Reginald Burks’ vehicle was pulled over for speeding in Alabama last December as he was driving his two children to school. The officer told Burks that he had exceeded the speed limit, but when Burks asked how fast he was going, the officer said he wasn’t sure because his radar gun was broken. He told the motorist that he had used his cruise control to estimate the speed.
Burks replied that the officer “ was full of crap” because he didn’t believe the cop could clock a car’s speed by cruise control. The officer gave him the ticket anyway, and was standing stood in front of Burks’ car. Burks said he asked the officer “politely at least twice” to get out of the way; the officer told Burks to go around him.
So Burks said, “Get your ass out of the way, so I can take my kids to school. That’s why y’all underpaid because y’all act dumb!”
Oh, good one.
Burks has already paid more than $200 to resolve the speeding ticket. A judge, however, has ordered him to apologize to the police officer in writing, and Burks refuses, calling it compelled speech and a First Amendment violation. Judge Nicholas Bull of the Ozark Municipal Court in Alabama says he’ll put Burks in jail for up to 30 days if he continues to refuse to write the ordered mea culpa letter.
As EA”s periodic columnist Curmie might say, “Oh bloody hell!”
1. Let’s assume arguendo that Burks was speeding. With kids in the car, that is unacceptable—it’s unacceptable without kids in the car. Speeding justified the officer pulling the car over. If his radar gun was broken, depending on the speed, a ticket might be successfully challenged in court. Maybe the officer was just going to issue a warning…until the driver decided to argue with him.
2. It’s unethical to use the process as the punishment, which is what the cop would be doing if he knew cruise control pacing would not stand up in traffic court. (I have no idea if it would in Alabama: it wouldn’t in Alexandria.)
3. It’s bad citizenship to escalate a police stop by telling an officer he’s “full of crap.” Citizens should treat police with respect, even when they are mistaken, or even full of crap. Why is that such a difficult concept to grasp? Or teach children before they become adults (or juvenile delinquents)?
4. By standing in front of the car, the officer was engaging in conduct I have experienced myself: deliberately inconveniencing a driver to “teach him a lesson.” That conduct is also unethical and unprofessional. It is also daring a motorist to misbehave.
5. OK, the cop was being an asshole. It doesn’t matter: that doesn’t justify Burks’ shifting into full asshole mode himself. Police officers should be treated with respect and civility because of the institution and mission they represent.
6. What a dangerous lesson Burks was teaching his children! He should apologize to them.
7. Burks is correct, however: a judge has no power to demand that a citizen say or write anything. Burks is willing to spend money on lawyer fees and go to jail to fight for this principle. The sound of one hand clapping for that: the judge shouldn’t order him to apologize, but Burks should want to apologize voluntarily.
8. So should the police officer.
Did I neglect to mention that Burks is black and the officer is white? Silly me. Yet why should that change the analysis here?
My exit question: How many lives would be saved if black Americans resolved to obey police orders and instructions (let’s forget about obeying the law for now) without incivility, hostility and resistance regardless of the circumstances?
Ethics Alarms 
As you’ve said a few times, good job, everybody!
Exactly.
The officer should have just said, “I paced you at XX mph,” and left it at that. I was a police officer for 25 years and never used a radar gun; I, as well as most of my colleagues, simply matched the speed of the other vehicle and made the enforcement stop for the observed violation. Those tickets flew like eagles in court. YMMV. [Our designated traffic officers used radar, however.]
Blocking the motorist’s path when the stop was ended is a BS move.
And, yes, this guy may have talked his way into a ticket. It has happened, just as some people have talked their way into jail.
One more: On people behaving, I have always thought that if everyone made it a habit to always obey the law, a huge portion of the nation’s economy would collapse: police, courts, corrections, and legal services would see jobs disappear.
Thanks. I wanted to say, “Wait. There were no speeding tickets before radar guns? An officer needs to use a radar gun as the only way to get a speeding conviction? An uncalibrated radar gun is a problem, but pacing a speeder has to be a legitimate option, I assume? The defendant’s speed is just a question of fact that can be established by the officer’s testimony, right?”
And if the driver says, “Baloney. I was going the stopped limit, and this cop pulls me over for “driving while black”?
Of the course, Monsieur le Marshall. See below. Frankly, I’m surprised the fact pattern didn’t develop into the guy running the cop over or attempting to and then getting himself shot.
By the way, I really like Another Mike’s “One more”/”Columbo” observation. Reminds me of the relationship between plaintiffs’ and defense counsel. If there weren’t plaintiffs’ counsel, defense counsel would have to find another line of work. I guess like so many such relationships, it’s curiously symbiotic.
It amazes me how many people don’t understand number five. The golden rule has no exception. If you can’t be nice, just walk away and keep your mouth shut.
Of course, the guy is black. Otherwise, this story wouldn’t have made it out of the county seat, never mind the county. The applicable rule is black people are entitled, to the point of being duty bound, to object in any way possible to any interaction with police or any person in a position of authority, including evasion and physical violence, up to and including lethal force.
The answer to your question regarding how many Black lives could be saved would be 99.9% of them. The 0.1% I leave open for the needle in a haystack “bad cop.”
The answer is…. very few. The number of black (or any color for that matter) who are shot and killed by police officers when that person is not assaulting the police officer approaches zero. The most prolific shooter and killer of black people is other black people. This is not an opinion, the numbers show it. [Ex http://www.hey jackass.com]
You left out: The judge should be removed from the bench for lacking basic understanding of constitutional law. If he has a law license, it should be revoked until he takes remedial classes.
If the judicial panel had any sense of humor, he should be made to apologize to Mr Burks for violating his rights.
Yup.