Free Republic

(Reuters) - Two bailiffs were shot and killed inside a courthouse in St. Joseph in southwest Michigan on Monday and law enforcement officers then killed the shooter, Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey said. "At about 2:25 we had a disturbance on the third floor of the courthouse. A person has shot two bailiffs, they are both deceased, and a deputy sheriff who is at the hospital right now being treated in the emergency room," Bailey said in a brief news conference. "The suspect has been shot and killed," he added. He said the death of his friends was "terrible." The...

The government has been accused of trampling on individual liberties by proposing wide-ranging new powers for bailiffs to break into homes and to use “reasonable force” against householders who try to protect their valuables. Under the regulations, bailiffs for private firms would for the first time be given permission to restrain or pin down householders. They would also be able to force their way into homes to seize property to pay off debts, such as unpaid credit card bills and loans. The government, which wants to crack down on people who evade debts, says the new powers would be overseen...

Licensed enforcement agents will be authorised to break into people's homes and seize property from debtors under new Government plans announced yesterday. They will also be given powers of arrest.