"A woman forcefully held by Jacksonville, Fla., police while she was in premature labor may sue for unlawful arrest but not for excessive force, a court ruled. Melanie Dawn Williams, 28, was seven months pregnant and driving to a hospital on doctor's orders in 2005 when she ran a red light, a police report said. Two officers chased her to the hospital, tackled her in the emergency room and dragged her, handcuffed, back outside, the report said. Eventually a nurse came outside, found Williams bleeding from premature labor and insisted she be taken to the hospital's labor and delivery unit, where doctors successfully staved off labor." - Michelle Martinez from Bookmarklet

"She spent 10 days in the hospital. The officers were disciplined, The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union reported. One officer told internal affairs investigators Williams hadn't mentioned being pregnant until they handcuffed her, but a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said that didn't matter. It said that once they knew Williams was in medical distress, police had no right to make an arrest. But the judges said Williams could not pursue a separate excessive-force claim. "Although we agree ... that the deputies' behavior was reprehensible, we disagree that the evidence supports a finding that the force was excessive," the judges said. The appeals court sent the case back to Jacksonville for further proceedings." - Michelle Martinez

how about the next time a police man sees a person rushing towards the hospital they offer an escort instead of excessive force? where do the polive get the idea that enforcing a red light is so important? shouldn't our public servants be out... serving the public? at least in a more productive way. see, stories like these give ALL cops a bad name, but they all protect each other, and eventually all grow corrupt together. - polymath22

Call me crazy, but how is tackling a pregnant woman NOT excessive force? I can only presume that landing fetus first from a tackle would be exceptionally dangerous... - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Just another story that's hard to believe... when will the cops clean up their act. - Jan Ole Peek