer was notable for its strong support of the police.

Alito wrote that he saw no constitutional problem with a police officer shooting and killing an unarmed teenager who was fleeing after a $10 home burglary.

"I think the shooting can be justified as reasonable," Alito wrote in a 1984 memo to Justice Department officials.

Because the officer could not know for sure why a suspect was fleeing, the courts should not set a rule forbidding the use of deadly force, he said.

"I do not think the Constitution provides an answer to the officer's dilemma," Alito advised.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/scotus/la-na-alito3dec03,1,1324912.story?coll=la-news-politics-supreme_court

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ashling

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Sat Dec-03-05 04:08 AM
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1. OMFG!!!

Deep six this reptile!

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Rose Siding

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Sat Dec-03-05 09:43 AM
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2. O'Conner held the same position, but it seems outrageous to me

Twilight Zone-outrageous...

Alito's conservative view in the case of the fleeing teenager matched that of the justice he has been nominated to replace. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke for the dissenters, saying that shooting a fleeing person is necessary as a "last resort" to prevent an escape. "I cannot accept the majority's creation of a constitutional right to flight for burglary suspects," she said. Then-Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Justice William H. Rehnquist agreed with her.

The majority opinion held that "A police officer may not seize an unarmed, nondangerous suspect by shooting him dead."

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kurth

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Sat Dec-03-05 11:13 AM
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3. Any judge who legalizes shooting an unarmed nondangerous boy in the back

is a goddamned fascist asshole. It's indecent, unjust, and un-American.

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sonicx

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Sat Dec-03-05 03:04 PM
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4. .

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