I’m pretty sure she got a settlement from the D.C. government (I would HOPE she got a settlement from the D.C. government.) I don’t remember what ultimately happened with the jail personnel, but that’s the type of thing people get fired for in D.C.

oh man, this guy gets around to commenting ANYWHERE someone talks about mexican folks. it’s his own little internet crusade.

Consequences would be much more serious if this had happened to a nice white lady.

I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Negligence, incompetence, and abuse are endemic in the field of law enforcement and the first response of every department is to circle the wagons. It doesn’t really matter who the victim was, the first thing the police and supervisors think about is how to protect the cop/bailiff/guard who fucked up. I’m not saying that the poor, women, and people of color don’t face more abuse (they certainly do), but whenever something happens the official response is generally the same. Justice for none, protect the monsters in uniform.

Its easy to buy into the marketing, to believe that the friendly neighborhood officer is your friend, that they are heroes, that the wrongs are committed by a few bad apples who are not generally representative, to somehow believe that the system works for some people at some level sometimes. It is comforting because it allows you to believe that there is hope, that it can be fixed, that the level of care and service seen by those with privilege can someday be the same as those without. But thats a defense and it comes from a position of privilege. It simply isn’t true. Cases like this pop up all the time, usually with poor people of color but sometimes with rich white men, and the response is always the same. No matter how terrible the act, no matter how blatant the abuse, the semi-literate troglodyte in a paramilitary uniform is given the benefit of the doubt and things are done to protect them that would land any citizen in jail.

This piece of human garbage doesn’t deserve a 30 day suspension, he deserves a short drop and a sudden stop. Unfortunately, we aren’t in a place yet in this country where were sick enough of being abused to take advantage of the fact that we outnumber them hundred to one, so all I can do is hope this woman manages to get a decent settlement and pray to whatever gods will listen that the bailiff in question dies in a prison riot.

Honestly, had someone at the animal shelter done that with a dog, he’d lose his job.

You’re so right. And that’s so sick.

She was arrested for selling pirated DVD’s/CD’s at a flea market. Ooooh! Throw the book at her. She doesn’t speak English so well and has several children who were born here in the States. Wanna know what kind of deal they’re trying to work with her? “If you agree not to sue, we’ll drop the criminal charges.”

Oh, fuck that. It’s already been established that you don’t have to have citizenship to sue inside the U.S. She’s acquired an attorney–hopefully a good one–and there’s a large Hispanic community here in NW Arkansas that’s backing her. She’ll probably get deported, but maybe she can take a couple million back with her. She’s lucky to be alive, if you ask me. Four days without food or water? What if she was taking prescriptions for a life-threatening illness? I can’t believe this guy still has a job.