Award for Canada woman handcuffed for not holding escalator

Rarely have I heard of a more ridiculous reason for a cop to arrest someone. Apparently Canada's Supreme Court agrees, despite lower courts dismissing her lawsuit. Glad she didn't give up and appealed it all the way up.

Award for Canada woman handcuffed for not holding escalator (BBC)

Quote:

Ms Kosian had been taking the down escalator into the Montmorency Metro station in the city of Laval, Quebec, which is part of Montreal's public transit system, when a police officer stopped her and told her to hold the handrail. Their exchange became heated when she refused, and refused to identify herself. The officer then searched her bag and handcuffed her, issuing her two tickets - a C$100 one for disobeying an illustrated sign instructing her to hold the handrail, and a C$320 one for obstructing the work of an inspector.

I can imagine a germaphobe would prefer to not touch the handrail. I don't know if that's why she didn't, but it's hardly a crime for an adult to ignore a sign like that. It's an escalator. Police officers should mind their own business unless someone is committing a real crime.

Quote:

The court ruled the officer had conducted an unlawful search based on a "non‑existent offence, namely disobeying the pictogram indicating that the handrail should be held". It settled on C$20,000 damages to be split between the city, the transit authority and the officer. The amount had been proposed by a lower court judge, in a dissenting opinion, in one of the earlier court cases. "In a free and democratic society, no one should accept - or expect to be subjected to - unjustified state intrusions. Interference with freedom of movement, just like invasion of privacy, must not be trivialized," the court wrote in its decision.

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