There are various due process rights that citizens who are being arrested or frisked have while going through these events. The police have to consider this and do their best not to violate these rights. Nevertheless, police have obligations to enforce the law of the society they are working in, and often rights of the citizens and law enforcement may conflict. In such scenarios, it is usual that the question of what is the right action that should be conducted by the police is more of an ethical question.
The frisk of a person who is suspected of being engaged in criminal activity is called a Terry Stop. This can be conducted in cases where an officer has reasonable suspicions. This frisk can only be non-intrusive and consists of searching the suspect’s outer clothing. In the provided scenario, the police officers stopped. Wright to initiate a frisk. In general, police officers do not need a specific reason to pat the outer clothing. Nevertheless, the suspicions must be reasonable, and it seems that, in this case, they are (FindLaw Staff, 2021). Wright is a known felon and a drug user walking down the street at night. Whereas it is not a crime itself, this is a sufficient justification for the police to search a person.
When Wright tried to go away after the officer started asking him questions about what he was doing, he turned around and yelled at the officer. As it is mentioned that the officer tased Wright only when he turned, it is suggested that it was done because of the suspicion that Wright could have a gun to shoot the officer. Nevertheless, Wright was previously searched, and no weapons were found. In other cases, a person can be shot with a taser in situations where an officer reasonably believes that the person is being arrested due to a violence-related felony (The Stanford Criminal Justice Center, n.d.). Another reason for such actions is the reasonable belief of an officer that a person might harm others if fleeing from the arrest. In this case, there were no reasons for the officers to be confident of any of the justifications to use their tasers.
Therefore, the officer must not have shot Wright with a taser, as he did not have any guns that he could attack the officer with. Moreover, Wright was not approaching the officer, so he could not harm the officer in any way. Nevertheless, the question if Wright could have been shot with a taser when he was trying to leave is arguable, as he was trying to flee. The next time he was shot with a taser was different, as he was trying to get up, but he was not fleeing. He should have been neutralized in other ways rather than getting shot with a taser, as he was not able to cause any harm or run away at that moment. Therefore, the use of the taser the second time is certainly not justified, and Wright’s due process rights were violated.
There are various issues faced while enforcing the law, which include the due process rights of citizens while legal actions are being conducted. This is related to frisks and the use of tasers and firearms as well. Whereas the rights of suspected criminals should be considered, it is necessary to understand that in a case where the law is enforced insufficiently, this may result in other citizens’ rights being violated by the criminals. This is emphasized by the contradiction between the Crime Control Model and the Due Process Model (Harr, Hess & Orthmann, 2017). Whereas the Crime Control Model is based on terminating criminal actions in every way possible, the Due Process model is related to protecting citizens’ rights when they are suspected of being engaged in criminal activity.
The source used related to frisks by FindLaw is credible due to it citing law cases, specifically the Terry v. Ohio case. This case is crucial in understanding the situations where a person can be searched. Moreover, this source cites the Fourth Amendment and provides details on how a person can be searched and in which cases. Because the information is based on legal sources, it can be considered credible. The guidelines and recommendations by The Stanford Criminal Justice Center are credible due to them being based on legal documents, cases, and scientific research. This paper considers the situations where tasers can be used and mention that they should not be shot at suspects in most non-violent felony cases, as they can cause significant harm or even death.
In conclusion, Wright was frisked legally, whereas his being shot with a taser when he yelled at the officer is controversial. Although, his being tased when he was on trying to get up was certainly a violation of his due process rights. The police have to consider many issues related to the contradiction of enforcing the law and protecting the rights of the citizens who are suspected of criminal activity. This problem is often an ethical issue, as many cases can be controversial, and it is hard to tell if the actions of officers were justified.
References
Harr, J. S., Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. H. (2017). Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice System (7th Edition). Cengage Learning US.
The Stanford Criminal Justice Center (n.d.). Use of tasers by law enforcement agencies: guidelines and recommendations.
FindLaw (2021). What is Stop and Frisk?