Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is reportedly outraged and may be heading down to New Orleans after his nephew, Derek Thomas, was punched and tasered at a Louisiana hospital after refusing to put on a gown.
Derek Thomas may have been admitted after a possible suicide attempt and suffered a “massive seizure.” When he refused to put on the gown and attempted to leave, he was reportedly punched by a security guard who also pulled out some of his hair. He was then tasered.
Derek is the son of Justice Thomas’ late younger brother Myer Lee Thomas and is a student at Nicholls State College.
It is an ironic twist given Thomas’ staunch voting record in favor of law enforcement interests and against the rights of people accused in criminal cases. In Safford v. Redding, for example, Thomas dismissed the claims of abuse stemming from the strip searching of a middle school girl to look for Ibuprofen. Thomas was the lone dissenter to claim that the search was both justified and the officials deserved both immunity and praise. He insisted the “[p]reservation of order, discipline, and safety in public schools is simply not the domain of the Constitution. And, common sense is not a judicial monopoly or a Constitutional imperative.”
Likewise, Thomas was not exactly sympathetic when citizens complained about being searched for fleeing from police. While not a hospital scene like that of his nephew, Thomas joined in the decision in Justice Thomas joined the Court’s decision in Illinois v. Wardlow when the Court held that running away from officers is the basis for reasonable suspicion and a search.
Source: Gawker
Submission is the goal and tasers are just one of the many means being employed. Part of the NSA’s program (“Perfect Citizen” — the name alone is creepy) has now been revealed but, it’s still just the tip of the iceberg that we’re hearing about and seeing.
The political police (directed by the FBI, I’m guessing, given what I know) are using all sorts of folks, including informants, snitches, cab drivers, waste management workers (and the list goes on) to run their counterrorism and other “keep America safe” operations. What’s going on is obscene. Imagine. Informants, and sniches being paid to spy on anyone that “the state” says should be watched. Sounds like a classic delusion. But it isn’t.
It’s America 2010.
I read the link to this story and I thought this is what I saw in it”Security guards “punched him in his lip, pulled out more than a fistful of his dreadlocks and tasered him to restrain him,” a statement from Thomas’ family said.”A “fistful of dreadlocks”they were not playing with him.
And I guess that the “dreds”or not the look that the justice is to proud of the nephew wearing,so there is some rebellion on that side of the family.
Makes me want to say something about *coming down from an ivory tower* and a *shoe being on the other foot* but in the end I’ll most likely be crying *Hypocrisy!*.
Do you mean that Clarabelle actually isn’t supporting gang-level tactics practiced by the local security force??? Holy Moly…Call Cheeeney’s office..we need to know what to do??
Woosty’s still a Cat:
“This is a great quote Mespo, I like it ’cause Karma is instant…”
****************
Thanks, Woosty. That’s one of my all-time favorites that I thought fit the occasion.
“Justice Thomas has a life time job and no motivation to “suck-up” to anyone.”
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There are lots of reasons to “suck up” that have nothing to do with employment. How’s about insecurity, seeking acceptance, stroking of the ego, or plans for future wealth at retirement to name just a few that could affect the obsequity of our conservative sphinx of a jurist with the foul mouth and penchant for off-color “movie” actors?
Publicity regarding tasering patients will certainly discourage suicide risks and other upset people from seeking help and is clearly bad public policy. Plus I would think it would increase the risk of a heart attack. It seems logical that people seeking admission to a hospital for being upset might also have taken speed or something else that predisposes them to a heart attack.
Justice Thomas has a life time job and no motivation to “suck-up” to anyone.
Clarence Thomas at one point in his life wielded the stereotype of “welfare queen” against his own sister in order to score points with the republicans he so earnestly sought as supporters.
We all know about his wife’s suck-up move to the teabaggers.
Trust me, he’ll dump all this concern for his nephew in a New York minute if doing so garners him an invitation to any republican shin-dig. The dude is one big mass of contradictions.
Thomas has always been the worst kind of opportunist: a militant in college when it was “cool”, a toady after graduation. A beneficiary of affirmative action (what else would you call his role as token) who wants to close the door behind him.
Still, Pubbies often open their hearts a little when something like this happens close to home. For example, Orrin Hatch has sometimes been good on mental health because of family. Thomas has tended to be unflinchingly negative about his “wayward” brother, but this clearly touched a nerve. Cracking down on tasering would not be inconsistent from a small government or libertarian perspective, but Thomas has demonstrated very selective use of that perspective–mostly to protect the wealthy.
I agree with eniobob,Clarence Thomas is brain and heart dead! Maybe this will cause him to actually ask a question at the next Supreme hearing.
So where would the Justice prefer that his nephew be punched and tasered?
The Ruler of Dubai would accommodate him for sure.
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2010/07/islamic-ruler-of-dubai.html
Even after this event,Justice Thomas still won’t get it.Trust me.
Wow.
mespo727272 1, July 10, 2010 at 12:55 am
Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.
~Elbert Hubbard
This is a great quote Mespo, I like it ’cause Karma is instant….justice takes forever.
I believe we can look at the current treatment of the marginalized, ill and those who have suffered misfortune or are perceived to be just simply weaker in general and know that it is the result of many years of skewed laws and selective enforcement of them. And we should not forget that this is who we are and what we made ourselves.
Instant Karma.
Oscar Grant, A Victim of America Fear
Why even decades after the civil-rights era, a cop shooting an unarmed black man is barely a crime.
http://www.alternet.org/story/147489/oscar_grant%2C_a_victim_of_american_fear
(Good morning, Swarthmore mom. Or should I just say “morning.” Yes, for years, in some hospitals, a mix of Haldol (efficacious, but the side effects are problematic in some patients) and Ativan would be used to subdue patients who are out of control and “a danger to themselves or others”… Even administering these injections at times, left me with a terrible feeling. (Some hospitals use other medications.)
I remember driving down a deserted street in the French Quarter once, where I witnessed two NO police offices beating a man who appeared to be pretty defenseless. He was down on the groud and clearly not a threat (at least at that point) and they continued to pummel him.)
They used to shoot people with tranquilizer injections not taser them. Isn’t that correct anon nurse? New Orleans is a particularly racist city.
I had only glanced at the article when I wrote my last comment. Security guards in hospitals with tasers????? And what about the rights of patients to refuse treatment. Yes, I know, “a danger to himself”, blah, blah, blah… So many seem to relish power and control over others and wield that power in the most unseemly ways.
I, too, am sorry for what happened to Derek, his nephew. Having said this, perhaps Clarence Thomas has a little better view of America in 2010. It isn’t pretty. In fact, it’s downright ugly. And sadly, unless we see accountability at the highest levels for brutality and, yes, torture, the police and others with a certain amount of power will continue to take out their frustrations and rage on others, simply because they can.
Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.
~Elbert Hubbard
Hey! Actual irony. I’m a fan of actual irony because it’s often a good indicator that karma is functioning. I’m sorry for Derek – truly no patient should be treated this way no matter who he’s related to, but I just have to laugh in the Justice’s face.
You reap what you sow, Justice Thomas. But sometimes you get a little of it on family too.