Student jailed for 2 nights when she can't show ID

[kpete]

Source: MSNBC

Student jailed for 2 nights when she can't show ID
Companion was let go but visitor to NYC is handcuffed — she left wallet at hotel

NEW YORK — The arresting officer came by the cell, Samantha Zucker said, to make snide remarks about finding her with a friend in Riverside Park after its 1 a.m. closing.
For instance:

“He was telling me that I needed to get a new boyfriend, that I should get a guy who takes me out to dinner,” Ms. Zucker said. “He mocked me for being from Westchester.”

Early in the morning on Oct. 22, a Saturday, Ms. Zucker, 21, and her friend Alex Fischer, also 21, were stopped by the police in Riverside Park and given tickets for trespassing. Mr. Fischer was permitted to leave after he produced his driver’s license. But Ms. Zucker, on a visit to New York City with a group of Carnegie Mellon University seniors looking for jobs in design industries, had left her wallet in a hotel two blocks away.

She was handcuffed. For the next 36 hours, she was moved from a cell in the 26th Precinct station house on West 126th Street to central booking in Lower Manhattan and then — because one of the officers was ending his shift before Ms. Zucker could be photographed for her court appearance, and you didn’t think he was going to take the subway uptown while his partner stayed with her at booking, did you? — she was brought back to Harlem.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45135682/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/#.TrKWYfQr2Y7

[truthisfreedom]

1. Not exactly PR friendly cops we've got screwing around with our kids these days, huh?

Somebody needs to lose a job. Like now.

[Mad_Dem_X]

2. That's why I always take ID with me

wherever I go. You never know what could happen.

[elocs]

3. Good idea. If the police are looking for someone & you match their description

but you have no id to prove your identity, guess where you are going? Or if you are in an accident or are ill and unconscious having an id on you is a great help.

[yellowcanine]

11. Yes it is a good idea. Also, what if you have the urge to indulge in an acoholic beverage?

Without the ID, you could be out of luck. But seriously people should not have to worry about being arrested just because the lack an ID. At best this is unprofessional behavior by a cop. At worst, it is fascism.

[Xithras]

14. This is why I never take my ID with me.

The extra money would be good for my bottom line. Would I take a five figure payout in exchange for spending a couple nights in a cell while standing up for my Constitutional rights? Absolutely! Sadly, I never seem to run into these kinds of cops.

[defendandprotect]

4. kr

[Ezlivin]

5. If she were African-American she'd be on death row

N/T

[geardaddy]

7. Bang on.

[RandiFan1290]

6. Rich & white

Only 2 reasons we are reading this story

[Botany]

9. And she is about to become richer too

The NYPD and the NYC government are about to be hit hit w/ a huge laws suit.

You can not arrest somebody for not having an I.D..

[Bandit]

12. I think the charge was trespassing

Held for lack of identification...Terrorism you know.. america has to be afraid..very very afraid.... "Home of the Brave" is just a saying..no longer applies.

[Botany]

13. If the park was open to the public and they were ....

..... complying w/ the police officer's request then the trespassing charge is moot. From the article
it said a judge dropped the charges in under a minute. A good case can be made that police were
being "bad heavy" and that her civil rights had been violated.

A good lawyer will hammer the NYPD with this case and and I have no doubt that NYPD will try to
settle this case ASAP because they know they would lose big if the case went to court.

[valerief]

8. "We only cut slack for mass murderers and mass torturers and mass thieves."--White Shirts. nt

[yellowcanine]

10. Well there is another potential lawsuit against the NYPD for false arrest.

The law does not require you to carry an ID on you. This is a simple trespassing charge which was eventually dismissed by a judge. The woman offered to have a friend retrieve her ID from the hotel. Not allowing her this option appears to have violated NYPD policy, according to a spokesperson for the NYPD. "The Police Department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said officers can allow a friend or relative to retrieve ID." It is pretty clear that this officer had a burr up his butt about something - who knows what - and his behavior was at best unprofessional and possibly criminal in making what appears to be an unjustified arrest.

[Trillo]

15. Seems like guilty until proven innocent, unless

you're a corporation, then it seems like innocent until proven guilty.