Posted on 06/09/2006 7:38:19 AM PDT by VRing
Frankly, that's a problem with juries and with citizens who shirk their duty to serve on juries. (And it is a duty) We are getting the kind of juries we deserve.
We need to change to attitude of the average person concerning jury duty.
Dependents have nothing to do and are much more available. That is a big part of the problem.
Most medium and larger companies provide jury pay, requiring only payback of what the government shelled out. The "low rent welfare jury citizen" is a myth.
$8 million of taxpayer money? Hell no.
But let the punishment fit the crime. The victims here get to kick in the doors of each of these police officer's homes, point loaded firearms with safeties off at their family. Hurl stun grenades, insult, yell at, fondle and grope all of their family members. And if one of the guns accidently goes off, too bad. It'll save a lot of taxpayer dough and make these thugs think twice about kicking in doors. You'd figure at least one of the storm troopers would have been smart enough to read the address on the warrant.
I wasn't there, and I'm certain you weren't there either. Was it raining that night? Are all of the houses well marked with street numbers, etc.? Rural homes (and Henry County Georgia is basically a rural community) don't really bother with house numbers, etc. Should the cops have double checked? Of course they should, and I wrote someone should be fired, demoted, or re-assigned for this mess. How much money is another question we disagree on, but I'm for the taxpayers who have to foot the bill and $50,000 sounds fair to me. You want to give them more, that's cool by me, I just wouldn't. I also wrote the cops involved sould be required to make a public apology to those folks, and retrained accordingly. Stuff happens, and not all of it good or fair, but I don't think throwing big piles of money is the answer either. Had they been injured or even killed, then you and I would be on the same page, but they weren't, and I think that's the difference.
You can't face the principle so you quibble on the details of the analogy. That would be like complaining that Jesus didn't literally plant literal seeds in the literal ground.
That is the point I've been trying to make here. We are getting the type of government we deserve also. If people don't like the the way their city is being governed, they can change it. If they don't like the way the jury system is working right now, then they should serve on the jury instead of trying to worm their way out of it everytime they are called up.
It was bad enough that the police cap'n himelf stated there was no excuse. They've declared themselves quite guilty. All that remains is consequences.
I like your idea. That's even better than the settlement I proposed in an earlier posting. I'm in full agreement with this one.
In ancient Rome, criminal prosecutions were private. Something says that crosses would be waiting for these yokels.
It's amazing how the brakes can be put on error when serious CONSEQUENCES hang overhead.
And it is rare to meet a Congresscritter who will not lecture his constituency but rather actually funnels their wishes into the parliament.
There can be very serious psychological damages. It is like a soul murder.
ever notice how "gleefully" they destroy the houses they search on "Dallas SWAT" ??
Oh, and the CONSEQUENCES have to be enough that the city managers cannot say "what do I care, that's just as if officer Jones was off sick for a month."
"As I recall, the court found that the officers had failed to follow department procedures that would have alerted a reasonable person to the fact that they were law enforcement officers, and that the resident had no reason to think they were anything other than criminal home-invaders, and was thus perfectly justified in shooting them."
thats a nice case. There might also be less problems if they weren't wearing masks, black pajamas and sneaking around in the dark. . . why are our police hiding?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.