Resisting Arrest in America

[John Galt]

she wasn't being arrested. she was pulled over for speeding. perhaps she preemptively resisted arrest (she was high) but she did that by fleeing a police officer. you don't get to pull over, stop the police officer, then drive away and say everything is fine. until they say you are free to go you are fleeing them

[Philly]

Galt just made the most obvious point that I somehow failed to make: She wasn't being arrested at the time of the incident so she was categorically not resisting arrest.

[Southern Dad]

[John Galt]

being told to step out of the car isn't the same as being arrested and doesn't even necessarily lead to that. in her case it would have (she was high), but just because that's inevitable it doesn't mean that is what was happening when he told her to get out, so she could not be resiting arrest. if she was then you could say any behavior is "resisting arrest", which i believe is a point philly already made

[Southern Dad]

[The Dharma Bum]

[The Dharma Bum]

these are not crimes that require life and death risk to the public and to officers themselves to stop

[eynon81]

Resisting arrest isn't that big a deal, usually a low level misdo that's highly winnable if there are no other charges.


I think a better question would be what limits should be placed on officers when trying to arrest somebody.

[Philly]

[Southern Dad]