Changes

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Scott v. Harris (view source)

Revision as of 01:51, May 17, 2010

1,698 bytes added ,  01:51, May 17, 2010
interesting significance of video in this case
Line 2: Line 2:     
Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] wrote the opinion for the 8-1 Court, with Justice [[John Paul Stevens]] the lone dissent.
 
Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] wrote the opinion for the 8-1 Court, with Justice [[John Paul Stevens]] the lone dissent.
 +
 +
The decision relied heavily on the videotape of the event, which sparked a disagreement between the majority and the dissent in interpreting it.  Justice Scalia wrote for the Court:
 +
 +
{{cquote|The videotape tells quite a different story. There we see respondent's vehicle racing down narrow, two-lane roads in the dead of night at speeds that are shockingly fast. We see it swerve around more than a dozen other cars, cross the double-yellow line, and force cars traveling in both directions to their respective shoulders to avoid being hit. We see it run multiple red lights and travel for considerable periods of time in the occasional center left-turn-only lane, chased by numerous police cars forced to engage in the same hazardous maneuvers just to keep up. Far from being the cautious and controlled driver the lower court depicts, what we see on the video more closely resembles a Hollywood-style car chase of the most frightening sort, placing police officers and innocent bystanders alike at great risk of serious injury.}}
 +
 +
''Id.'' at 379-80 (footnote omitted).
 +
 +
In dissent, Justice Stevens wrote:
 +
 +
{{cquote|I can only conclude that my colleagues were unduly frightened by two or three images on the tape that looked like bursts of lightning or explosions, but were in fact merely the headlights of vehicles zooming by in the opposite lane. Had they learned to drive when most high-speed driving took place on two-lane roads rather than on superhighways -- when split-second judgments about the risk of passing a slow poke in the face of oncoming traffic were routine -- they might well have reacted to the videotape more dispassionately.}}
 +
 +
''Id.'' at 390 n.1 (Stevens, J., dissenting).
    
== References ==
 
== References ==
Aschlafly
Anthony, Irenaeus, Siteadmin, apieditor, Bureaucrats, Check users, nsAm_Govt_101RO, nsAm_Govt_101RW, nsAm_Govt_101_ta, nsJudgesRO, nsJudgesRW, nsJudges_talkRO, nsJudges_talkRW, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, oversight, Administrators
126,204

edits

Retrieved from "https://www.conservapedia.com/Special:MobileDiff/778832"

Navigation menu