Maybe Gates should have stood on civil liberties rather than race
posted at 10:55 am on July 29, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Henry Gates erred, says Christopher Hitchens in a must-read Slate piece, by assuming to know the motivations in a police officer’s heart when Gates found himself under arrest for screaming at Sergeant James Crowley from his own property. Instead, Gates should have avoided motivation altogether and stuck to the strange notion that venting one’s frustration on one’s own property could result in an arrest for disorderly conduct. Civil liberty and free speech are the issue, Hitchens insists, and not race:
I can easily see how a black neighbor could have called the police when seeing professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. trying to push open the front door of his own house. And I can equally easily visualize a thuggish or oversensitive black cop answering the call. And I can also see how long it might take the misunderstanding to dawn on both parties. But Gates has a limp that partly accounts for his childhood nickname and is slight and modest in demeanor. Moreover, whatever he said to the cop was in the privacy of his own home. It is monstrous in the extreme that he should in that home be handcuffed, and then taken downtown, after it had been plainly established that he was indeed the householder. The president should certainly have kept his mouth closed about the whole business—he is a senior law officer with a duty of impartiality, not the micro-manager of our domestic disputes—but once he had said that the police conduct was “stupid,” he ought to have stuck to it, quite regardless of the rainbow of shades that was so pathetically and opportunistically deployed by the Cambridge Police Department. It is the U.S. Constitution, and not some competitive agglomeration of communities or constituencies, that makes a citizen the sovereign of his own home and privacy. There is absolutely no legal requirement to be polite in the defense of this right. And such rights cannot be negotiated away over beer.
Race or color are second-order considerations in this, if they are considerations at all.
In my former career, I worked closely with police and fire departments across the country. The overwhelming majority of interactions were at least polite and professional, and many warm and friendly. Even when we had different short term goals, we had similar long term goals — the security of the communities they served. However, in more than a few cases, my staff and I had to deal with officious, condescending, and hostile representatives who treated everyone as their enemies. Instead of understanding the role and scope of their authority, they used their power as they saw fit, and in those cases went beyond their authority in demanding some kind of compliance to which they were not entitled. And it might surprise a few people that we saw that dynamic more with fire marshals than any other type of authority figure.
(An old industry joke: What’s the difference between a fire marshal and God? God doesn’t think he’s a fire marshal.)
When the Gates story first broke, I refrained from commenting on it until Barack Obama foolishly took sides without full information, mainly because I’ve had a couple of similar interactions with law-enforcement officers who either enjoyed their power a wee bit too much or simply had one bad moment. At that time, I mentioned a party that I attended many years ago that drew noise complaints. Someone mouthed off about a warrant, which provoked the officer to charge into the house without permission, thump his finger repeatedly into the smart-alec’s chest, and threaten to arrest everyone at the house. That broke the law and was an abuse of power, which his partner was smart enough to end by grabbing the officer by the arm and dragging him back out of the house. Race played no factor at all in that incident, but like Hitchens’ experience, it has stuck with me ever since as a reminder of the potential cost of demanding that the police stick to the rule of law while keeping the peace.
James Crowley sounds like an outstanding officer, but arresting someone on their own property for yelling at the police sounds a little strange. It seems at least plausible that Crowley had a bad moment and used poor judgment, not because of race, but simply because he’s human and has a tough job. Had Gates stuck to just those facts, he would have provided a teaching moment and a lesson on civil liberty and the right, at times, to yell at the representatives of our government when they appear to trample on the rights of citizens — even when the citizens are wrong in assuming the motivations involved.
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And I was going to call your views retarded, but decided against it, so I went with childish instead, either way works. Did you book your tickets for the next WTO conference yet? I mean they sneak so fast, you may not have your “Death to Starbucks” placard ready in time.
ac1 on July 29, 2009 at 9:29 PM
Actually, I’m an outspoken supporter of the broken window theory and an admirer of how Giuliani cleaned up NYC after Dinkins let it run into the ground. I do have some issues with Giuliani, he is, after all, a former prosecutor who really screwed Mike Milkin, a nice man, but NYC is better for the Giuliani mayoralties.
If I’m not mistaken, one aspect of Rudy’s success was getting cops walking a beat again, community policing. That makes a lot more sense than patrolling in a cruiser like some kind of occupying army.
I just think we’re all better off when cops follow the law and respect civilians. We get better policing and better relations between cops and civilians.
But since you can’t tell a cop a damn thing without some serious pushback, police departments are pretty unresponsive to calls for change. That’s why problems end up with federal investigations and consent decrees.
Some have said that your local police department is the hardest culture in the world to change.
rokemronnie on July 29, 2009 at 9:35 PM
That one gave me a good chuckle.
It’s funny. Not so long ago I was getting slammed here for defending a cop.
rokemronnie on July 29, 2009 at 9:38 PM
always on the out side of whatever side there was
Joey
Joey
King of the streets
Child at play
Joey
Joey
Why did they want to come and blow you away?
rokemronnie on July 29, 2009 at 9:39 PM
Well when you are bombarded, by criminals and civilians alike,
on a daily basis, you get a siege mentality, you see the worst in people and their motives. The most important tools in a cops arsenal are his words, it sets the tone for all that follows in a confrontation, except when dealing with the mentally defective. Police are heavily trained in verbal judo (the actual term not making it up) and would rather have things end in a civilized manner, trust me I know.
ac1 on July 29, 2009 at 9:42 PM
I know why this whole thing happened. Someone must have swept the eggshells off of his front porch while he was out of town. The cop never had a chance…
RD on July 29, 2009 at 9:55 PM
But that is the key,,,, elites don’t truly believe in civil liberties. They just believe they themselves are above the law.
JellyToast on July 29, 2009 at 10:34 PM
Two answers: as a leftist professor, damn skippy he expects the police to grovel at his feet. He sees them as “pigs” or worse.
Secondly, of course he doesn’t want “whitey” polluting his doorstep. You just have to read his work over the years to see that.
And yeah, most folks can grasp the whole situation pretty well, which is why Obama and Gates come off so badly.
funky chicken on July 29, 2009 at 10:41 PM
You know, I’ve stated several times what I believe. If you’re uncertain, then please go back and read them.
Hint: I don’t believe the discrepancy necessarily means EITHER of them are either lying or being untruthful.
Religious_Zealot on July 29, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Which of Gates’ books have you read?
Apparently his hatred of “whitey” subsided enough to let him openly rebut Louis Farakhan’s lies about Jews and the slave trade a few years back. That’s the first time I became aware of Gates.
Gates has both credentials as a historian as well as legitimate critics of his work as a historian, and Obama is a hard left Democrat, but neither of them is a dummy.
One of the worst mistakes you can make is to underestimate your opponent.
rokemronnie on July 29, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Mr. Gates was arrested when the officer left his house and Mr. Gates followed him yelling at him. Over reaction by the officer maybe, but reports now say the prof was arrested outside of his home.
amr on July 29, 2009 at 11:23 PM
He threw you a bone and you bit
His overall life suggests that he is racist
CWforFreedom on July 29, 2009 at 11:33 PM
Gates, Black Panthers at the Polls, Sotomayor, and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Boy, I’m sure glad that electing Obama has put an end to our nations race problems.
THE CHOSEN ONE on July 29, 2009 at 11:52 PM
Wouldn’t you be happier on Huffpo, DKos or DU? No, you and your kind are just helping to make Hotair just like them. Good strategy. It’s always smart to take out the weak animals first. They’re the easiest.
TheBigOldDog on July 29, 2009 at 11:59 PM
I didn’t say it, one of Crowley’s friends said it.
Sorry, but public employees must earn my respect but none of them are ever entitled to my deference. Acknowledgment of their legal authority? Sure. Deference? Sorry, he’s just a cop. Even the president of the United States must have to stand naked sometimes. I defer to God, not man.
This is a free country, ain’t it?
People used to say that a lot more.
rokemronnie on July 30, 2009 at 12:04 AM
I would say race obsessed, as might be expected from some people with one black parent and one white parent.
If you could provide examples of Prof. Gates’ racism, that would make your point stronger. I’m not convinced that the racialism embraced by many blacks and the political left is the same as racism. It’s contrary to a lot of American concepts about equal justice under the law, and offensive as hell to me but I’m not convinced it’s the same thing as racism.
Maybe racism’s first cousin.
Look, plenty of folks have some peculiar notions about Jews without being out and out Jew haters.
On a continuum, about race, Gates isn’t as far out there as Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, let alone Rev. Wright.
It’s sad but many black people simply do not believe that white folks won’t try to keep a brother down. It’s crippling, and maddening when I see friends act that way, but there you are, that’s how some black folks think.
On ABC today, they were doing a thing on Michael Jackson’s doctor. Not only are his black patients in Texas defending him, saying he’s a victim of a plot, when they were interviewing a preacher and mentioned that the doctor’s father, himself a doctor, had been accused of improper handling of habit forming drugs, and the preacher said the medical board had to be nothing but white doctors out to get a black man who had popularity in their community.
Truly a crippling mentality, and I’m sure it’s behind a lot of bad interactions between blacks and cops. At the same time, I’m even more sure that black cops are the same sphincters that white cops can be. Hispanics and Asians too.
Give any cop, anywhere, lip and you’re risking arrest or worse.
rokemronnie on July 30, 2009 at 12:17 AM
When the faculty of the Harvard Law School, pretty much unanimously says that Crowley was out of line, well, he was probably out of line. That includes both liberal and conservative law profs.
Harvey Silverglate, a true champion for free speech on campus and one of the founders of FIRE, says that the prosecutor dropped the charges because Gates would ultimately prevail on First Amendment Grounds.
Crowley’s police union brothers and sisters should be careful about wishing that it had gone to trial.
rokemronnie on July 30, 2009 at 12:53 AM
A normal reaction to the scenario:
Officer: Can I see some identification? We had a report of a break in.
Normal person: Sure officer. I couldn”t get in to my house, so I had to break in.
Officer: Do you mind if I take a look around?
Normal person: No sir, help yourself.
Officer: I see everything looks fine.
Normal person: Thanks for taking the time to check everything out. I won’t be forgetting my keys again.
Officer: Have a nice day, Mr. Gates.
No news, no Harvard professor or President acting stupidly.
Nalea on July 30, 2009 at 3:00 AM
You obviously don’t know a God damn thing about Harvard, Boston or Cambridge never mind the entire facts of the case.
If you don’t think the Harvard Law school faculty is going to close ranks behind a prominent black Harvard professor then you couldn’t even find Harvard Square with a map, a GPS, and a personal guide.
If you also think the case was dropped for any reason other than political pressure brought directly from Deval Patrick and other politicians, then you couldn’t find Massachusetts either.
The process was short circuited for a reason, Gates would come out the loser. If it were anything but, the case would have gone forward and Crowley would have been nailed to a cross and floated on a barge up and down the Charles and his pelt then hung in Harvard yard.
If anybody would rather spend their time productively rather than read people who haven’t got a clue about what they are discussing, tune into WTKK, FM Boston via the netstream before 7pm (earlier if you can to catch Jay Sevrin too) and listen to Michelle McPhee because I’m sure she;s not finished exposing this Bullshit. Michelle is a long time Boston and NYC crime reporter, author and now radio talk show host from 7pm – 10pm. She’s as respected and wired a Bostonian as you’ll ever find. I think she knows every police officer, fireman and politician in Greater Boston on a first name basis. Listen and learn the truth.
BTW, the police in Greater Boston are bullshit from top to bottom including the Union leaderships. Some have publicly (and many privately to Michelle) stated their support for both Deval Patric and Obama is over. They both just managed to alienate pretty important constituents who’s union endorsements mean money, votes and manpower on election day.
HotAir is becoming dominated by Huffpo, DKos and DU types and I wonder why that is.
TheBigOldDog on July 30, 2009 at 3:05 AM
Oh, and by the way, Michelle is a life long Democrat. I think McCain was the first Republican she ever voted for because she could see right through Obama and more importantly, would never vote for anybody associated with a cop killer and attended a racists church. It’s the street crime reporter in her.
TheBigOldDog on July 30, 2009 at 3:11 AM
One thing about being Streetwise, you can spot phonies about a mile away.
TheBigOldDog on July 30, 2009 at 3:13 AM
Is this the two racists and a good cop drink beer together thread?
darktood on July 30, 2009 at 5:21 AM
Whatever.
(sigh, this guy’s hopeless)
Sweet_Thang on July 30, 2009 at 8:39 AM
Maybe Gates needs to acknowledge that Negros are living proof that the American Indian had sex with the Buffalo.
workingforpigs on July 30, 2009 at 9:02 AM
You mean just like the professors of Duke “pretty much unanimously” said the members of the lacrosse team where guilty?
Religious_Zealot on July 30, 2009 at 9:47 AM
Religious_Zealot on July 30, 2009 at 9:47 AM
After all, so many of today’s college professors are so well grounded. Take Ward Churchill, for example.
kingsjester on July 30, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Wow it’s a whole day later and roke is still spouting his cop hate message. For those of you who have not noticed.
He hates cops. Whatever you say, whatever evidence to the contrary you find will not change his mind. He has an irrational fear of the police and paranoid delusions about the extent of police corruption and is deadly afraid of having to show police officers the respect they need to keep us all safe.
Stop feeding him and he will go away.
dpierson on July 30, 2009 at 10:14 AM
In domestic disturbance situations, a person can be taken into custody in their own home for nothing more than verbally threatening other occupants of the house. In other words, threatening words count as threatening acts.
When Crowley responded to a burglary call, he had every right to enter the house to assure that no burglar was present on the premises. Having a dickheaded professor (homeowner or not) yelling at him the whole while (some of which yelling could certainly be construed as threats against the officer and his family) would certainly have interfered with Crowley’s ability to clear the supposed crime scene.
Gates got off easy with “disturbing the peace”. “Interfering with police investigation” would have been the one I would have used, and not one a liberal DA could have easily dismissed.
I think you are wrong, Ed, on this one. Crowley arrested Gates on the totality of his actions, not just the ones outside the house. Every other policeman present at the scene stands behind Crowley’s actions. About the only people you can find supporting your position (about violation of rights) are a bunch of liberal bloggers who also choose to call Crowley a racist.
You really do have to be careful which school of fish you swim with. You don’t want to swim with the $100M fish when you can swim with the $1T whales.
unclesmrgol on July 30, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Insert photo of big mushroom cloud here blowing away the idiotic simplicity of all the galacticly stupid.
TheBigOldDog on July 30, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Gates clearly had a chip on his shoulder and caused the entire problem. Anyone with half a brain can see that.
How do these race pimps always get promoted?
saiga on July 30, 2009 at 10:37 AM
And don’t forget Deb Frisch (better known as SWMNBN (She Who Must Not Be Named))
Oh, and we must also remember that Mr. “Stupidly” himself (Obama) went to Harvard.
Religious_Zealot on July 30, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Whites have been conditioned either to roll over and play dead or to be depicted as card-carrying members of the KKK.
It’s high time for sensible blacks and whites to meet in the middle and to disparage the white power kooks and black race-grievance merchants with equal strength. Unfortunately, while little or no quarter is given to white power kooks, black race-grievance merchants are not treated with equal contempt.
BuckeyeSam on July 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM
I’m GUILTY!!!
Sorry, it won’t happen again.
I now get it: do not feed the trolls, and maybe they’ll slink on back to huffpo.
Sweet_Thang on July 30, 2009 at 11:02 AM
“teachable moment” or banned poseur?
Sweet_Thang on July 30, 2009 at 11:06 AM
Ah yes, and who can forget race pimpstress Wahneema “Jiffy” Lubiano?
Sweet_Thang on July 30, 2009 at 11:08 AM
So when our president gets intoxicated during his beerfest, who is in charge of pushing the button? What example does this set for our youth?
workingforpigs on July 30, 2009 at 1:38 PM
So when our president gets intoxicated during his beerfest, who is in charge of pushing the button? Will he be able to take that call at 3 AM or will he forward those phones to Hillary? What example does this set for our youth?
workingforpigs on July 30, 2009 at 2:38 PM
So few today have common sense that it is no longer common. Today, people with “common sense” are complete morons who think they are actually quite intelligent. Most even hold college degrees. They take the obvious and twist and turn it in so many different ways it becomes unrecognizable and Gates comes out the winner and a champion of civil liberties.
TheBigOldDog on July 30, 2009 at 2:50 PM
ed, who was not there and by his post still does not seem to have the facts, has sided with barry in deciding the officer was wrong. ed siding with elite liberals, how surprising.
peacenprosperity on July 30, 2009 at 3:09 PM
You know Dude, I just can’t figure out what’s happening here. It makes no sense to me unless being patted on the back by the likes of Media matters and such feels good or they’ve come to so dislike our partisan rhetoric (clearly we are proud partisans, not objective martians) that they reflexively jump to the other side. Maybe they are just paranoid of being labeled racists. I honestly don’t know but I do wonder.
TheBigOldDog on July 30, 2009 at 3:32 PM
His Civil Liberties were not encroached on! He verbally assaulted a cop! The situation would is dissipated if he just kept his mouth shut! All of the cops at the scene concurred that he should be arrested for disorderly conduct. And guess what? The other two weren’t white!
Cr4sh Dummy on July 30, 2009 at 4:10 PM
You hit the nail on the head, it is about approval and acceptance in the “elite”. ed has been that way from day one when he showed up here and it’s got worse. Go back and read the posts from last week about newts health care proposal and then the response. Listen to the tone, ed really thinks his opinions have weight and influence. I don’t know if he reads the comments on his posts but whoever is giving him that idea isn’t around here. At best his posts are 50/50 pro to con and on most I’d guess the con is way ahead.
peacenprosperity on July 30, 2009 at 4:54 PM
That was mostly from Duke’s liberal arts faculty, not a cross section of some of America’s finest legal scholars. Harvey Silverglate helped start FIRE, which has been of monumental assistance to campus conservatives. I have my disagreements with Alan Dershowitz, but when he agrees with Silverglate on a civil liberties issue, they’re probably on sound legal ground. Politics aside, Harvard still has a top five law school.
If I had cited medical professors, would you say they were all liberals too?
rokemronnie on July 30, 2009 at 5:04 PM
So you’re saying that she’s a badge bunny and a firehouse groupie?
rokemronnie on July 30, 2009 at 5:13 PM
You guys want racist comments like this to represent your position?
rokemronnie on July 30, 2009 at 5:15 PM
If you bothered to read Prof. Silverglate’s article, you would have seen that Gates’ words did not rise to the level of a threat of violence. Gates would have been acquitted six ways to Sunday. His speech was protected *and* it didn’t meet the standard of disorderly conduct based on existing case law in Mass.
In any case, the fact that men’s rights are routinely abused when charged with domestic violence is not a persuasive argument. I know someone who was assaulted by their wife, he had scratches and a ripped shirt, but he was pretty angry when the cops got there so the victim got arrested. Feminists have persuaded PDs to arrest whoever is belligerent, usually the man regardless of who initiated the violence.
rokemronnie on July 30, 2009 at 5:24 PM
yeah, that’s a real stellar statement. You’ll notice everyone ignored it for the complete pile of crap that it is. Really sad that you want to try to connect that to our possition, I suppose it’s easier to focus on that and ignore all the holes getting punched in your arguments by serious commentors.
Scrappy on July 30, 2009 at 5:51 PM
If they were liberals belonging to a liberal school of the philosophy of medicine, opining on a metaphysical yardstick for interpreting behavior, sure, why not?
Chris_Balsz on July 30, 2009 at 8:36 PM
If that has been ‘repeatedly pointed out to me’ it has been pointed out by people who are adding their own words to Crowley’s own report.
Crowley’s own account says only that he twice told Gates he was Sgt Crowley- no first name, no identification. He did not provide the identification card he was required by law to provide. He did not give him his full name.
Identifying himself verbally as Sgt Crowley is NOT fulfilling the requirements of the law, and it was NOT answering Gates’ question.
Crowley knew Gates was not asking for verbal identification because he says when he asked Gates for ID, Gates initially refused, demanding that Crowley first *show* his own identification. Crowley never showed his identification as asked, and he never once claims that he does, let alone ‘repeatedly’ or ’several’ times.
DeputyHeadmistress on July 31, 2009 at 1:20 AM
Unless whitey has great legs and is willing to marry him and give birth to his children. gates is about everything black and nothing white except women.
peacenprosperity on July 31, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Ed, Glad you spoke up to show that there are still some moderates who aren’t kneejerk cop-lovers. Gates was stupidly offbase on the racial aspects, and missed a chance to point out the abuse of power that’s so common these days.
I know not all cops are bad, but here in Texas we are currently suffering a crisis of police corruption all around. No one in their right mind would speak up to a Texas cop these days. They know they might find themselves cuffed face down in the back of the squad car, tazed or worse. And missing any large sums of money they might have, since outright cop theft has ballooned with current confiscation laws (a major source of corruption).
Crowley and Gates both acted stupidly. Too bad half that is lost on most people.
DreadWolf on July 31, 2009 at 3:58 PM
Threatening another person’s mother is a threat against the person whose mother is threatened, is it not?
unclesmrgol on July 31, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Where did all that come from? Did I mention the sex of any person in my hypothetical? I think you need to re-read what I wrote.
Absolutely. The cop must control, because not to control risks his/her own death. When I was ordered about at gunpoint as a suspected intruder by a cop at my father-in-law’s house, you bet I did everything the guy wanted me to do, including “shutting up” when he ordered me to. The apologies were profuse when he discovered his mistake, but I’m still betting he would have shot me if I had done anything the least bit antagonistic. He would have been sorry afterward, but he would have shot me.
Crowley showed great restraint upon meeting Gates — almost to the point that, had Gates actually been a burglar, Crowley would have been in danger of his life.
unclesmrgol on July 31, 2009 at 5:47 PM
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