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STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
You Won’t Believe The Nerve of These Three Government Officials
By The Daily Bell Staff - November 10, 2017

The problem with government is it elevates people to positions of power over their fellow citizens. And all too often, these people take advantage of their status.

You Get The Prosecutors You Pay For

When you’re in power, the rules don’t really apply to you. I mean, sure, officially you still have to follow the law. But what happens when a politician is in a position to change the rules?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has found an interesting way to fight charges of securities fraud. His lawyers are attempting to limit how much prosecutors can be paid. As Attorney General, Paxton is in a unique position to defang the prosecutors attempting to hold him accountable for illegal activity.

States typically have the power to pay prosecutors more for tough high profile cases. But the Attorney General has used this as an opportunity to try to limit the pay for prosecutors. He says it is to make sure the government doesn’t take advantage of their power to gouge taxpayers.

A helpful side effect is that the prosecutors might drop off his case if they are limited to what they can earn.

This move has threatened the ability of the state to attract qualified prosecutors for tough cases, like prosecuting the attorney general. Classic conflicts of interest inherent in government.

Police Get a Little Overzealous

As much as police need to be held accountable, they also need to protect themselves. One cop saw his partner being attacked by a man with a knife. The guy even got a couple stabs in. Clearly, the police officer was completely justified in shooting the man.

He shot him nine times, and the man was down. But he was still moving. At this point, procedure says an officer should stop with the deadly force. But the officer instead shot the man nine more times, later justifying it by saying he was still moving.

Then the cop, according to court documents, took a running start and stomped on the man’s head, three times.

So again, completely justified to use deadly force on a knife-wielding man attacking your partner. Not justified to shoot him an additional nine times after he was down, and then stomp on his head, for some reason.

It really just seems like this cop was waiting for an opportunity to go Rambo on someone. And that is a scary person to have out there on the streets enforcing the law.

At least the appeals court will allow the dead man’s family to sue for excessive force. Too often police are given sovereign immunity and cannot be held civilly accountable for their actions on the job.

Legal Consequences For Lying About Service

A police officer and former military member was dealt a double blow. A court affirmed that he cannot sue a news station over defamation. At the same time, he was found guilty of fraud to obtain government benefits.

He wanted to sue because the news said he lied about receiving a Purple Heart. The only problem was, the news was telling the truth. But not only had he lied about receiving a Purple Heart, he also used the lied to get a special license plate that allowed him to avoid certain taxes.

And that’s when it became a criminal case. While he was tied up in court trying to sue over defamation, he was charged and convicted of fraud for lying about his military service to receive government benefits.

This is a case of stolen valor, and being convicted by his own big mouth.

Posted in STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
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