There is a growing controversy in Arizona over the arrest of Arizona State University Professor Ersula Ore who refused to show her identification to a police officer and ended up being thrown to the ground and arrested — a scene captured on the videotape below.
It remains unclear why the ASU police officer demands to see the identification of Ore. Libertarians have long opposed these laws required citizens to show their identification to police without any reasonable suspicion of a crime. In this case, Ore had allegedly jaywalked to avoid construction and then objected to what she considered a disrespectful tone of the officer. The officer, identified as Steward Ferrin, says “Let me see your ID or you will be arrested for failing to provide ID.” After he states that he has legal authority for the demand, Ore says that she has “no problem abiding by the law . . . But all I’m asking, do you have to speak to me in such a disrespectful manner?” Ore then resists efforts to handcuff her and eventually hits an officer in the leg.
As we have seen in other controversial arrests, the prosecutors and police piled on charges. She has been charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to provide identification when requested to do so by an officer and obstructing a highway or public thoroughfare. The kick was so slight, it is hard to see the purpose of the assault charge beyond the desire to increase the possible sentence and force a plea. Likewise, obstructing a highway seems a bit over the top. It is the second charge is easy to establish, albeit controversial with many libertarians. There is no question that she was resisting the officer who did try to get her to yield with verbal commands. However, the proliferation of charges continue to concern many of us in these cases as a way of forcing citizens to enter pleas even when they would prefer to contest the original charge.
Ore is claiming self-defense and says that the officer was reaching toward her anatomy when she kicked him.
Ore is a professor of cultural studies in the English department and lists her interests as “Contemproary Rhetorical Theory, Race Critical Theory, Rhetorics of Race & Culture, Composition, Visual and Material Culture Studies.”
The university issued the following statement.
Arizona State University authorities have reviewed the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the arrest of assistant professor Ersula Ore and have found that the officer involved did not violate protocol and no evidence was found of racial motivation by the ASU Police Department officers involved.
However, the ASU Police Department is enlisting an outside law-enforcement agency to conduct an independent review on whether excessive force was used and if there was any racial motivation by the officers involved. In addition, although no university police protocols were violated, university police are conducting a review of whether the officer involved could have avoided the confrontation that ensued.
According to the police report, ASU Police initially spoke to Ore because officers patrolling the area nearly hit her with their police vehicle as they turned the vehicle onto College Avenue to investigate a disabled vehicle. Officer Stewart Ferrin had no intention of citing or arresting Ore, but for her safety told her to walk on the sidewalk. When Ore refused to comply and refused to provide identification after she was asked for it multiple times, she was subsequently arrested.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has independently reviewed all available evidence, including the police report, witness statements, and audio and video recordings of the incident, and decided to press criminal charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to provide identification when requested to do so by an officer, and obstructing a highway or public thoroughfare. The charge of assaulting an officer is based on the fact that Ore kicked the officer as is shown on the video and as she admitted in her recorded statements to the police.
Sharon Keeler, sharon.keeler@asu.edu
(480) 965-4012
Media Relations
The academic status of Professor Ore could be raised if she is convicted or pleads guilty to some of these charges, particularly given the involvement of ASU police. Not only are criminal convictions generally grounds for such review but a crime technically against or involving the university can present a very serious issue for removal.
Nick wrote “We libertarians are like Marlene Dieterich, we ‘Just want to be [left] alone’.”
I could make a crack about how it was actually Greta Garbo who made that remark (it comes from the movie Grand Hotel), comparing it to the many libertarians who are unfamiliar with history. But I won’t.
P.S. The DVD is very entertaining, especially the extra short features.
RTC wrote “I’m a liberal and I don’t have a chip on my shoulder. That gratuitous remark caused your IQ to drop 40 points in my estimation”
Actually, yes you do, but you think you have a monopoly on the truth so you do not see it. Sorry, my IQ did not come down to your level.
There are lots of people — all liberals — who refuse to require voters to show proper ID before voting. Their usual, whining argument is that it is too tough for the precious darlings to obtain an ID. Okay, so have liberals pay the trivial amount of money it would take to transport these people to a voter registration center. Put up or shut up, and all that. But no, voter fraud is a part of your plan.
maybe im hearing something different but i heard the lady say i have no problem with abiding by the law but do you have to speak to me in such a disrespectful manner..
AND HE WAS he didnt want to hear anything she was trying to say but demanded that she listen to him. gimme a break with the bs. the only thing the corporation is doing is gearing the civilians up for a war and i hope all the bullying cops out here are prepared for their karma. they seem to forget that today they’re a cop tomorrow a civilian and the corporation gives less then a flicker about them.
trying to train humanity to be subservient to nasty, thieving, murdering pieces of chits isnt working to well for them. and it darn sure isnt working for the steroid filled punk cops
Nick: Mmmm, pick a card, any card.
Part of the problem with people copping an attitude when asked for ID is multifold. First, the officer may know something you don’t. Here are a couple of examples:
Looking for a missing person or someone with an outstanding warrant that looks a lot like you.
Saw you commit a minor offense, and is about to write you a ticket.
Also, the reason some officers are quick to react–or even overreact–is because of the increased risk from the so-called sovereign citizen movement. One of their tactics is to refuse to carry a government issued ID, including a driver’s license. Those folks have proven to be dangerous in the past. Several officers have ended up dead after what should have been a routine traffic stop.
If you refuse to produce an ID after a polite request, you have suddenly painted yourself as a possible “Sovereign Citizen,” and a potential deadly threat. Those folks, in their arrogance, have created increased danger for the rest of us. Because you technically don’t have to produce an ID, doesn’t mean that it is a good idea to be obstinate about it.
Jaywalking is a minor offense that can get you a ticket in many jurisdictions. There is no point in escalating a jaywalking ticket into a night in jail and having to post bond the next day.
I have some skin in this. Osborne Bell and Lloyd Jones were friends of mine. Sheriff Bell was the first black man to be elected Sheriff in Mississippi since reconstruction. I evaluated both their killers. So pardon me if I don’t jump on the bandwagon of refusing to show an ID if asked politely.
Neo, Thanks.
RTC, I’m waiting for us who say this woman had a chip on her shoulder to be called “RAAAACISTS.” I am actually shocked that card has not yet been dealt.
Samantha, Good luck w/ that defense fund!
We should all chip in some money for her defense, enough to not just get her acquitted, but to make an example of police brutality and change the tide once and for all.
I think it’s pretty clear this woman made this into something it didn’t need to be. The officer sounded perfectly respectful, particularly in the beginning. My guess is her response to the officer was not a sensible one, and it just snowballed from there.
I hope they put those cuffs on nice and tight
Two questions. Does the Professor indeed have rhetorical skills? Or, does she have them but failed to use them?
Saucy: “but she cannot assume, like all liberals, that she has the right to carry a chip on her shoulder for the rest of her life.”
I’m a liberal and I don’t have a chip on my shoulder. That gratuitous remark caused your IQ to drop 40 points in my estimation. Rather than pander to your friends here, maybe you should keep up the pretense of sounding reasonable.
I myself have gotten out of all kinds of scrapes, from walking the dog without a leash to assault and battery. The cops have a job to do and I try not to make it any more difficult or unpleasant than it needs to be.
For anyone interested, the YouTube video put here by Neo is by James J. Duane, a Regent University School of Law professor.
In my view, Duane has a useful grasp of how adversarial law may (sometimes?) function in the manner of entrapment.
The one you posted at 7:14
Well Brian, if I read your post correctly, that was a sad commentary. I would hope you are more positive in the real world. Although the concept of what is “real” is quite diverse from one to another.
Mistakes happen. Proof positive- an editing blunder on my part:
“and have sufficient reason, however unreasonable my reason may be”
was intended to be:
“and have sufficient reason to call upon the police, however unreasonable my reason may be”
I much prefer mercy to sacrifice.
Just started reading Jonathan Turley’s blog from a writing on one of his subjects linked in from another website about a year ago but never read the comments until recently.
Bruce,
While my name is not “J. Briant,” errors happen. Perhaps, in an existential, cosmological sense, human life itself is the greatest of all possible errors. Yet, I may be mistaken about that.
As an autistic person, I have been as though a victim of nearly every “neurotypical” person with whom I have ever suffered an encounter.
I have a simple method for coming to terms with neurotypicals; I recognize that neurotypicals cannot ever do better than they actually do, and I forgive them and forgive the harm they inflict on me and on my life.
So, when I am a victim (I am always a victim in this sense) and have sufficient reason, however unreasonable my reason may be, I will provide them with information that accurately identifies me, and, for my safety, will especially do everything practicable to accurately inform them that I autistic in the classical (Kanner/Bleuler) sense of the autism spectrum. For me to do less surely would be some form of obstruction of an officer.
Neo, We libertarians are like Marlene Dieterich, we “Just want to be [left] alone.” We leave you alone, just leave us alone. That’s the way this country was established. Our founding fathers would not even believe they were in the US if they were brought back to life. It’s great having you here, dude. How did you find this place. That always interests me.
Nick
I feel the same and had similar circumstances until I came to the realization that whether liberal/conservative, democrat/republican, etc. it’s all the same. I don’t play their divide and conquer games anymore.