Excessive Force?

You be the judge. A 40-year-old woman in Indiana was tasered by a police officer after she attempted to phone her lawyer while he and another officer threatened to take her to jail for refusing to submit to an on-the-spot blood test to determine if she'd been drinking. The woman allegedly ran a red light but passed the street sobriety tests the cops administered.

Radley Balko has more on this infuriating story. I don't know all the details behind this episode, but it sure as hell looks like these officers were way out of line (be sure to watch the video).

I can't imagine I could ever be convinced that two male police officers couldn't subdue a 110-pound unarmed woman without the assistance of a gun or Taser, especially in this case when nothing in the video - that we can see at least - indicates that the lady was physically resisting arrest. Unless, of course, we're to allow cops to taser taxpayers to prevent assault with a deadly ... cell phone.