working

POPULAR TAGS

 Outside the Beltway 

OTB Latenight – Soft Cell

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 

Do You Have the Right Not To Be Framed?

JusticeThe Supreme Court hears oral argument today in Pottawattamie County v McGee, wherein they will have to decide if prosecutors have immunity from lawsuits even if they frame someone for murder.

On one side of the case being argued are Iowa prosecutors who contend “there is no freestanding right not to be framed.” They are backed by the Obama administration, 28 states and every major prosecutors organization in the country.

On the other side are two black men — Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee — men who served 25 years in prison before evidence long hidden in police files resulted in them being freed.

[...]

The Supreme Court has indeed said that prosecutors are immune from suit for anything they do at trial. But in this case, Harrington and McGhee maintain that before anyone being charged, prosecutors gathered evidence alongside police, interviewed witnesses and knew the testimony they were assembling was false.

Hard though it might be to believe, this is actually a difficult decision. The balance between protecting diligent prosecutors from suit and protecting defendants from the bad apples is not a simple thing. The good news is that a case like this is amenable to a bright-line rule against intentional misconduct. The bad news is, the Supreme Court has shown a consistent disdain for bright-line rules for some time.

Heretical Ideas previewed this case last month.

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comments here »
 

OTB Latenight – Ednaswap

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 

OTB Latenight – The Allman Brothers Band

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comment here »
 

OTB Latenight – John Cleese

In honour of John Cleese’s 70th birthday, here’s something completely different:

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comment here »
 

OTB Latenight – Sister Hazel

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 

OTB Latenight – Linda Ronstadt

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 

OTB Latenight – Jackson Browne

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 

OTB Latenight – Leroy Van Dyke

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comments here »
 

OTB Latenight – Fatboy Slim

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comment here »
 

OTB Latenight – The Cult

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comment here »
 

OTB Latenight – Sir Mix-A-Lot

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comments here »
 

OTB Latenight – Bad Company

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
  Show comments here »
 

OTB Latenight – Rolling Stones

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 

OTB Latenight – Lynyrd Skynyrd

| Subscribe to RSS Feed | Permalink | Send TrackBack
 

Search OTB
Lijit Logo
OTB RSS Subscribers via FeedBurner

For Advertising Info, write
otb@blogads.com

FOLLOW US

ADVERTISERS

OTB MEDIA

MANzine logo

OTB Gone Hollywood

OTB Sports

Allie is Wired

ATLANTIC COUNCIL

New Atlanticist Atlantic Council Blog



Visitors Since Feb. 4, 2003

All original content copyright 2003-2009 by OTB Media. All rights reserved.