[sperry]

One thing to keep in mind is that cops tend to deal with a lot of retards on a regular basis. Usually beligerant a-holes that refuse to give ID have a reason, i.e. an outstanding warrant or some other reason to avoid the law. Rarely do innocent people resist an officer's suggestion.

So while the cop was wrong to arrest this guy for not producing ID, the citizen sure went about it the wrong way. He basically acted like every drunk, white trash criminal you see on cops... wandering around, arguing, not complying w/ the officer's suggestions, and so he got stomped on like a common criminal.

So, yeah, that guy's Constitutionally protected rights got violated, but the biggest reason why the were violated was because he was beligerant. If he had been calmer, and less argumentative he could have avoided all this. Just because you have a right to refuse giving up your ID, doesn't mean it's a good idea. The guy escalated the conflict, not the cop.

The biggest problem I see is the cops that beat down the 17 yr old girl. That should not have happened. That was unecessary force IMO. Yet again, if that Hiibel guy had kept his cool instead of requesting he be arrested, nothing would have happened.

So, I guess my point is, the cops were technically wrong, but the real blame goes to Hiibel and his belegerance. I'd hate to take away the power of the cops to do what they did because in the real world, 999 out of 1000 the cop's instinct that an uncooperative individual has something to hide is correct. This was just that 1 in a 1000 time when the cops were wrong.