-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Sean Maroney
Washington, Dc
27 February 2007
watch Supreme1 Court Hot Pursuit
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says more than 350 people die each year in police chases. These high-speed chases become especially dangerous when law enforcement officials hit a suspect's car with their patrol vehicle after the driver fails to pull over. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on whether this method violates constitutional protections. VOA's Sean Maroney has the story.
High-speed police chases are dramatic, dangerous and often deadly.
Nineteen-year-old Victor Harris knows the dangers all too well after a late night on a damp Georgia highway. With speeds topping 145 kilometers per hour, Harris failed to pull over for officers. What happened next changed his life forever.
"Fifty six, sixty six. Permission to PIT him?" asks a police officer while pursuing the car. "Go ahead and take him out. Take him out!" is the reply from his supervisor2 over the police radio.
Deputy Sheriff Timothy Scott's decision to "take him out" is called a "Precision Intervention3 Technique." An officer bumps a fleeing car at an angle to spin it out of control, forcing it to stop.
The move is risky4, and Harris' lawyer, Craig Jones, says his client paid too great a price when he lost control of his Cadillac and careened down an embankment. "My client is now paralyzed from the head down."
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in Harris' case on whether individuals are constitutionally protected against this technique. The Fourth Amendment5 forbids unreasonable6 searches and seizures7. So if the Court decides Scott acted unreasonably8, he will lose his immunity9 and could be sued.
Cities across the country are also considering whether to ban or limit these high-speed chases.
Jones says his client was just a scared traffic violator, driving with a suspended license10. "The mere11 fact that someone is driving unsafely or driving in violation12 of traffic laws, is that enough reason to be able to use deadly force to stop them?"
Deputy Scott's lawyer, Philip Savrin, says his client's actions were justified13. "It's about decisions police officers have to make on the spur of the moment when confronted with rapidly unfolding and dangerous situations. It really isn't about Deputy Scott."
It is about how far police can go to stop a suspect from getting away.
1 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 supervisor | |
n.监督人,管理人,检查员,督学,主管,导师 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 intervention | |
n.介入,干涉,干预 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 risky | |
adj.有风险的,冒险的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 amendment | |
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 unreasonable | |
adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 seizures | |
n.起获( seizure的名词复数 );没收;充公;起获的赃物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 unreasonably | |
adv. 不合理地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 immunity | |
n.优惠;免除;豁免,豁免权 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 license | |
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 violation | |
n.违反(行为),违背(行为),侵犯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 justified | |
a.正当的,有理的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|