4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY KANSAS
TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2007
>> SUPREME COURT
Police tactics ruled legal
WASHINGTON — Police may use tactics that put fleeing suspects at risk of death to end high-speed car chases, the Supreme Court said Monday in ruling against a Georgia teenager who was paralyzed after
his car was run off the road.
In a case that turned in part on a video of the chase in suburban Atlanta, the court said it is reasonable for law enforcement officers to try to stop a fleeing motorist to prevent harm
to bystanders or other drivers.
"A police officer's attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase ... does not violate the Fourth Amendment."
late the Fourth Amendment, even when it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death," Justice Antonin Scalia said in his majority opinion.
The court seded 8-1 with former Coweta County sheriff's deputy Timothy Scott, who rammed a fleeing black Cadillac on a two-
ANTONIN SCALIA Supreme Court Justice
"A police officer's attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent bystanders does not vio-
lane, rain-slicked road in March 2001. The nighttime chase reached speeds of up to 90 miles an hour.
Victor Harris, the 19-year-old driver of the Cadillac, lost
car ended up at the bottom of an embankment. Harris was rendered a quadriplegic.
The court, in a nod to modern technology, for the first time
posted the dramatic video on its Web site.
Many large police forces have strict rules for when officers can begin high-speed pursuit, limiting chases to instances where there has been a felony crime committed, a misdemeanor crime involving a weapon, or suspected drunken drivers who are an obvious road hazard.
Harris was wanted only for speeding.
Joshua Dressler, an Ohio State University law professor and expert on the Fourth Amendment, said he did not think that police would relax those policies.
"The clear trend of police departments in major urban areas has been to limit police chases in general," Dressler said. "There have been so many injuries and deaths as a result of police chases and such great risk of harm to innocent bystanders."
The case is Scott v. Harris, 05-
1631.
AEROSPACE INDUSTRY
Boeing's 787 drives revenue increase
BY DAVE CARPENTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — Boeing Co. Chief Executive Jim McNerney said Monday the aerospace company "turned the corner" in 2006 and is on pace to overtake rival Airbus as the world's largest commercial airplane maker within a year.
McNerney spoke at the company's annual shareholders meeting at a time when Boeing is enjoying almost unparalleled success in its commercial aircraft and defense businesses and distancing itself from the scandals of recent years.
After posting a 2006 profit of $2.2 billion amid a 15 percent jump in revenue to $61 billion, the Chicago-
based company last week beat Wall Street's projections with a 27 percent rise in first-quarter earnings and 8 percent higher sales.
Much of its momentum is because of a flood of orders for the more fuel-efficient new 787, which is scheduled for its first test flight on July 8 — the calendar equivalent of 7-8-7.
The annual meeting was noteworthy for being largely devoid of the troublesome issues that have dogged the company in recent years, such as ethics scandals and CBO turnover. Boeing helped hasten the end of the ethics clamor by agreeing to pay the government a record $615 million following a three-year investigation into its defense contracting practices.
McNerney told shareholders that last year was "a year in which we turned the corner and positioned ourselves for a very exciting future." He said 2007 is "off to a good clean start."
Boeing surpassed Airbus in plane orders in 2006, but the European company delivered more aircraft and held its position as the world's top airplane manufacturer.
Asked in a media session afterward when Boeing would reclaim the No.1 spot, McNerney said: "The math would say end of this year, beginning of next."
But he declined an opportunity to take a potshot at the rival airplane maker, who has struggled with lengthy delays.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Workers demolish a section of Highway 580 in Oakland, Calif., Monday that was damaged after a tanker carrying gasoline exploded on Sunday.
www.legendsplace.com
>> TANKER EXPLOSION
Crash cripples Bay Area
BY MARCUS WOHLSEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
public transportation Monday, one day after a fiery tanker collapsed a heavily trafficked section of freeway.
Westbound traffic into the city largely flowed as usual Monday morning, except for drivers slowing on interchange lanes headed to the Bay Bridge to look at the damage.
OAKLAND, Calif. - The threat of a nightmarish morning commute led many Bay Area residents to use
But officials warned the afternoon drive would bring bigger headaches as traffic leaving the city is diverted away from the collapsed eastbound segment.
The elevated section of highway that carries motorists from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to a number of freeways was destroyed early Sunday when the heat of a burning gasoline tanker truck weakened part of one overpass, crumpling it onto another.
"I'm mad. My life is upside down, and I don't know how long it's going to take."
CRYSTAL MCSWAIN
Commuter
"I did make a little effort to get
Many commuters avoided peak hour congestion by getting a head start or leaving later than usual, said Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman Jim Allison.
"I'm mad," said Crystal
McSwain, who switched from a bus to a more expensive BART train to avoid the roads. "My life is upside down, and I don't know how long it's going to take."
Parking lots at outlying rail stations filled up earlier than usual for the morning commute and some trains appeared, more crowded than usual, but BART officials said overall ridership did not appear greater than normal.
Authorities predicted that overall the crash would cause the worst disruption for commuters since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Bay Bridge itself. The sight of the soaring freeway twisted into a fractured mass of steel and concrete was reminiscent of that quake's damage.
Transportation officials said repairs could take months.
"The most wristome thing is the afternoon commute come out
To encourage motorists to switch to public transit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger authorized free passage Monday on ferries, buses and the BART rail system. Extra trains were added and bus and ferry operators also expanded service.
of San Francisco toward the maze because the traffic from the Bay Bridge fans out from across three freeways," said Jeff Weiss, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation. "Taking away two-thirds of the capacity is really going to cause a bottleneck."
Nearly 75,000 vehicles used the damaged portion of the road every day. But because the accident occurred where three highways converge, authorities said it could cause problems for hundreds of thousands of commuters. State transportation officials said 280,000 commuters take the Bay Bridge into San Francisco each day.