Police officers in Indiana are upset over a new law allowing residents to use deadly force against public servants, including law enforcement officers, who unlawfully enter their homes. It was signed by Republican Governor Mitch Daniels in March.Now I don't advocate shooting cops without a really good reason, and getting pulled over for 40 over in a school zone is not a good reason, no matter how many beers you've had. What probably happened here is that a perfectly good law allowing citizens to shoot politicians ran afoul of the equal protection clause of the constitution which forbids giving anyone special privileges.
Update: The law addresses a bad state Supreme Court decision and sets things back the way they were. Radly Balko has the details.
2 comments:
Now, what with the cops not having to tell you truth when they are legally at your house, telling when the breakin is unlawful presents a bit of a conundrum. If all this law does is set a higher standard for police "arriving" -- bravo.
The story misrepresents what's happened. Indiana law was always that a law enforcement officer who was illegally entering a house was not priviledged to do so. The Indiana Supreme Court overturned that common law rule last year, and this legislation returns the law to what it was before the state Supreme Court opinion.
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