GOV. BROWN'S CONTEMPT
ON IMMUNITY

I never realized that a state official coult be held in contempt
of court, especially when they are exempt from lawsuites and liability
withing the State they are employed. If I had been wronged be the State
and wanted to blame someone ine their "official" capacity I would not
be able to sue an actual person, but only the name of the entity having
directly caused the injury. You can't sue a judge, a district attorney,
or a police officer, that is to say they have immunity from prosecution
of any civil claim seeking money damages, but they are accountable
to us, the people whom they supposed to serve. Or are they?

Police officers are protected from civilians in many instances through-
out the legal system. First, if you have a complaint against an officer
you are faced with a daunting bureaucratic process specifically built
by, you guessed it, law enforcement elites. Next, once you initiate a
"citizens complaint," be prepared to wait for an investigation, or if
your is one of many screened out complaints, be prepared for nothing.
In the unlikely event that you are addressing a serious stink about a
particular officer, and your complaint gets passed on to an investigator,
remember that you are preaching to the officer who is supposed to police
the police, ie., an Internal Affairs department. Internal being the
op word here.

The police are also protected from public scrutiny in that their records
of deeds done while on duty are sealed from view. You cannot simply know
what this officer has done in order to raise a claim similar to yours,
instead, be prepared to go to court and argue with a city attorney to
a judge who has a strong bias against anyone seeking to dirty the local
law enforcement. I mean, really. I can get just about anyones past with
just a few keystrokes online, but I have to fight for this same info
on a "public official." The people who protect us from crime are them-
selves protected from scrutiny. The very basis of the job of a public
servant/official is one of transparency, or at least, it should be.

--cee