Justice Rule on Chases
[WORDS]
♧ grab : vt. 사로잡다, 부여잡다
♧ chase : n. 추적, 추격 v. 추격하다, 뒤쫓다
♧ compelling : a. 강제적인, 억지의, 어쩔 수 없는
♧ Supreme Court : n. 대법원
♧ pursuit : n. 추적, 추격, 속행
♧ county : n. (우리나라의) 군(郡) 정도에 해당하는 행정구역
♧ at times : ad. 때때로, 가끔
♧ top : ~보다 뛰어나다, 뛰어 넘다
♧ ram : vt. 부딪치다, 머리로 받다
♧ quadriplegic : a. 팔, 다리가 마비된 n. 마비된 사람
♧ rule : v. 판결을 내리다 n. ruling : n. 판결
♧ sue : v. 고소하다, 고발하다
♧ reasonably : ad. 사리에 맞게, 합리적으로, 분별 있게
♧ Justice : n. 재판관
♧ Anton Scalia
♧ quote : ad. 인용하면
♧ pose risk : 위험을 가져오다
♧ lone : a. 고독한, 혼자의
♧ dissenter : n. 반대자
♧ John Pole Stevens
♧ unduly : ad. 과도하게 부당하게, 마땅찮게
♧ might/may well : ~하는 것도 당연하다, 충분히 ~할 법하다
♧ dispassionately : ad. 감정적이 아닌, 냉정하게, 공평하게
♧ law enforcement : n. 법 집행, [집합적] 경찰
♧ inherently : ad. 본질적으로, 본래부터의, 타고난
♧ taken as a whole : ad. 전체적으로 봤을 때
♧ violation : n. 위반, 위배, 방해, 침해
♧ versus : prep. ~대(對), ~에 대비/비교하여
Few stories grab TV audiences like car chases. They are, after all, the story with natural video, even if the story is sometimes less than compelling. This one, from 2001, was at the heart of a legal case heard by the United States Supreme Court. It was an extended police pursuit of a vehicle which initially had been spotted as speeding.
The chase covered two counties in Georgia and at times topped more than 100 miles per hour. It ended with the vehicle being rammed from behind by the police, the car crashing and the driver, Victor Harris was left quadriplegic.
Lower courts had ruled that the driver could sue the officer, but, in an eight to one decision, the Supreme Court said no, that the officer had acted reasonably. Writing for the majority, Justice Anton Scalia wrote quote : the car chase that Harris initiated in this case posed substantial and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others. The lone dissenter was Justice John Pole Stevens, who was clearly unimpressed with the video tape of the chase or the arguments by the officer's lawyer. He wrote quote : I can only conclude my colleagues are unduly frightened by two or three images on the tape. Had they learned to drive, when most highway speed driving took place on two-lane roads, rather than on superhighways, they might well have reacted to the videotape more dispassionately.
Law enforcement welcomed the ruling.
"In a perfect world you wouldn't have to pursue like that. It's inherently dangerous, there's no question about it. But I think, taken as a whole, I think we have a responsibility to make people safe and we just have to use good judgment when we do it."
There is no national policy on when to chase and when not to. The Los Angeles Police Department has a policy of no high-speed pursuit for traffic violations only. There, the decision was that the risk of serious injury is too great versus the reward of a traffic ticket.
Bill Tucker, CNN, New York.