Planck v. Indiana
In the reviewing the case of Planck v. Indiana, many complicated issues
arise. Included in those, individual rights conflicting with the public good
are among the most difficult. According to Mr and Mrs. Planck's attorney, John
Price, the Planck's religious beliefs prohibit them from accepting professional
medicine practice, as they practice alternative medicine and home school their
children. After a complaint from an older Planck daughter, who did not embrace
or respect her family's lifestyle, the state was called in to investigate the
health of the Planck children. In a preliminary check by the state of Indiana
for eyesight, Lance Planck was found not to be in need of any service. Despite
this finding, the Madison County Superior Court ordered that all of the Planck's
children's eyes be examined by the state. One month after the Court ordered
this, twenty armed officers with guns drawn came to the Planck's residence and
commanded Mr. and Mrs. Planck to give up their children. Mr. Planck told the
officers that he did not know why they were there, was pushed to the ground and
had loaded rifles pointed at him. The children were then forcibly removed from
their parents custody, and at no time was any identification shown by the
officers. Curt, Lance Planck's younger brother, resisted this removal from his
house, and was threatened by an officer that he would be "dragged out of here."
After this scene, Emily, Stephen, and Curtis Planck were loaded into a van and
driven to an eye doctor in Anderson, Indiana. The examining doctor, Dr. Joseph
Woschitz, came to the conclusion that no treatment was needed for any of the
children. How can the state justify this type of behavior? Is ripping a child
unwillingly from his mother's arms in the best interest of the public good?
What does society have to benefit from this? In short, this does not affect the
public good per se, but does affect the Plancks and any other family that
practices a religion that is not widely accepted.
Following the above events, Mr. and Mrs. Planck were subsequently
arrested, had their First Amendment rights violated, and had their home invaded
by armed SWAT team members who fired a CS tear gas canister into their house.
Simply, Mr. and Mrs. Planck and their children were targeted by the state
selectively because of their religious beliefs which they manifested in home
education and the practice of alternative medicine. The fundamental argument
here is that the Planck's rights have been violated, and the State of Indiana
has overstepped its duty of caring for the Planck's children.
At around 3:14 pm. Santa Rosa Police officer Erick Gelhaus and his partner, a trainee, were patrolling Moorland Avenue located just before the outskirts of Santa Rosa. Gelhaus who was sitting in the passenger side of the police vehicle, then spotted an individual (now known to be Andy Lopez) with his back facing towards them walking down the street holding what appeared to be an AK-47 assault rifle (Johnson). The trainee officer then stopped the vehicle just a mere 20 to 30 feet away, allowing for Gelhaus to quickly step out and order Lopez to drop the weapon (Chea). Many community members argue that the trainee officer should have gone out of the police vehicle with Gelhaus if Lopez was indeed a threat to the community. The trainee officer however did not exit the vehicle since “at that point Deputy Gelhaus had already engaged the subject, with the commands and with the weapon. The threat was essentially over” (Johnson). This explains why the trainee officer remained in the police vehicle during the confrontation.
Inmates returning from an exercise yard in the late afternoon overwhelmed correctional staff and seized hostages. Inmates were reportedly upset about overcrowding and suspended privileges. They set fires, which destroyed more then half of the 31 buildings and took hostages who were not only guards but also other inmates who were not willing to join in the rioting. The riot ended through negotiations and the inmates were confined to their cells. The superintendent informed news and officials that the riot was over. The next day the superintendent met with the inmates to discuss their grievances. Unknown to the superintendent or staff many of the cells which the inmates were confined to were not secure permitting the start of a second riot later that day allowing prisoners to escape and take more then 17 more hostages and injuring 138 officers. About 800 troopers were on the scene during the peak of the riots with hundreds more en route to begin shift changes as the riots continued for a 3 day period. Negotiations were again attempted, but the riot finally ended when state police forcibly entered the compound.
On the program The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, a developing story talks about the event in Virginia where a 46 year old man, Linwood Lambert, is tased multiple times by police officers. This report starts off with mentioning that the man was picked up early one morning after multiple 911 calls about noise complaints. After the police officers picked him up the officers realized that he seemed to be acting strange so they decided to take him to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation. The officers stated that he made comments about “murdering two people and putting their bodies in the ceiling”. Once at
On 2/8/18 at approximately 1845 hrs a fight was called over the radio, Sgt Barrett, Kyle responded. When Sgt Barrett arrived at D Bldg, Sgt Barrett saw I/M Hills, William (GDC 524378 W/M STG: Aryan Brotherhood) outside next to the D1 window bleeding from his head. Sgt Barrett then went to D1 cell 24 to check on I/M Swann, Stacy (GDC 820663 W/M No STG) was his room extremely agitated. While Sgt Barrett was talking to I/M Swann Sgt Barrett noticed that there were lacerations to his head, blood on the floor and on his hands. Sgt Barrett then instructed I/M Swann to come to the door to be handcuffed, I/M Swann complied. No force was used. I/M Hills was escorted by Sgt James from D yard to Medical for evaluation. After I/M Hills left the yard Sgt Barrett then escorted I/M Swann from D Bldg to Medical for evaluation.
As it was found out later, the arrest was the result of the false report provided by the man who claimed that Lawrence possessed weapons at his home. The report was filed by the neighbor Roger David Nance (41 years old) and he has already been accused before for the similar complaints. The above cause to enter the house, however, was not considered to be the issue in the case hearing and Nance admitted that he provided false report.
on a Friday before a major holiday while seated by their wife who was not injured. Both were in
On New Year’s Day 2009, the police were called because a fight broke out on a train in Oakland, California. Oscar Grant and some of his friends were pulled off the train by former cop Johannes Mehserle. Grant struggled some with the officers while being arrested, but then he was restrained. Oscar Grant was lying on the platform when Johannes Mehserle shot him around 2 am. Granted had both hands behind his back and he was also unarmed when he was shot (Bulwa). The shooting made national headlines because bystanders videotaped it. These videos went viral and they made their way to the news (Cater).
Moreover, a police officer on the scene, who met with and tried calming arriving family members during extrication, was "deeply shaken" by the deaths. He was reportedly authorized to take time off to recover from the tragedy of the Idaho fatalities.
by the officer. The jury has just convicted Edmund on charges of assault, battery and
perceived to be beneficial to society. In the case of working in fields, people are put to work and
Everyday law enforcement personal have the possibility to face dangerous events in their daily duties. In performing such duties a police officer could come by a seemingly ordinary task, and in a blink of an eye the event can turn threatening and possible deadly. When or if this happens to an officer they won’t have
In many scenarios, police officers are not given enough time to make the rational decision between who lives and who dies. When a person’s survival is at risk, it is not uncommon for the body to enter fight or flight mode. Lindsey Betromen, author of the article “Responding with Fight or Flight” states, “The fight or flight syndrome
it, and does it have any benefits for the countries who give? Some may say that
On June 9, 2015, officers responded to a home burglary. The victims stated they had returned home after vacation to find their house had been broken into while they were gone. Officers discovered entry into the house was made through a kitchen window. After making entry the residence was ransacked and several items including several guns were removed without permission of the victim.