Nurse arrested for not following a police directive.

If memory serves me....this scenario was on an old ER episode, except it was a doctor who refused a police officer's request.

The Supreme Court has defined "arrest" as either an arrest or its "functional equivalent." There is doubt that this nurse was placed under arrest by having handcuffs slapped on her and being placed in a squad car, an action that was humiliating and demeaning, as well as being unconstituional.

The Constitution is very clear that someone's liberty cannot be taken from them--even briefly--without probable cause that the person has committed a crime. A person may be "detained" briefly if the police have even "reasonable suspicion" that the person has committed a crime.

This nurse did not commit any crime. She was illegally arrested--by the police.

Think about this: if you were having a disagreement with your significant other, would you be okay if he or she slapped handcuffs on you and put you in the back seat of their car?

The fact that a cop knowingly and deliberated the law is wrong. Just because a cop has a badge doesn't mean he can break the law whenever he wants to.

Kudos to the nurse for suing the police. She is not going to get millions and retire. The police department will likely settle out of court since their employee was so obviously wrong.

If the police were not made to pay at least several thousands of dollars for this, the would be no incentive for this officer to be disciplined. The police can avoid payouts like this by making it very clear to their officers what the law is and that they follow it.

That's it? She said 'let me speak with my supervisor' and was arrested/detained?

If it is true that she was arrested and handcuffed for wanting to clarify proper procedure/hospital policy, then the officer should goose step on over to headquarters and resign.

There has to be more to this.....The good thing about the ER: there's almost never a shortage of witnesses.

heh.
it is ironic, isn't it?
i wasn't talking about a physical slap.
i've always been told i'm a walking mass of contradictions.
but i truly am, an impassioned pacifist.

thanks for the chuckle.

leslie

Cop was on a power trip and should have been fired immediately.

I have no problem with the nurse suing and I would have as well.

Even though I'm a nurse and I suppose that means I should automatically be on her side, there isn't NEARLY enough information in this story for me to form an opinion either way. Reading the comments offers a lot of insight in to the question of whether or not she should have been legally obligated to.....I honestly have NO idea how that works?? I take any comments that are posted with news articles with HUGE grains of salt, mind you, but I did still have to wonder about the one that was supposedly from a nurse that was there at the time, who said she made herself scarce and that it's common practice to avoid having to be the one to draw blood when someone is brought in so that you don't have to be the one to testify about it? Could that possibly be true?

Please don't flame me , this type of scenario is one that I am honestly unfamiliar with, as I do not and never have worked in an ER. I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, I just really don't know. The article itself is pretty vague IMO and I would like to know more about the situation.

I have quite a few friends and family members who are police officers and cops such as the one in the story are giving law enforcement a bad rap. I hope she sues the pants off the cop and the city. Chicago is known for it's corrupt police dept. Whatever happened to the barmaid that was assaulted by the Chicago cop?

At my ER, these are known as "legal blood draws" and the patient is always checked into the ER. The patient is not seen by a doc, but a house supervisor comes down and witnesses the RN draw the blood and she notarizes a state form. This way we have not only an ER record, but a police record of the blood draw.

Yes, this is theoretically true. A lot of nurses gripe when they have to draw one, specifically for the testifying reason. However, I have never actually seen someone avoid a drawing one just to get out of it. Just a lot of moaning and groaning at the possibility.